Russia’s New Foreign Policy to Focus on Ending Western ‘Monopoly’

This handout photograph taken and released on February 10, 2023 by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivering a speech during the celebration of the Diplomats' Day in Moscow. (Handout / Russian Foreign Ministry / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on February 10, 2023 by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivering a speech during the celebration of the Diplomats' Day in Moscow. (Handout / Russian Foreign Ministry / AFP)
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Russia’s New Foreign Policy to Focus on Ending Western ‘Monopoly’

This handout photograph taken and released on February 10, 2023 by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivering a speech during the celebration of the Diplomats' Day in Moscow. (Handout / Russian Foreign Ministry / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on February 10, 2023 by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivering a speech during the celebration of the Diplomats' Day in Moscow. (Handout / Russian Foreign Ministry / AFP)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow would focus on ending what he called a Western "monopoly" over global affairs as part of a new foreign policy, accusing the West of suppressing rival centers of power.

Russian state media reported last week that President Vladimir Putin was set to approve a new foreign policy, as relations with the West sink to historic lows over the war in Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions.

"The Anglo-Saxons - and the rest of the collective West, unquestioningly submitting to them - seek to impose their dictates on world affairs at any cost," Lavrov told lawmakers in Russia's State Duma.

"Our renewed foreign policy concept will focus on the need to end the West's monopoly on shaping the framework of international life, which in the future must be determined not in its egoistic interests but on a fair, universal balance of interests."

The Kremlin has often accused Western countries, led by the "Anglo-Saxon" United States and Britain, of trying to dominate global politics and meddle in others' affairs, while seeking to suppress rising powers in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Western countries say Russia has made itself a global pariah by invading a peaceful neighbor and that Russian-backed groups have interfered in Western elections - something that Yevgeny Prigozhin, a high-profile ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, now freely acknowledges.



Russia Slams Report it Backed 'Zero Enrichment' Iran Nuclear Deal

A handout photo made available by the Iranian foreign ministry office shows, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (R) speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors and diplomats to Tehran, in Tehran, Iran, 12 July 2025. EPA/HAMID FOROOTAN / IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the Iranian foreign ministry office shows, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (R) speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors and diplomats to Tehran, in Tehran, Iran, 12 July 2025. EPA/HAMID FOROOTAN / IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT
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Russia Slams Report it Backed 'Zero Enrichment' Iran Nuclear Deal

A handout photo made available by the Iranian foreign ministry office shows, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (R) speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors and diplomats to Tehran, in Tehran, Iran, 12 July 2025. EPA/HAMID FOROOTAN / IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the Iranian foreign ministry office shows, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (R) speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors and diplomats to Tehran, in Tehran, Iran, 12 July 2025. EPA/HAMID FOROOTAN / IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT

Russia's foreign affairs ministry on Sunday described reports claiming that President Vladimir Putin had encouraged his Iranian ally to accept a "zero enrichment" agreement on its nuclear programme as "defamation".

US news outlet Axios reported on Saturday, citing three anonymous sources familiar with the matter, that Putin had "encouraged" Iran to accept a deal with the United States that would prevent the Islamic republic from enriching uranium.

The article "appears to be a new political defamation campaign aimed at exacerbating tensions around Iran's nuclear program", the Russian ministry of foreign affairs said on Sunday.

"Invariably and repeatedly, we have emphasised the necessity of resolving the crisis concerning Iran's nuclear program exclusively through political and diplomatic means, and expressed our willingness to help find mutually acceptable solutions," the statement read.

Publicly, Moscow has defended Tehran's right to use nuclear technology for civilian purposes but in recent months, Putin has also drawn closer to US President Donald Trump.

On June 13, Israel launched an unprecedented attack on Iran, triggering a 12-day war.

The conflict halted negotiations initiated in April between Tehran and Washington to frame Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions against Iran.

On June 22, the United States bombed the underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, south of Tehran, and nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.

The exact extent of the damage is not known.