TEHRAN, Sep. 22 (MNA) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia's relations and cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran or North Korea do not violate international laws.

Lavrov made the remark while giving an interview with Sky News, a British television news channel on Saturday.

Apart from Moscow’s growing relations with Tehran and Pyongyang, the top Russian diplomats touched on several international issues, including Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.

The West supports the neo-Nazis to use them as a tool of war against Russia, he said, adding that the use of the Ukrainian regime for war and allowing it to target the depths of Russian territory means a direct NATO war with Russia.

Lavrov said that 50 countries are at war with Russia along with Ukraine, noting that while Russia is not willing to escalate the tension, the United States has announced its intention to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield.

On Gaza, the Russian Foreign Minister expressed sorrow and said, “There is almost nothing left of the territories that were allocated for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, and the tragedy and human tragedy in Gaza is unprecedented.”

Criticizing the US stance on the Gaza war, Lavrov once again blamed Washington for blocking the way of UN resolutions that demand an end to the conflict in Gaza and the West Bank.

While taking a barb at the US, he said that “democracy in the American way is their invention”.

SD/IRN