Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has once again accused the West of arbitrarily applying the principle of self-determination, citing the independence of Kosovo as an example, Rks News reports.
Speaking at the “Future Forum 2050” in Moscow, Lavrov claimed that Kosovo was separated from Serbia without a referendum and without the will of the people, calling it an unjust act by the West.
Lavrov used the case of Kosovo to justify Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, accusing Europe of supporting “terrorist attacks” and a campaign to erase the Russian language in the Donbas and Crimea regions. He particularly singled out the United Kingdom as a key backer of Ukraine in these alleged operations.
“They relied on the principle of self-determination of peoples, which is on the first page of the UN Charter. Through this principle, in a situation where there were no wars or threats of armed conflict, they simply took Kosovo from Serbia and said – it’s the right to self-determination. Even though there was no referendum, no one actually self-determined,” said Lavrov.