OREANDA-NEWS  Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide has spoken about the double standards of the West, which criticizes Russia but remains silent about Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. In his opinion, this demonstrates to the rest of the world that there are no absolute rules for Western countries, but they simply choose "like on the menu" those that are more beneficial to them.

"Criticism of Russia ... but at the same time, until recently, silence about Gas shows the rest of the world that we, in general, consider them (international law - ed.) not as absolute rules, but rather as a menu from which you can choose your arguments," Eide said in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper.

According to the Norwegian Foreign Minister, from the outside it may seem that Western countries selectively approach international law. He noted that instead of "consistently" applying it to various international conflicts, the West chooses what is most beneficial to it.

Eide stressed that by acting in this way, Western countries risk losing the trust of other countries, and called for criticism of Israel.

In addition, the Norwegian Foreign Minister said that he constantly reminds his colleagues that of the eight billion people on Earth, only one billion live in the West.

"He added that many in Europe underestimated the conclusions that were drawn in other parts of the world based on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and Israel's actions in the war with (the Palestinian movement - ed.) Hamas," the newspaper writes.

Russia has repeatedly stated that the country will cope with the sanctions pressure that the West began to exert on it several years ago and continues to strengthen. Moscow noted that the West lacks the courage to admit the failure of sanctions against Russia. Western countries themselves have repeatedly expressed the opinion that anti-Russian sanctions are ineffective.