Russia says more than 21,000 restrictions imposed on Moscow in last 10 years

​​​​​​​By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia’s top diplomat said Wednesday that the West has imposed more than 21,000 restrictions on Moscow in the last 10 years.

“Over the past 10 years, the collective West has imposed over 21,000 illegal restrictions against Russia alone,” Sergey Lavrov said at a G20 foreign ministers meeting in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings.

“Their extraterritorial application is an even more odious, illegitimate raider approach that hits the poorest countries and needy groups of the population, depriving them of affordable food, energy resources and fertilizers,” said Lavrov.

Describing the desire of the US and its allies to impose a “confrontational agenda” on international bodies as “another manifestation of neocolonialism,” Lavrov said the G20 is capable of giving powerful impetus to modernizing international governance architecture to build a “more just and democratic world order.”

He also said Russia believes the G20 should “strictly adhere to its mandate, and not delve into issues of peace and security and other purely UN, universal problems.”

“It is also important that the activities of our platform continue to be strictly based on the principle of consensus,” he said.

Lavrov added that a series of presidencies by emerging countries in the G20 allowed it to shift priorities toward developing economies.

He expressed Moscow's support for the intention of the League of Arab States to join the work of the G20.

“It is necessary to restore the full-fledged activity of the World Trade Organization as soon as possible,” said Lavrov, as it accused the US of interrupting the activities of the organization.