Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed concern over the new US administration’s reliance on force to impose peace and US President Donald Trump’s signature slogan, ‘America First,’ The Moscow Times reported on February 4.
Lavrov claimed the phrase bears a “disturbing resemblance” to the Nazi-era slogan ‘Germany above all,’ which was popular under Adolf Hitler.
The minister warned that only adherence to the UN Charter can prevent another world war, yet the rhetoric from Washington suggests the new US leadership intends to challenge the current global order.
“The focus on ‘peace through strength’ could ultimately bury diplomacy altogether,” Lavrov wrote in an article for Russia in Global Affairs, adding that such statements show “not even a shadow of respect for Washington’s international legal obligations.”
Lavrov urged the US to reconsider its global policies, arguing that its post-Cold War expansion into Eastern Europe led to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
However, he claimed the US can no longer maintain global dominance due to “irreversible changes” in demographics, economics, and geopolitics. According to Lavrov, Washington must stop resisting the rise of a multipolar world and instead position itself as one of several “responsible centers of power” alongside Russia.
He predicted that, eventually, Americans would “come to realize that they do not need to overextend their influence in global affairs and will feel perfectly comfortable as a leading nation—just not as a hegemon.”
The phrase ‘America First’ was first used by President Woodrow Wilson during the 1916 election campaign.
Trump later adopted it as the foundation of his foreign policy during his first term and used it again in his 2024 presidential campaign.
Earlier, a Russian state television commentator suggested that Moscow should seek to force Trump into making decisions beneficial to Russia, emphasizing that Washington remains an adversary despite any diplomatic efforts.