West Trying to 'Mobilize' Countries by Using Ukraine to Protect Status Quo, Russia's Lavrov Says

RIYADH (Sputnik) - Western countries are trying to get other countries to their side by using the situation in Ukraine as a pretext to preserve the existing world order, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"Of course, these processes [in the world] are at a turning point. The formation of a multipolar world is underway, and our Western colleagues are trying to prevent these processes, they want to maintain and extend their dominance to all regions. They are trying to mobilize all other countries to come under their flag, using the situation in Ukraine and around it as a pretext," Lavrov said during a meeting with Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Ibrahim Taha.

Russia hopes that Western countries will realize the need to consider global issues on the basis of the principles of the UN Charter, Lavrov added.

"We are ready for such a dialogue, but only on an equal and mutually respectful basis," Lavrov noted.

The current situation reflects deep-seated problems that have been accumulating in Europe for many years, primarily in connection with the refusal of NATO countries to fulfill the promise given to the Soviet Union not to expand the alliance to the east, Lavrov said. He further noted that Russia appreciated "the balanced, objective position taken by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as well as the League of Arab States, and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf in relation to what is happening."

"I hope that our Western partners at some stage will also realize the need to consider world problems, to agree on ways for their further development by the international community not on the basis of dictatorship [of one's will], but on the basis of the principles of the UN Charter, primarily the principle that implies respect for the sovereign equality of states,” the foreign minister stressed.

On Monday, Lavrov began a working trip to the countries of the Persian Gulf, arriving on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia’s capital of Riyadh after completing his visit to Bahrain.

Meanwhile, the United States announced its intention to provide new measures to support Ukraine in the defense sector in the coming days, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday.

According to the spokesman, Washington aims to continue strengthening the defense potential of Ukraine, while simultaneously introducing new economic sanctions against Russia. At the presser, Price declined to disclose what specific weapons could be included in an additional package of military assistance to Kiev.

A new military aid package, as the leading US media wrote earlier, could be announced as early as this week.