News - Middle East: Russia has slammed the United States, saying the "only method" the US uses to reach its objectives in international relations is coercion.

To "dictate, blackmail, threats, sanctions" and other coercive means are the "only method" used by Washington to implement its foreign policy, the Russian foreign minister said on Thursday.

Sergey Lavrov, who is on a tour of Latin America, said at a news conference in Cuba's capital city of Havana that the US political leadership has declared a "crusade" against Russia and is using Ukraine as the "spearhead of attack" against the Russian nation.

The top Russian diplomat said that during his tour across Latin America, he discussed with leaders and top diplomats the necessity to create a unified front against the US-led Western attempts to rule the world.

"If anyone had any doubts, the last couple of years have proved that the only method that the US uses in its international relations is to dictate, blackmail, threats, and sanctions," he pointed out, blasting the US for trying to impose “its will on the world.”

Russia, along with Cuba and other countries, have initiated "collective efforts" to counter such policies and to build a just foundation for international relations based on the implementation of the UN Charter, and above all, on the principle of sovereign equality of states.

The island nation, which for decades has been Moscow's close ally, is under strict US economic sanctions.

Since the 1960s, Havana joined the bloc of socialist countries led by the then Soviet Union.

Russia and Cuba have maintained an extensive relationship and Havana has been receiving many vital imports from Moscow, including fertilizers, industrial equipment, spare parts and, above all, oil.

Moscow, along with Caracas, is one of Cuba’s suppliers of oil, sending an undetermined amount to the island, which is undergoing a severe energy crisis.

Also, since two weeks ago, Cuban banks began to accept payments with MIR cards, which are operated by the state-owned Russian National Card Payment System, a payment system based in Russia that allows Russian tourists to make cash withdrawals and convert rubles to Cuban pesos.

The cards are accepted in other partner countries of Russia, including Turkey and Vietnam, as well.

About the possibility of creating a common currency as suggested by Brazilian President Lula da Silva among BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries, the diplomat said Russia will cooperate with the idea "with interest."

The official pointed out that the BRICS countries had already agreed to decrease their use of the US dollar currency in mutual payments long ago, adding that many countries realize the necessity to create an alternative to dollar, although the transition cannot be quick.

In regard to the need to establish more flights between Russia and Latin America, Lavrov said that planning in this field was up to airlines to decide about the necessity to organize regular flights between countries and that the Russian Foreign Ministry, for its part, is interested to have more connections with the states of the region.

Lavrov said that US-Russia relations had dropped to the lowest diplomatic level, noting that interactions between the two countries were now limited to irregular contacts.

"We only discuss, out of necessity, the problems that arise in the work of our embassies and the abuses that the US is trying to commit as a host country of the UN," the top Russia diplomat explained.