Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday cited “American exceptionalism” as one of many principal causes for the present conflict in Ukraine.
The Kremlin official made the assertion throughout an interview that aired on Russian state TV. In an English translation offered by RT, a Russian state-controlled outlet, Lavrov stated it was the American authorities’s perception that the USA is a superior nation that has led to Washington waging “a proxy conflict” in opposition to Russia by means of Ukraine.
Lavrov particularly talked about “American exceptionalism,” which is the assumption that American ideas are inherently proper. This perception is known as by many individuals as being core to the nation’s id.
He stated that American leaders unjustly consider that the U.S. is “an distinctive nation, not like some other on this planet,” and thus attempt to lead the world in concern that there’ll in any other case be “chaos.”
“This exceptionalism, this absolute conviction of their infallibility and superiority—I’m sure that it’s the most important motive why we are actually confronting the nations that wage a proxy conflict in opposition to us by means of the Kyiv regime,” Lavrov stated, in accordance with RT.
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Throughout his interview, Lavrov referenced an opinion story written by Jake Sullivan— nationwide safety adviser to President Joe Biden—that was revealed by The Atlantic in 2019.
“No imaginative and prescient of American exceptionalism can succeed if the USA doesn’t defeat the rising imaginative and prescient that emphasizes ethnic and cultural id,” Sullivan wrote within the story, as famous by Lavrov.
The Russian official additionally referenced one other passage from Sullivan that stated: “The core objective of American overseas coverage should be to guard and defend the American lifestyle.”
Lavrov stated such statements are “horrible” and take away from different nations “the proper to recollect their historical past.”
He went on to assert that the U.S. authorities applies this philosophy in its relations to different international locations.
“Similar to they melted in a pot everybody who arrived in America, they now need to soften everybody else, in order that they basically change into Individuals,” the overseas minister stated.
Elsewhere within the interview, Lavrov condemned NATO for persevering with to produce Kyiv with navy and monetary assist.
“The entire of NATO is preventing in opposition to us, and all these allegations and incantations that ‘we’re not preventing, however solely arming’—that is ridiculous,” he stated.
As he has earlier than, Lavrov additionally claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is being manipulated by Western international locations.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of International Affairs for remark.
