The entire system of international relations has recently undergone irreversible tectonic shifts.
Dynamic states and regions around the world, primarily, in the Asia-Pacific region, now play a substantially bigger role.
Asia-Pacific countries emerged as new centres of economic and technological growth, attracting human resources, capital and industry.
Western countries are seeking to preserve yesterday’s world order that benefits them and force everyone to live according to the notorious “rules”, which they concocted themselves.
They are also the ones who regularly violate these rules. Other countries have not been willing to subject themselves to this diktat and arbitrary rule, forcing Western elites to lose grip and take short-sighted, irrational decisions on global security, politics and economics.
All these decisions run counter to the interests of countries and their people, including those in the West.
The gap separating Western elites from their own citizens is widening.
Europe is about to throw into the furnace of sanctions its achievements in industrial development, the quality of life of its people and socioeconomic stability, depleting its potential, to please Washington for the sake of “Euro-Atlantic unity”.
Many foreign corporations rushed to announce their withdrawal from Russia, believing that our country will suffer more than others. Today, we see industries shutting down in Europe itself. One of the key reasons lies in the severed business ties with Russia.
The competitive ability of European companies is in decline, because European Union officials themselves are essentially cutting them off from affordable commodities and energy, as well as trade markets.
It will come as no surprise if eventually the niches currently occupied by European businesses, both on the continent and on the global market in general, will be taken over by their American patrons, who know no boundaries or hesitation when it comes to pursuing their interests and achieving their goals.
In an attempt to obstruct the course of history, Western countries have undermined the pillars of the global economic system.
It is in front of our eyes that the dollar, euro and pound sterling have lost trust as currencies suitable for performing transactions, storing reserves and denominating assets.
We are taking steps to shed this dependence on unreliable and compromised foreign currencies. Even allies of the United States are gradually reducing their dollar assets.
I want to note here that yesterday, Gazprom and its Chinese partners decided to switch to 50/50 transactions in rubles and yuan with respect to gas payments.
With their short-sighted actions, Western officials have triggered global inflation. In many developed economies, the inflation rate has reached record-high levels that had not been seen in many years.
Rising prices in global markets can be a real tragedy for most of the poorest countries, which are facing shortages of food, energy and other vital goods. While in 2019, according to the UN, 135 million people in the world faced acute food insecurity, their number has soared 2.5 times to 345 million by now – this is just horrible.
Moreover, the poorest states have completely lost access to the most essential foods as developed countries are buying up the entire supply, causing a sharp increase in prices.
Let me give you an example. You all know very well how high passions have been running, how much has been said about the need to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain at all costs, to support the poorest countries.
We did everything to ensure that Ukrainian grain was exported. I met with the leaders of the African Union and those from states on the continent and I promised them that we would make every effort to uphold their interests and facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain.
Russia did it together with Turkey. We did it. And I would like to report the results to you, colleagues: If we exclude Turkey as an intermediary, all the grain exported from Ukraine, almost in its entirety, went to the European Union, not to the developing and poorest countries.
Only two ships delivered grain under the UN World Food Programme, only two ships out of 87 – I emphasise – 60,000 tonnes out of two million tonnes of food. That’s just three percent that went to developing countries.
European countries today continue to act as colonisers, exactly as they have been doing in previous decades and centuries. Developing countries have simply been cheated yet again and continue to be cheated.
It is obvious that with this approach, the scale of food problems in the world will only increase. Unfortunately, to our great regret, this could lead to an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.
This situation has been caused by the reckless steps taken by the United States, the UK and the European Union, obsessed with political delusions. BY DAILY NATION