The West owes its global preeminence in large part to its historic plunder of other peoples around the world, and has no model of development to offer others, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
"The model of the total dominance of the so-called 'golden billion' is unjust. Why should this 'golden billion' among the planet's population dominate others, impose its own rules of conduct?" Putin asked, speaking at a forum in Moscow on Wednesday.
"Based on the illusion of 'exclusivity,' this model divides people into first and second class status, and is therefore racist and neo-colonial in its essence. And the globalist, supposedly liberal ideology which underlies it is increasingly acquiring the features of totalitarianism, holding back creative pursuit, free historical creation," Putin said.
Characterizing the existing unipolar world order as a hindrance to global development, Putin stressed that the current model of development has been presented by countries which gained their dominant positions through the wholesale robbery of others.
"Of course, this 'golden billion' did not become 'golden' by accident. It has achieved a lot. But it did not only take up its positions thanks to the realization of some ideas, but to a large extent due to the robbery of other peoples - both in Asia and Africa. That's what happened," he said.
The West, Putin suggested, has no model of the future to offer the planet, and its elites are fearful that other world centers may present their own options for development.
"No matter how much Western and so-called supranational elites strive to preserve the existing order of things, a new era is coming, a new stage in world history. And only truly sovereign states can ensure high dynamics for growth and become an example for others," Putin said.
Late last month, Lavrov accused Western powers of attempting to impose a "dictatorship" on the rest of the world, "issuing ultimatums and not shunning any methods of subjugation."
"The future of the world order is really at stake, and we will return to the roots and in practice uphold the principles of the UN Charter, first and foremost the principle of the sovereign equality of states. Otherwise, the world will be plunged into long-term chaos," Lavrov said.
Relations between Russia and the US-dominated Western world have hit a low point not witnessed in post-1991 history over Ukraine, a country which has been wracked by turmoil, instability, and civil war since the February 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev.