Russia slams failure of U.S. "unipolar" policies

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a news conference at the U.N. headquarters in New York September 26, 2008.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday said U.S. "unipolar" policies had failed in Iraq and Afghanistan and helped provoke the recent conflict in Georgia.

Russia's invasion of Georgia last month has brought relations with the United States to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.

In a strongly worded speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Lavrov called the U.S.-led war in Iraq a "painful blow" to global anti-terrorism efforts and questioned the NATO-led force fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

He described U.S. foreign policy as "unipolar" meaning that Washington regarded itself as the world's sole superpower, able to act without regard to the views of others.

"The illusion of a unipolar world confused many," Lavrov said. "In exchange for total loyalty they expected to receive a carte blanche to resolve all their problems."

Washington and European allies condemned Russia when it invaded Georgia after Tbilisi tried to re-establish control over the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which has now declared independence along with another enclave, Abkhazia.

Russia has said it responded to Georgian aggression.

A resurgent Moscow has also irked Washington by refusing to agree to increase pressure on Iran over its nuclear program and reaching out to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

It has ordered an upgrade of its nuclear deterrent with a new space defense system and a fleet of submarines and sent two bomber jets to Venezuela in what analysts said was saber-rattling in Washington's backyard.

"While we disagree with Russia on this issue in a fundamental way on the issue of Georgia, we want to work on issues of mutual interest such as the Iranian nuclear program," U.S. envoy to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad said.

The Bush administration would like to bring Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. Both border Russia and were part of the former Soviet Union and previously of the Russian empire.

"All countries have partners with whom they share traditional friendly relations, common history and geography," Lavrov said in an apparent assertion that Russia has a geographic sphere of interest.

"It is harmful to artificially undermine these relationships for the benefit of geopolitical schemes."