Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question regarding the practice of applying unilateral coercive measures (December 26, 2025)

Question: How would you comment on the differences in approaches between the “collective West” and the Global Majority to the use of unilateral coercive measures in contemporary international relations?

Maria Zakharova: This practice runs counter to the UN Charter, which vests the exclusive prerogative to impose measures of this nature in the UN Security Council, and only in cases involving threats to peace and security.

In this context, the use of unilateral coercive measures (UCMs) constitutes an encroachment on the unique powers of the UN Security Council. It is well known that the “collective West” routinely resorts to this practice, most often driven by geopolitical considerations.

UCMs represent a serious obstacle to the formation of a just and equitable polycentric world order.

They serve as one of the main instruments of the neocolonial policy of the “collective West”, the goal of which is evident – to preserve its slipping dominance, deprive the countries of the Global Majority of their right to an independent political choice, and slow down their economic, technological and industrial development.

Attempts by the initiators of UCMs to portray them as a “peaceful means of dispute settlement” do not withstand criticism. It is well known that, by hindering the full-fledged socio-economic development of the countries of the Global South and East, unilateral coercive measures undermine efforts to resolve crisis situations. Their indiscriminate nature violates fundamental human rights and freedoms, first and foremost affecting the most vulnerable segments of the population – a fact repeatedly condemned in resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council.

At the forefront of efforts to counter UCMs within the United Nations stands the Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter, which includes the Russian Fededation.

Among the Group’s unquestionable achievements in this area is the adoption, at its initiative, of an entire package of UN General Assembly documents, including Resolution 78/329, which shifted the General Assembly debates on unilateral coercive measures from a three-year to a two-year cycle, as well as Resolution 79/293, adopted in June this year, which proclaimed December 4 as the International Day against Unilateral Coercive Measures.

It is important that the Group’s steps to counter this unlawful practice are part of a broader anti-neocolonial front. It was at the Group’s initiative that the UN General Assembly adopted the principled Resolutions 79/115, “Eradication of colonialism in all its forms and manifestations”, and 80/106, which proclaimed December 14 as the International Day against Colonialism in all its forms and manifestations.

We are confident that in a truly just multipolar architecture of international relations – which we all aspire to build – there is no place for coercion or neocolonial hegemony. Together with our partners – responsible members of the Global Majority – we will continue the fight against all remnants of the shameful colonial era.