Western attempts to impose foreign models undermined balance: Sergey Lavrov

Moscow: Western attempts to impose foreign models of development on Middle Eastern states have undermined the balance that had taken centuries to establish, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in his address to the participants of the Middle East conference of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

“The Middle East, which has been enduring a period of severe tests, still holds a central place on the global agenda. Both the future of the region’s governments, international security and stability hinge on how the situation will develop there,” Lavrov said in his address to the forum, read out by Russian Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.

“The methods of geopolitical engineering, attempts at imposing foreign models of development and values on the people of the Middle East and North Africa, especially through the use of force, have led to the weakening or collapse of states and an unprecedented surge in international terrorism across a whole number of countries. In addition, (it) has led to a massive migration crisis, destablizing the ethno-confessional balance that had consolidated throughout the centuries,” Lavrov pointed out.

Russia’s top diplomat stressed that Moscow has been consistently calling for overcoming the region’s difficulties through political and diplomatic means and by fully complying with international law.

Moscow ushered in the eighth Middle East conference of the Valdai International Discussion Club. During the two-day forum, the participants are expected to discuss the war on terror, rebuilding Syria, collective security in the Middle East and the future of global hydrocarbon markets.