Lavrov: The West’s refusal to exclude humanitarian supplies from sanctions deprives countries of access to medicines

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stressed that the unilateral coercive measures,imposed on some counties, by Western countries, especially the United States, deprive countries such as Syria, Iran and the DPRK of access to medicine and special protection equipment in light of the spread of the Corona epidemic in the world.

Russian news agency TASS reported that during a diplomatic meeting via video, Lavrov said that imposing such illegal and unilateral measures, in the midst of this epidemic, greatly affects the efforts ofcountries like Syria, Iran and the DPRK in addressing the Corona epidemic.

Lavrov added, “These countries cannot buy medicines and special protection equipment because Western countries, for most of which is the United States, have vehemently rejected a proposal to lift  sanctions for humanitarian purposes,and to exclude supplies necessary to fight the epidemic.”

In a different context, Lavrov stressed that the US allegations that Russia violates Open Skies Treaty is baseless, indicating Washington’s decision to withdraw from this bilateral Treaty.

Lavrov explained that similar to what occurred to the Treaty to Eliminate Intermediate-range and Shorter-range Missiles, the Americans have started circulating the idea that Russia is the one that violates the Open Skies Treaty, noting that Washington does not provide hard evidence and objective reasons in this regard.

It is noteworthy that the 1992 Open Skies Treaty allows signatories, including the United States and Russia, to take unarmed reconnaissance flights over the territory of other countries to collect data on military activities.

Rayan Faouri