Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 14, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 19, 2026
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov accuses the U.S. of disrupting the global order with actions in Venezuela and threats to Iran, calling it a violation of international law.
MOSCOW, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the United States was fragmenting the very international system which Washington helped to create by undertaking what he said was an illegal operation to topple Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and by threatening Iran with attack.
"We are talking about a gross violation of international law," Lavrov said of the U.S. operation to capture Maduro. He added that Russia remained committed to its agreements with Venezuela, a Russian ally.
"In general, this and other actions in the international arena indicate the line of our American colleagues to break the entire system that has been created for many years with their participation," he said.
Lavrov, who has served as foreign minister since 2004, said the entire international order - along with globalisation - had been "flushed down the drain" and was now fragmenting.
When asked about U.S. threats against Iran, Lavrov said that Moscow needed to keep working with Tehran to implement their bilateral agreements and that no other country could change the nature of ties between Russia and Iran.
Lavrov suggested that the United States, by abandoning the principles it had promoted for so long, was damaging its own image.
"Our American colleagues look unreliable when they act in this way," Lavrov told a news conference with his Namibian counterpart in Moscow.
Asked about a Bloomberg report that White House envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are seeking to travel to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lavrov said that Putin had repeatedly said that he is open to serious discussions about peace in Ukraine.
It would, Lavrov said, be helpful if Washington briefed Moscow on the latest peace proposals for Ukraine.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge/ Anastasia Teterevleva; editing by Andrew Osborn )
International law consists of rules and principles that govern the relations and dealings of nations with each other. It includes treaties, conventions, and customs that countries recognize as binding.
Foreign currency refers to any currency that is not the domestic currency of a particular country. It is often used in international trade and investment transactions.
A financial crisis is a situation in which the value of financial institutions or assets drops significantly. It can lead to a loss of confidence in the financial system and result in widespread economic downturn.
Investment portfolios are collections of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, and cash equivalents held by an investor. They are designed to achieve specific investment objectives and manage risk.
Financial management involves planning, organizing, directing, and controlling the financial activities of an organization. It includes managing the company's finances to achieve its financial objectives.
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