📄 The Russian Foreign Ministry has compiled and issued a report on the indigenous peoples rights situation in certain countries, focusing on the analysis of the situation with native population of the six member-states of the Arctic Council — Denmark, Canada, Norway, US, Finland, and Sweden, as well as in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

👉 Read the report in full

The US, Canada, and their allies have recently been stepping up their activities at international platforms, in regional formats, and the media, trying to shift the focus from the vital problems of indigenous peoples in North America and the Western countries of the Arctic Region, as well as in Australia, New Zealand and Japan to the so-called “violations of indigenous peoples’ rights” in Russia and in a number of major developing countries.

❗️At the same time, practically all the above-mentioned countries have pursued, in one way or another, assimilation and discriminatory policy towards their aboriginal populations, which has created numerous socio-political and cultural problems. Nowadays, many countries develop mechanisms for coordination and cooperation with indigenous peoples.

There are common problems that indigenous peoples in various countries are confronted with:

• a gradual erosion of their traditional way of life as a result of earlier assimilation policies;

• violation of the indigenous peoples’ rights to lands of traditional inhabitance and natural resources;

• decay of the natural environment due to industrial development and certain countries’ overseas military activities;

• high unemployment and indigenous communities’ dependence on government subsidies.

The worst affected by these negative phenomena are the countries in the Arctic Region, where the above-mentioned problems are still relevant. As a result, there is a need for solutions, including those suggested by the international community, and this is the reason why these problems are covered in this separate report.

🇷🇺🇧🇾 This agenda was included in the first joint report on the human rights situation in certain countries, produced by the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Belarus, published in June 2024. The Russian Foreign Ministry’s annual reports on human rights issues also systematically address these subjects, including those related to the glorification of Nazism, the spread of neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (the latest issue of that report was published in September, 2024).

#BRICS2024

🎙 Remarks and answers to media questions by President of Russia Vladimir Putin following the results of the XVI BRICS Summit in Kazan (October 24, 2024)

💬 Vladimir Putin: The XVI BRICS Summit has just concluded with great success.

It marked the culmination of Russia's chairmanship of the group and was one of the significant events on the global political calendar.

<...>

Regarding the Kazan Summit itself, delegations from 35 countries and six international organisations participated in it, as you are already aware. Such broad representation clearly underscores the authority and role of BRICS, as well as the growing interest in cooperation with us from states that are indeed pursuing truly independent and sovereign policies.

<...>

📄 The Kazan Declaration which summed up the discussions was approved at the Summit.

<...>

In Kazan, we reaffirmed that BRICS is not a closed format; it is open to all those who share BRICS values. The Group's members are prepared to work towards identifying joint solutions without external pressure or attempts to enforce narrow approaches upon anyone. BRICS is compelled to respond to the burgeoning demand in the world for such cooperation. Accordingly, we devoted particular attention to the matter of potential BRICS expansion through the establishment of a new category — that of partner states.

The Summit has concluded. I wish to express my gratitude once again to all my colleagues, who travelled to Kazan, for their contributions to our collective efforts. I must highlight that their input was quite substantial.

***

Answers to media questions. Key points:

Prospects for the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis

• All the parties are in favour of resolving the conflict at the earliest opportunity, preferably through peaceful means. You may be aware that the People's Republic of China and Brazil put forward an initiative at the General Assembly in New York. Numerous BRICS nations endorse these initiatives, and we, in turn, extend our gratitude to our partners for their attention to this conflict and their pursuit of methods to resolve it.

• We are ready to discuss a peace agreement in any shape or form based on the reality on the ground. That is to say, I am not ready to accept anything else.

On alleged Russia's interference in the US electoral process and the prospects for normalization of Russia-US relations

• This issue has been making headlines for years now. <...> However, after an investigation conducted in the United States, everyone, including US Congress, concluded that it was utter nonsense and that nothing of the kind ever happened. There were no contacts back then, and there are none now.

• Russia-US relations after the elections depend primarily on the United States. If the United States is open to building normal relations with Russia, we will do the same. If not, so be it. This is up to the future Administration.

On global and regional stability, security and building a just world

• Is it fair in terms of security that you have for years disregarded our repeated requests to our partners not to expand NATO eastward? Is it fair that you lied through your teeth, saying that the bloc would not expand while doing precisely that in violation of your commitments? <...> Is it fair that you violated your commitments within the OSCE, when all Western countries signed a document stating that no country may ensure its security at the expense of other countries?

❗️This is not fair. We want to change this, and we will change it.

The situation in the Middle East

• I believe that there is no person on Earth whose heart does not bleed when they see what is happening in Gaza. Over 40,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed.

• The solution can only be found by addressing the root causes, the primary one being the lack of a fully recognized, sovereign Palestinian state. It is necessary to implement all relevant UN Security Council resolutions on this matter.

Read in full