In the face of renewed sanctions placed on Russia by Joe Biden during his final days in office, Russian statesman, Sergei Lavrov says outgoing Democrats have a history of “spoiling the whole thing” at the end of their terms. 

He says this was the case at the end of Barack Obama’s presidency before the first inauguration of Donald Trump.

“He banished some 120 diplomats from the United States and arrested five sites of diplomatic property,” says Lavrov of Obama.

“This whole case did not help Russian-American relations.”

Lavrov also referenced the US recently telling Serbia it must completely remove Russian ownership of the country’s largest energy company.

“This was a very rude statement, but this is a trademark of the outgoing administration,” he says, adding that Democrats should recognise they “were not supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans”.

“You should understand that your people want a different kind of policy,” he adds. “Now they are unwilling to do so. They want to spoil the whole thing.”

American ‘schemes’ are ‘everywhere’, Lavrov says

A question from the Chinese Xinhua News Agency next, with the Russian foreign minister asked how he sees Moscow-Beijing relations developing. 

Lavrov says there is “no doubt that Russia, China [and] its relations are one of the stabilising factors” of the international community. 

He claims that NATO, led by the US, is pushing for “confrontation and hostility” and “are always willing to drive a wedge” between the two countries.  

“We can see there are [American] schemes everywhere,” he says.

‘History repeats itself’: Lavrov compares US involvement in Ukraine to Soviet fight against Nazism

Lavrov is asked about the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, to which he answers there are “parallels” between that period and the present day.

At that time, he says, “dozens of countries that were occupied by the Germans” sent their militaries to destroy the Soviet Union.

Lavrov then refers to Joe Biden’s final foreign policy address yesterday, in which the outgoing US president said he was “proud” of strengthening NATO during his time in office.

“He said 50 countries were recruited in order to help Ukraine as he said, but in reality the fight is against Russia,” says Lavrov. 

“So history repeats itself. 

“Everywhere there are elements of superiority, as well as the wish to pursue what is called Bonapartism in our days, but during the Hitler times it was called fascism and Nazism.”