Russia:

US Driven by Neo-Imperialist Ambitions in Interfering in Other Countries' Affairs

TEHRAN (defapress)- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s criticism of China’s policy in Africa is not exactly appropriate. He also slammed the US for interfering in other countries’ affairs, pursuing neo-imperialist ambitions.

News ID: 69081

Date: 08 March 2018 - 23:08

Lavrov’s statements came on Thursday after he met with Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare, RT reported.

“I didn’t know that Tillerson is a specialist in Chinese-American relations,” Lavrov stressed, adding that “it’s not exactly appropriate” for Tillerson to speak about Africa’s relations with other countries, while a guest, especially in such “a negative way.”

Earlier on Thursday, Tillerson urged African countries to carefully weigh the benefits of Chinese loans at a news conference in the Ethiopian capital during his first diplomatic trip to the continent.

“We are not in any way attempting to keep Chinese dollars from Africa,” he stated.

In the meantime, Lavrov denied the US State Department's claims about absence of US-Russia discussions on his possible meeting with Tillerson.

“I didn’t want to make a comment on this topic, but today the US State Department stated that there have been no discussions of our possible meeting with [Tillerson]. I can say that this is untrue,” he said, speaking at a press conference in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.