Sergei Lavrov will call for sanctions against Moscow to be lifted at the G20 meeting in the United States

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will call for sanctions against Moscow to be lifted during his visit to the United States, where he will attend the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on Friday and Saturday. The announcement was made by Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

In his speeches, Lavrov will criticize policies that Moscow considers “destructive” and that use sanctions, trade wars and the disruption of supply chains against certain states. Russian officials will argue for the need to maintain an open global economy, as well as to combat unfair competition and what they call Western neocolonial practices.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said preparations for the visit had been hampered by “American bureaucratic obstacles,” including problems related to accreditation and obtaining visas. Moscow called for continued efforts to remove restrictions on Russian diplomats’ access to the United States.

The foreign ministers’ meeting is expected to prepare the G20 leaders’ summit, scheduled for December 14 and 15 at US President Donald Trump’s golf club in Doral, near Miami. Russia claims that Trump and Vladimir Putin recently agreed on an easing of sanctions in exchange for Russian diesel deliveries to the US and global markets.