MOSCOW

Moscow’s updated foreign policy identifies the US as the “main initiator” of the West’s anti-Russia policies and hybrid war, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

The updated policy reflects the changing geopolitical realities and developments that accelerated with the start of Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, Lavrov told the Russian Security Council.

President Vladimir Putin approved the updated policy on Friday, underscoring the need to expand ties with “constructive partners” and enhancing Russia’s role in establishing a “more just and multipolar world order.”

Lavrov said the document addresses the “unprecedented level of international tensions over the past decade.”

“It recognizes the existential nature of threats to the security and development of our country created by the actions of unfriendly states,” he said.

“The US is directly named as the main initiator and guide of the anti-Russian line, and in general, the Western policy aimed at weakening Russia in every possible way is characterized as a hybrid war of a new type.”

Lavrov said the establishment of “a multipolar world order” has been defined as a key task for “all areas of foreign policy.”

He said the document reaffirms Russia's stance on the “indivisibility of security in relations with states” and the need for reciprocity.

Under the new foreign policy, Moscow reserves the right to take “symmetrical and asymmetric measures in response to unfriendly actions,” including the use of military force in case of an attack on Russia and its allies, he explained.

Lavrov said the document categorically rejects any form of neocolonial practices and efforts to establish a hegemony, while also reaffirming Russia’s focus on the Eurasia region.

It clearly outlines that Russia has no hostile intentions toward Anglo-Saxon countries and continental Europe, but cooperation with them is only possible if they abandon their confrontational attitude, he added.