The West Fails to Undermine Russia's Autonomy: Lavrov

On Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the West has clearly failed in its attempt to undermine Russia's autonomy on the world stage.

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"Many were confident that the stronger and more multifaceted the economic foundation is, the less likely it would be that Russia's relations with the West would ever break out into a military conflict," Lavrov said.

"The West went ahead with this to achieve its main goal, which is now absolutely clear, to destroy Russia as an independent entity on the world stage," he added.

Western countries have clearly realized "the illusory nature" of such goals, but cannot turn back now because they risk losing their face and tarnishing their reputation ahead of the upcoming election cycles, the Russian FM pointed out.

Lavrov also noted that while Russia has long decided to become more self-sufficient, there was still hope that Western pragmatism would help maintain relations.

The economic sanctions against Russia have also failed to reduce its productive capacities. Russia's first production of civilian drones for firefighting will be launched in St. Petersburg in 2024, TASS news agency reported on Monday.

The drones planned by InFinTech Corporation, which specializes in the production of civilian products, include a lightweight drone for fire reconnaissance, and several firefighting drones, said Nikita Dontsov, the company's GR director.

The design work will take place in the company's technology park in St. Petersburg, while testing and production will be carried out in the suburbs of the city and the Leningrad region.

The project will start as early as January 2024, and it is planned to produce 1,000 to 3,000 drones in its first year of operation.