According to "Russia Today", Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov recently stated that due to the deterioration of the working environment of Russian diplomats in Western countries, it is meaningless to continue to maintain diplomatic existence, and Asian, African and Latin countries deserve more attention from Russia. Russian media believe that Russia may withdraw diplomats in Western countries and expand diplomatic relations in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
From here, we can see that Russia has been disappointed with Western countries. Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the personal safety of Russian diplomats sent to Western countries has been lost, and Russian consulates are vandalized and staff members are attacked from time to time. In May this year, the Russian ambassador to Poland was sprinkled with red dye while laying a wreath to the cemetery of Soviet soldiers.
Influenced by the public opinion environment and government policies, the people of Western countries are becoming more and more hostile to Russia, and the working environment of Russian diplomats has become increasingly harsh. Russian consulate staff also asked local police for help, but the local police just made a formality and did not arrest anyone.
In addition, there are situations where police patrol nearby but turn a blind eye to the crime. The guards of some countries directly stated that they would no longer protect the Russian consulate, which was equivalent to directly telling local anti-Russian people that they could provoke trouble to the Russian consulate.
Faced with this situation, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeatedly protested to the governments and diplomatic departments of the parties, but none of them received a satisfactory reply to Russia. In addition, in addition to "encouraging crime", Western countries have also unilaterally terminated the work exchange and communication channels with Russian embassies abroad. Simply put, Russian diplomats no longer have any work to do in these countries.
Therefore, for Russia, withdrawing diplomats in Western countries is a wise move at the moment. Russian diplomats staying in these countries will only be discriminated against, and their work will not be progressing at all. It is meaningless to stay there, and personal safety may be threatened.
In addition, since EU imposed sanctions on Russian energy and Russia's energy exports to Europe have decreased, Russia has been interested in developing cooperation with Indo-Pacific countries. Putin personally visited Asia, Africa and Latin America several times and attended the relevant economic forum , talking about a lot of economic cooperation for Russia, which to a certain extent made up for Russia's losses.
In May this year alone, India imported 24 million barrels of oil from Russia. At the same time, India also hopes that Russia will provide more discounts. If negotiations can be reached, India will increase its import volume again in the future. Oil, , natural gas, are both hard currency in the international market. Russia has these resources, so it doesn’t worry about buyers.
By exporting energy, Russia offsets the impact of EU sanctions, so that its economy will not fluctuate too much. In addition, Russia and China have also opened up new areas of cooperation in the Far East. Russia has found a new development direction in the Asia, Africa and Latin America region, so the shift in diplomatic focus is actually in line with the times.
In addition, Lavrov's statement is actually an ultimatum to Western countries. In fact, many countries' sanctions on Russia are not based on their original intentions, but are influenced by the United States. The energy crisis and the economic crisis of that are now sweeping Western countries must have made some countries recognize the current situation, but they are forced to make changes due to pressure from the United States.
At this time, Lavrov announced that it might withdraw Russian diplomats in Western countries, but was just adding weight to Russia. Withdrawal of diplomats means that the two countries cannot communicate through diplomatic channels, and the complete decoupling of diplomacy also means that there may be a risk of breaking off diplomatic relations. Although Russia does not have this plan for the time being, if European countries insist on taking sides with the United States, no one can guarantee what situation will happen.
After all, the United States only urges countries to take action, but does not care about the consequences these countries will face.Now that Russia has made clear the consequences directly, it may withdraw its overseas staff, which may change its position on Russia.
In recent years, the United States, France and other Western countries have turned their attention to Asia, Africa and Latin America, because they have seen the development prospects of these regions. The United States frequently conducts military exercises in the Asia-Pacific region to expand its influence in the region. Now, Russia is also determined to turn to Asia, Africa and Latin America, which may create another opportunity for Russia and help Russia gain new development.
