Lavrov announced the creation of an alliance of "victims of the sanctions war"

These countries will still have their say, the minister stated. Besides Russia, Iran, Syria, North Korea , Venezuela , Myanmar, and Cuba are also under Western sanctions.Sergey Lavrov

Countries affected by Western sanctions are creating a "serious alliance of like-minded partners" and will yet have their say, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced at a meeting of the A.M. Gorchakov Foundation's board of trustees.

He noted that a rapprochement of positions and cooperation between states that have become "victims of the Western sanctions war" has become noticeable on the international stage. "This is a fairly serious alliance of like-minded countries, which, I am convinced, will yet have a significant say on all these issues," Lavrov said ( quoted by RIA Novosti).

In his opinion, the West's "inadequate" response to "Russia's strengthening position" and the military operation in Ukraine is accelerating the emergence of a multipolar world. This is manifested, among other things, in the transition of some countries to national currencies in mutual trade, acknowledging that at any moment any state could easily find itself under the "illegal baton of sanctions," Lavrov noted.

This, in turn, stimulates the creation of interbank interaction mechanisms outside Western control, the construction of new international transport corridors, the creation of alternative production chains, and much more, the minister added.

In early March 2022, Russia became the world leader in the number of sanctions imposed against it, reportedBLOOMBERG, citing the Castellum.AI database platform, reports that as of March 13, 2022, the number of sanctioned Russian entities stood at 6,189.

Iran came in second, with 3,616 restrictions imposed on individuals and organizations. These measures were introduced over the course of a decade, primarily for its nuclear program and support for terrorism, Bloomberg noted. Following were Syria (2,608), North Korea (2,077), Venezuela (651), Myanmar (510), and Cuba (208).

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According to Castellum.AI data as of March 13, 2024 , 11,649 sanctions have been imposed on Russian individuals and 4,645 sanctions on legal entities. The total number of sanctioned entities is 16,587.

Commenting on sanctions imposed by European countries and the United States against Russia, the Kremlin stated that these measures are detrimental to the economies of the countries imposing them. "The Russian economy has demonstrated its resilience—and in this case, this isn't even our own words, but rather the words of US officials. The Russian economy has adapted and continues to develop," said Dmitry Peskov , Russian presidential press secretary .