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 His comments stepped up Moscow's war of words with the United
States and the European Union in their worst diplomatic standoff
since the Cold War ended.
"As for the concept behind to the use of coercive measures, the West
is making clear it does not want to force Russia to change policy
but wants to secure regime change," Tass news agency quoted Lavrov
as telling a meeting of the advisory Foreign and Defense Policy
Council in Moscow.
He said that when international sanctions had been used against
other countries such as Iran and North Korea, they had been designed
not to harm the national economy.
"Now public figures in Western countries say there is a need to
impose sanctions that will destroy the economy and cause public
protests," Lavrov said.
 His comments followed remarks on Thursday in which President
Vladimir Putin said Moscow must guard against a "color revolution"
in Russia, referring to protests that toppled leaders in other
former Soviet republics.
Western sanctions have limited access to foreign capital for some of
Russia's largest companies and banks, hit the defense and energy
industries, and imposed asset freezes and travel bans on some of
Putin's allies.
The measures have aggravated an economic downturn, which has also
been worsened by a fall in global oil prices and has helped cause a
nearly 30 percent slide in the rouble against the dollar since the
start of the year.
Putin's popularity has soared in Russia since the annexation of
Crimea from Ukraine in March.
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He says Western powers were behind the overthrow of a Moscow-backed
president in Ukraine in February after months of street protests,
but the West blames Moscow for the crisis.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in Kiev on Friday termed Russia's
behavior in Ukraine as "unacceptable". He said Moscow must abide by
a Sept. 5 ceasefire deal, which has failed to end a conflict that
has killed more than 4,300 people since mid-April.
Biden urged Moscow to pull soldiers out of Russian-speaking eastern
Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are fighting government
forces, though Moscow denies supporting the rebels with troops and
weapons.
(Editing by Timothy Heritage and Jane Baird)
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