Russia’s foreign minister took aim at West on Friday, saying its philosophies are out of step with times and that it is struggling to accept what he called its diminishing dominance in world affairs. In his speech before U.N. General Assembly, Sergei Lavrov blamed countries that declared mselves winners of Cold War between U.S. and former Soviet Union for current challenges facing world, and for increasing fragmentation of international community.

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Sergei Lavrov accuses 'West' of manipulating ir citizens

He pointedly scorned much of “West,” a term Russian officials typically use to refer to United States and its tritional allies in Europe. He accused m of manipulating ir citizens, disseminating false information, and preventing journalists from doing ir work with all charges that West has long lobbed at Russian government and its predecessor, Soviet Union.

“It is hard for West to accept seeing its centuries-long dominance in world affairs diminishing,” Lavrov said. “Leing Western countries are trying to impede development of polycentric world, to recover ir privileged positions, to impose standards of conduct based on narrow Western interpretation of liberalism on ors.”

relationship between Russia and U.S. has been deteriorating for years. two countries are at odds on many issues internationally, from Iran’s nuclear program to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea to war in Syria. Relations frayed even furr amid U.S. allegations that Russia interfered in 2016 U.S. presidential election.

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Current dispute between Trump and Zelenskiy

At a news conference after his speech, Lavrov called current dispute over phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy “overblown,” and strongly denied U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s claim that Russia is involved.

“ American political class,” he said, almost daily accuses Russia “of all cardinal sins.” Trump’s phone call with Zelenskiy, in which American president is alleged to have sought help from Ukraine to win next year’s election, is at center of a House impeachment probe. Lavrov’s comments came in response to an interview Pelosi gave earlier Friday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe show in which she said, without elaborating, that “I think Russia has a hand in this, by way.”

Lavrov, responding to a question on wher conversations between Trump and Russian President Vlimir Putin should be released, quoted his own mor who told him as a boy that reing or people’s letters is “indecent.” He said diplomatic contacts are supposed to have “a certain level of confidentiality,” and asked: “How can you work in such conditions” if communications are released?

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Lavrov held wide-ranging talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before his speech and said he proposed ditional channels of cooperation including between U.S. and Russian businessmen and entrepreneurs and establishing “an expert council of outstanding statesmen, former military and diplomats, and intelligence services.”

Russian minister said he also proposed a missile moratorium and action on or arms control issues. And he warned that “ United States is setting course for transforming cyber and outer into an arena for military confrontation.”

Lavrov accused West of maintaining a double standard: promoting liberal values where y’re convenient but discarding m when y’re t. “When it is vantous, right of peoples to self-determination has significance. And when it is t, it is declared ‘illegal’,” he said.

To maintain this double standard, Western nations manipulate ir citizens and media, he said — and “impede development of polycentric world.”

Turning to global crises, Lavrov criticized NATO’s decision to attack Libya, which he said split country apart. He said West “has its own rules in Balkans” as well. And under Western intervention, he said, Venezuela’s “statehood was destroyed before our eyes.”

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Lavrov said Americans view all aspects of Middle East and rth Africa through an “Iranian prism as if y’re consciously trying to find more reasons in order to try to support ir hard-to-support statements saying Iran is main source of evil in that region, and all b things come from Iran.”

Russia has proposed an initiative for collective security cooperation in Persian Gulf, which he called “over-ripened w.”

But he said more and more countries in region are starting to think about how to de-escalate situation.

“That speaks in favor of ideas that we are promoting,” Lavrov said. “y’ll be in demand. y are very simple, to sit down at negotiating table and start speaking to each or without using mouthpieces of mass media.”