Lavrov: West's sanctions aimed at changing regime in Russia

The West's sanctions against Russia are aimed not simply at making Moscow to change its policy on this or that issue but at changing the regime in Russia, says Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Previously sanctions against other countries were formulated in a way that "they should not damage the social sector and the economy but strike the elite in a targeted way," he said.

"Now everything is just the opposfite. Western leaders are saying openly: the sanctions should be such that they destroy the economy and stir popular protests," Lavrov said at an assembly of the Foreign and Defense Policy Council think tank on Saturday.

"The West has shown clearly that the matter is not about trying to change the Russian Federation's policy, which is illusory in itself, but they want to change the regime," he said.

Read more: Lavrov says Kerry told him to ignore Obama's words on Russia threat

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