🎙 Remarks by President of Russia Vladimir Putin at a reception marking the 85th anniversary of the victory at Khalkhin Gol (Ulaanbaatar, September 3, 2024)

💬 I am sincerely delighted to visit the hospitable Mongolian land once again and to celebrate, in an impressive setting, the anniversary of our common victory in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol together with our Mongolian friends.

We are paying tribute to Soviet and Mongolian soldiers who fought in those intense and bloody battles. Their feat will forever be remembered by our nations, and it will be emblazoned in the history of Russia and Mongolia. The courage and fortitude of the heroes of Khalkhin Gol stopped a dangerous enemy who hatched far-reaching plans to occupy the entire territory of Mongolia.

The victory at Khalkhin Gol greatly influenced the destiny of the region and the entire course of World War II. After defeat, Japan refrained from attacking the Soviet Union, and our country was able to deploy all its forces, including fresh Far Eastern divisions, against Nazi Germany.

Of course, we remember the substantial support offered to us by the Mongolian nation during World War II, during the Great Patriotic War. Mongolia assisted the front by supplying food, warm clothing and also raised funds to manufacture tanks and aircraft.

Loyal to the traditions of combat brotherhood laid down by our fathers and grandfathers, Russia and Mongolia continue to actively collaborate and to develop their all-encompassing strategic partnership. I would like to stress that Russia has always aimed to strengthen friendly relations with Mongolia; it has perceived and continues to perceive this as one of its foreign policy priorities.

🤝 In turn, we appreciate the fact that Mongolia also steers towards mutually beneficial cooperation with us. Our current talks with President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh and other Mongolian leaders have clearly confirmed this. All meetings were traditionally constructive and substantive and allowed to review a wide range of issues and topical regional and international problems, and to chart future prospects of our diverse partnership.

The people of Mongolia have a nice saying: “Choose a new robe but an old friend.” I am convinced that we will certainly raise and address the most ambitious objectives, while relying on our time-tested solid friendship. We will actively expand our collaboration in traditional sectors, and we will launch cooperation in new high-tech spheres; we will work hand-in-hand to strengthen the entire range of our bilateral partnership for the benefit of the peoples of Russia and Mongolia.

In conclusion, I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate the President of Mongolia, as well as all Mongolian and Russian citizens who are present here, on the 85th anniversary of the glorious victory in the battle on the river Khalkhin Gol.

I would like to offer a toast to our common victory, to further development of Russian-Mongolian comprehensive strategic partnership, to the health of the President of Mongolia, Mr Khurelsukh, and everyone present here, and for the well-being and prosperity of our nations.

#RussiaMongolia

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to questions at a meeting with students and faculty of MGIMO University (Moscow, September 2, 2024)

💬 I would like to congratulate all of you on #KnowledgeDay.

I would like to highlight that, according to the statistics, MGIMO graduates hold important positions at the Central Office of the Government of Russia, particularly the Presidential Executive Office. Additionally, two-thirds of them join the Foreign Ministry staff every year. This speaks volumes about the “seal of excellence” associated with the diplomas from this great – without any exaggeration, for me at least – institution of higher learning.

We welcome the fact that MGIMO supplies the Foreign Ministry with most of its staff. We are always eager to welcome those whose qualifications meet the high standards of Russian diplomacy. I would like to address the final-year students: together, we will implement the Foreign Policy Concept approved by President Vladimir Putin in March 2023.

I am certain that you keep up with international news and developments on the global stage. The primary trend is the strengthening of new growth and development centres located outside the historical West.

Regional integration associations, such as the #SCO, the #EAEU, #ASEAN, the #CIS, the #LAS, the African Union, and #CELAC, play a significant role at the current stage of development of the multipolar world order. #BRICS, as it strengthens its influence and authority, increasingly acts as an informal global coordinator for these regional integration processes.

The globalisation, which the West pro-actively promoted for years, has been accepted as a method of interstate relations in the economy, technology and the financial sector. However, this globalisation model is now falling apart.

We will advance integration processes within the EAEU, CIS, SCO, ASEAN, and, of course, strengthen strategic partnership with China, India, Brazil, and all our other like-minded countries, working in the context of forming the Eurasian architecture. There are many, it is impossible to list them all. That is why we have a clear and comprehensible image of the future – multipolarity, based on another key principle of the UN Charter – sovereign equality of the state.

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❗️The essence of Western policy towards Russia has always been based on the assumption that our country is too strong and independent and that something must be done to change this, preferably by pulling it down. History repeats itself. Today, these 50 countries have again been rallied under Nazi banners against Russia, considering the essence of Zelensky’s regime or even the chevrons and flags of the so-called Ukrainian army. <...> Today, all those who show independence and a will to defend their national interests within international law while refusing to play by Western rules, are under threat. It is clear, however, that these attempts are largely an agony of the West.

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We do not seek to embed ourselves into various “schemes” that are being established by Western “rules” without our participation and without consideration of our interests. We will continue to champion widely held principles of international law and the UN Charter in their entirety instead of cherry-picking them as the West does.

President Putin has repeatedly stressed that “we are open to contacts with the countries of the ‘collective West’ on the understanding that they pivot away from their openly hostile course towards our country”. Any unfriendly moves will still be met with a tough response. The ball is not in our court, it is up to those who set out to deliberately destroy their relations with Russia and demonise our land and our nation.

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🎙 An excerpt from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answers to questions at a meeting with students and faculty of MGIMO University (Moscow, September 2, 2024)

❓Today it is difficult to overstate the importance of information in world politics. Recently, we have witnessed the destructive impact of fake news and deep fakes on its development. Do you think it is possible to tackle this problem through international law? Are there any talks in progress with other countries on this matter, despite the complexity of the current geopolitical situation? What is Russia‘s perspective on this issue?

💬 FM Sergey Lavrov: Ideally, we need to find solutions that will suit everybody and help regulate the newly emerging formats of communication. First of all, this is important because we must prevent the use of these formats for malicious purposes, be it military and political purposes, criminal intent or simply damaging certain politicians or any person, in fact.

I have talked about the West’s approach to globalisation. Advertised as a common achievement of humanity, the West simply uses its positions in this old system of globalisation as a weapon to remove economic competitors. This is a clear objective of the West.

As for the area you mentioned, Pavel Durov turned out to be too free. He listened to Western advice on “moderating” his brainchild too slowly or did not listen at all. What is happening now did not happened only to him. Mark Zuckerberg was previously summoned to the US Senate and agreed to cooperate, as he admitted himself. The West has not been particularly lenient with other major platforms either.

What the West has been trying to do to Telegram and other platforms that everybody is talking about in the wake of the incident in France, is similar to its abuse of globalisation.

❓ How can Russia contribute to settling the Palestinian situation in light of the recent aggravation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? What practical steps are being taken to maintain and strengthen peace in that region?

💬 FM Sergey Lavrov: Russia has been closely involved in these processes since the time when regional countries attained independence, trying to promote positive developments.

As for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Russia was a member of the quartet of international intermediaries alongside the United States, the #UN and the EU. In 2003, we presented a roadmap with monthly actions to be taken towards creating a Palestinian state and ending that protracted conflict.

We have recently focused our attention in the Middle East on restoring Palestinian unity. If anything, the restoration of unity depends exclusively on the Palestinians rather than on the conduct of Israel or the actions of its patrons (primarily Washington).

We invited all Palestinian factions to Moscow several times. During their meeting in February 2024, they signed a document sealing their agreement to unite on the basis of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. This is important because the PLO recognises Israel.

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Today, September 5, marks the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Minsk Protocol

⚠️ This document contained specific agreements between Kiev, Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic for the peaceful settlement of the #Ukrainian conflict, which arose as a result of the coup d'état on Maidan and Kiev's military operation against Donbass that followed.

Later, in February 2015, the “Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements” was adopted. This package was approved by the #UN Security Council. According to its provisions, peace was supposed to prevail in Donbass by the end of 2015, and efforts towards the socio-economic recovery of the region were to begin.

❗️ Faithful and consistent implementation of the Minsk agreements by Kiev was the only chance to bring peace back to Ukraine.

❌ Unfortunately, these agreements were never implemented. The Ukrainian government did not seize the opportunity for peace and instead sought to resolve the conflict by force. Both the former German Chancellor and the former President of France, who were guarantor countries of the Agreement, have admitted and publicly stated that they never intended to honour the agreements. Those who acted as guarantors of the Minsk Agreements cynically used the respite to arm the Ukrainian military and prepare it for a war with Russia.

☝️ In this situation, Russia had no right to step aside. Once we realized that all possible measures of political and diplomatic settlement had been exhausted and there was no other way to protect the people in the LPR and DPR from extermination, Russia recognised the independence of Donbass Republics and launched the special military operation.

#CrisisInUkraine #MinskAgreements