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.



Eight Killed, Others Injured in Austrian School Shooting

Two policemen walk past ambulance cars in a street close to a school where, according to reports, several people died in a shooting, on June 10, 2025 in Graz, southeastern Austria.  (Photo by ERWIN SCHERIAU / APA / AFP) / Austria OUT
Two policemen walk past ambulance cars in a street close to a school where, according to reports, several people died in a shooting, on June 10, 2025 in Graz, southeastern Austria. (Photo by ERWIN SCHERIAU / APA / AFP) / Austria OUT
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Eight Killed, Others Injured in Austrian School Shooting

Two policemen walk past ambulance cars in a street close to a school where, according to reports, several people died in a shooting, on June 10, 2025 in Graz, southeastern Austria.  (Photo by ERWIN SCHERIAU / APA / AFP) / Austria OUT
Two policemen walk past ambulance cars in a street close to a school where, according to reports, several people died in a shooting, on June 10, 2025 in Graz, southeastern Austria. (Photo by ERWIN SCHERIAU / APA / AFP) / Austria OUT

At least eight people were killed when a shooter opened fire at a school in the Austrian city of Graz on Tuesday, and others were injured, Kronen Zeitung newspaper reported.

Citing local police, Austrian state media including national broadcaster ORF said several people had been seriously injured, including students and teachers.

Police said an operation was under way in a street in the Austrian capital called Dreierschuetzengasse, on which there is a secondary school, but declined further comment.

Police were evacuating the building, ORF said.

It was not immediately clear whether the suspect was among the victims. Kronen Zeitung said a suspect had reportedly been found dead in a bathroom, but the report could not immediately be confirmed by Reuters.