Global rules ‘thrown out the window’ – Lavrov

A game of “might makes right” has effectively replaced international law, the Russian foreign minister has said

Long-standing rules of conduct on the global stage have been upended and replaced by a game of “might makes right,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a press conference on Tuesday.

He noted that shifts in the international order are being felt not only in the Global South and Global East, but also within the West itself, citing the latest crisis revolving around Greenland and US President Donald Trump’s push to annex the Danish autonomous territory. 

Lavrov stated that the situation has come as a “shock” to Western Europe, as the so-called ‘rules-based order’, used by the collective West for years, is now being rewritten by just one country – the US.

He went on to comment on the West’s recent efforts to combat China’s economic advantage with sanctions and tariffs, saying that rules that have for years underpinned international economic relations have been “thrown out the window.”

READ MORE: Trump’s Greenland push risks undermining world legal order – Council of Europe chief

“Of course, the US wants to negotiate, but so far this is all happening in the absence of any common criteria that until recently underpinned the work of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization,” Lavrov said. “It’s a game of ‘might makes right’.”

However, Russia will continue its dialogue with other countries on the basis of equality and will stand up for its interests without imposing on anyone’s legal rights, the minister said. At the same time, Lavrov stressed that Moscow will also not allow anyone to “take liberties with our own legal rights.”