By Independent News Roundup
Last month, “Lavrov Soberly Acknowledged The Challenges Posed By Trump 2.0”, and now he’s warning about its plans for global dominance in a recent interview. In his words, “[The US] is prepared to defend [its] wellbeing by whatever it takes – coups, abductions, or even the killings of leaders of the countries that possess natural resources that are of interest to the United States. Our US colleagues do not hide the fact that oil is what they are after in Venezuela and Iran.”
He observed that “They operate in line with their doctrine of dominance in global energy markets”, which alludes to what was written here at the start of the Third Gulf War about how one of its goals is to disrupt China’s import of Iranian oil (13.4% of last year’s total by sea) or control it by proxy. In parallel, Russia is being squeezed out of the European energy market, first in Germany through Nord Stream’s destruction and now Hungary, Slovakia, and even Serbia, to turn the continent into a captive US market.
As such, “We are being forced out of all global energy markets. Eventually, we will be left with our own territory. The Americans will then come to us and tell us they want to be partners. However, if we are prepared to carry out mutually beneficial projects on our territory and provide Americans with whatever may interest them, while taking our own interests into account, they, too, must take our interests into consideration.” This is an allusion to the ongoing talks over a resource-centric strategic partnership.
Lavrov is skeptical that any deal with the US is possible right now, however, after revealing to his interlocutor that “Our US colleagues are telling us: let’s settle the situation in Ukraine – we were ready to do so back during the summit in Alaska, but they are not so sure about it now – suggesting that we make more concessions, and vast economic opportunities will open up to us after that.” This suggests that Trump 2.0 was emboldened since the Anchorage Summit into ramping up pressure on Russia.
A week before his meeting with Putin in Alaska, he hosted the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders at the White House, where they signed a peace deal and jointly announced the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP). This megaproject will expand Western – including NATO – influence across Russia’s entire southern periphery in the South Caucasus, Caspian Sea, and Central Asia. It’s therefore possible that Trump now wants to weaponize TRIPP to coerce more concessions from Russia.
Russia is in a stronger position vis-à-vis the US than before the Third Gulf War, however, since it’s poised to be one of the only oases of security and stability in Afro-Eurasia if the global energy crisis sparks a polycrisis of starvation, unemployment, and unrest there. If the US doesn’t get Ukraine to give Russia what it wants, then Russia might cut off energy exports to the EU before the bloc’s 2027 deadline, which the US can’t replace in full. That would deal a deathblow to one of the US’ largest trade partners.
Regardless of whatever comes from the Russian-US talks and no matter the outcome of the Ukrainian Conflict, Lavrov is assessed that Trump 2.0 is “taking us back to a world where nothing existed - no international law, no Versailles system, no Yalta system - nothing. A world where might makes right.” In such a world, “the weak get beaten. That sums it all up. We must be strong. And Russia is a very strong country.” It’s therefore expected to fare a lot better than most in Trump 2.0’s envisaged world order.
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