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Enhancing Economic Cooperation: EAEU's Trade Growth and Future Plans

In the first four months of 2024, mutual trade among Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries grew by 9.5%, as announced by Dmitry Volvach, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia, at the Caucasus Investment Forum in Grozny.

Dmitry Volvach highlighted that the EAEU's trade with third countries is expanding at a faster rate than domestic trade, with trade volumes growing 1.4 times in 2023 compared to 2015.

👉The Deputy Minister emphasized the effectiveness of the free trade agreement between the EAEU and Iran, along with memoranda of understanding signed with the governments of Myanmar and Nicaragua.

👉 He also noted ongoing negotiations for a free trade zone with Indonesia and the UAE, underscoring these efforts as pivotal for fostering institutional frameworks for EAEU cooperation with external partners.

👉 Looking ahead, the EAEU aims to deepen trade and economic ties with China and India, while also working towards finalizing a temporary trade agreement with Mongolia.

#EAEU
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🎙 Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at a meeting with directors of Russian non-profit organisations (July 23, 2024)

Key talking points:

🔹The role of public diplomacy has grown compared to the earlier period, primarily when it comes to maintaining a healthy atmosphere of confidence in relations with our foreign partners and explaining problems created by the West.

🔹 This applies to the the countries which we regard as unfriendly. I believe that we should use this term for governments, whereas the mood in the countries is largely determined by people’s lives and aspirations. I do not see any nation on the planet that would be unfriendly to our people in the first place.

🔹 I am aware that pubic organisations in Western countries somehow manage to maintain ties with some of their partners in Russia. This interaction is extremely important for keeping up relations at the level of civil societies and trying to understand each other.

🔹 We are beginning to see the outlines of a new multipolar world order. Nations around the world want to see their right to rule their destinies respected, and are searching for new ways of addressing various issues as alternatives to Western solutions.

🔹 The West is not ready to engage in mutually beneficial and equal cooperation. It has been seeking to hold on to its erstwhile standing which follows the path of irreversible, albeit slow, degradation. The NATO Summit in Washington provided yet another example of this process by adopting a declaration which once again emphasised the West’s unilateral approaches.

🔹 Today, Europe has been reduced to acting as Washington’s subject. Germany, for example, is the cornerstone of European politics and economy, but it still had to stomach the terrorist attacks against the Nord Stream pipelines which undermined its economic and social wellbeing. It had to pretend that this is the way it had to be.

🔹 The process of eradicating the centralised dictatorial model that America’s globalisation has morphed into will go hand in hand with regionalisation of economic processes. Preferably, in view of their interdependence with the global economy, the developments in Eurasia, Africa and Latin America ought to be coordinated and harmonised to a certain extent. #BRICS is quite capable of doing that.

🔹 We certainly believe that the United Nations remains a unique platform for universal cooperation that has no alternative. The UN Charter principles are relevant as never before.

🔹 I said earlier that Eurasia is emerging as an independent part of the multipolar and polycentric world. We are moving forward towards creating a Greater Eurasian Partnership, something that President Vladimir Putin mentioned 10 years back.  Since then, this process has led to stronger ties between #EAEU, #SCO, and #ASEAN.

🔹 We trust that non-governmental and non-profit organisations will actively participate in these processes and continue to contribute to the overall efforts seeking to strengthen Russia’s position on the continent and around the world, including the promotion of the Russian language and our multiethnic culture.

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🗓 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended the 14th Ministerial Meeting of the Member States of the East Asia Summit (#EAS) and the 31st session of the ASEAN Regional Forum (#ARF) which were held in Vientiane on July 27.

During discussions on current issues related to the situation in the Asia Pacific Region, the Russian Minister emphasised the importance of efforts to build an open and indivisible architecture of Eurasian security as one of the foundations of the multipolar international order. Apart from #ASEAN, the #SCO and the #EAEU are making a contribution to its strengthening.

❗️ He also indicated the risks to peace and stability in Asia introduced by NATO and the US-created selective bloc mechanisms. He reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to reinforcing ASEAN’s central role in the regional security system through the build-up of an equitable dialogue and practical interaction.

Participants in the EAS meeting discussed preparations for the 19th East Asia Summit scheduled to be held in Vientiane in October 2024. At previous summits, Russia proposed initiatives to create a regional epidemic response mechanism and to secure economic growth in the Asia Pacific Region by promoting tourism cooperation. Russia also suggested focusing on the development of remote territories as a possible option for long-term cooperation.

☝️ The ARF session focused on building up the ARF’s potential in counterterrorism, emergency response, and #ICT security. Russia stressed that it is unacceptable to reformat the ARF mandate, restrict certain member states’ access to its activities, or block mutually beneficial cooperation projects for political reasons.

The session approved the ARF’s working plans on countering terrorism and transnational crime for 2024-2026, emergency response for 2024-2027, and a Ministerial Statement on strengthening regional cooperation in ferry service safety.

🤝 The participants also summed up the results of the Russian-Indonesian co-chairmanship of the ARF Inter-Sessional Meetings on ICT security in 2022-2024. A number of practical initiatives to combat cybercrime was implemented during that period.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🎙 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.

<...>

❗️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.

<...>

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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Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🇷🇺🌍 On September 10, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat at the Russian Foreign Minsitry, who is in Moscow for the ceremony of awarding the #AfricanUnion the Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize.

The officials discussed a wide range of issues related to multi-pronged cooperation between Russia and the African Union, including the strengthening of coordination of efforts for peace, security, stability and sustainable development. They also expressed a shared interest in expanding economic ties, including between the African Union and the #EAEU.

The Russian side reaffirmed its invariable readiness to consolidate efforts with the African Union at international venues during discussions of the African continent’s current problems, based on the African Solution to African Problems principle.

They also focused on tasks concerning the implementation of the decisions made at the Second Russia-Africa Summit held in St Petersburg in July 2023 and preparations for the ministerial conference of the #RussiaAfrica Partnership Forum to be held in Sochi in November of this year.
🇷🇺🌐 Highlights from speech by Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to Russian President, following EEF 2024

🔹 Over 7,100 people from 75 countries, including 16 “unfriendly” states, took part in the forum’s events.

The largest delegations were from China, Malaysia, Bulgaria, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

🔹 The business program included over 120 sessions and roundtables with over 700 speakers.

🔹 292 agreements totaling 5.5 trillion rubles were signed at the forum.

🌍 BRICS, SCO, and EAEU:

🔸 The first #NATO country, Turkey, applied to join BRICS.

🔸 In total, 60 new countries have expressed their intention to join #BRICS, #SCO, and #EAEU.

🔸 The leaders of BRICS countries will discuss the possibility of expanding the grouping at the summit in Kazan in October.

🔸 Russia is the fifth largest economy in the world by purchasing power parity and the first economy in Europe.

🔸 More than 2/3 of settlements between BRICS members are conducted in national currencies.

🔸 The share of BRICS countries in Russia’s trade balance has doubled in the last two years, exceeding 40%, and Russia’s settlements in national currencies with BRICS partners have increased more than three times – to 85%.

#EEF2024
Strengthening ties with developing countries: a key priority for Russia's #BRICS Chairmanship

👉 As part of the #BRICS Chairmanship, Russia is prioritizing deepening connections with developing countries and integration associations, including the Eurasian Economic Union (#EAEU).

🤝 Engaging in Global Discussions: Our Eurasian partners are keenly interested in BRICS dialogues on a range of crucial topics, such as global governance reform.

🤝 Collaborating on Key Issues: We are joining forces on vital issues like food and energy security, fair energy transitions, independent financial systems, and climate change.

🤝 Expanding Global Networks: #BRICS plays a pivotal role in global governance. To be truly effective, it must build a broad network of partnerships across all regions.

🤝 Advocating for Developing Nations: We champion the interests of developing regions, including Eurasia, Africa, and Latin America, and support collective solutions for global challenges.

🤝 Advancing Economic Diplomacy: Key tasks include developing a new regional supply chain architecture, modernizing and creating international transport corridors (such as the North-South ITC), and strengthening #EAEU integration.

🤝 EAEU Integration Goals: Our long-term vision includes ensuring a stable domestic market, fostering joint cooperation, creating a common transport and logistics space, developing a unified financial market, and positioning the EAEU as a global economic hub.

#EAEU #BRICS2024
Strengthening economic relations between #Russia, #Africa, and the Eurasian Economic Union (#EAEU)

For the first time, financial and economic relations between Russia, Africa, and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) are shifting away from Western currencies in favour of national currencies.

As of the beginning of the year, the Russian ruble accounted for nearly 50% of mutual settlements. This transition not only accelerates transactions but also enhances the competitiveness of national currencies in the global market, contributing to the stabilization of exchange rates against other currencies.

Consequently, this trend stimulates the rapid development of mutual trade.

👉 The demand for national currencies in transactions between the #EAEU states and #Africa was prominently highlighted at the Russian-African Business Forum held in St. Petersburg in July of last year. During the forum, it was noted that the number of contracts and agreements – both trade and investment – in national currencies was on the rise.

⚠️ This shift, alongside other mutual benefits, is fostering industrialization and supporting the economic decolonization of African nations.

📈 This momentum is reflected in the substantial growth of mutual trade. In 2023, Russian exports to African countries surged by more than 50% compared to 2022, while imports rose by about 25%. Many experts predict that these trade indicators will continue to rise by at least 15-25% this year, with African exports expected to increase by 23-25%.

Notably, the share of other
#EAEU countries in trade with #Africa has risen from 15% in the early 2020s to nearly 25% at the start of this year. Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa have remained the largest trade partners of the EAEU in Africa.

Africa’s growing interest in trade with the EAEU is primarily due to the latter’s lack of political conditions attached to product supplies, unlike former Western powers.

❗️ This openness supports African nations’ industrialization, export, and food supply initiatives. In contrast, the financial and economic policies of former Western metropolises aim to maintain Africa’s status as an agrarian and raw materials appendage.

#EAEU #Africa
#EAEU Growth Amid Global Challenges

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin took part in the plenary session of the 2024 Eurasian Economic Forum titled Digitalisation in Modern Realities: A Key to Ensuring the Four Freedoms (Yerevan, 1st October 2024)

Key takeaways:

🔹 Over the past decade, the #EAEU has thrived as an integration project, fostering the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labor among its member states.

🔹Union economies are growing faster than the global average, gaining recognition on the world stage. President Putin emphasizes the EAEU's potential as a strong, self-sufficient player in a multipolar world.

📈 Despite a slowing global economy and external pressures, the #EAEU is thriving:

GDP: +4.5% in the first half of 2024

Industrial Production: +4.8%

Agricultural Output: +3.5%

Construction: +4%

Retail Trade: +8.5%

Mutual trade within the #EAEU surged by 5.7% in the first half of this year, with around 90% of transactions conducted in national currencies.

#EAEU2024
Invitation to participate in the #BRICS summit in Russia’s Kazan was sent to 38 countries in total; 32 of them already confirmed their participation.

Other statements made by Russian president’s aide Yuri Ushakov:

👉 The leaders of nine #BRICS member countries will take part in the summit in Kazan, Saudi Arabia will be represented by the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

👉 The secretaries general of the #UN, #SCO, #CIS, Eurasian Economic Union (#EAEU), #UnionState, and the president of the New Development Bank will take part in the summit;

👉 The #BRICS summit in Kazan will be the largest foreign policy event ever held in Russia;

👉 The launch of a single financial platform, clearing infrastructure and reinsurance company within #BRICS will expand the practice of settlements in national currencies and reduce costs in mutual trade;

👉 Russia regards the launch of new formats of interaction in the transport and logistics sector, nuclear medicine, and climate spheres as an achievement of its #BRICS chairmanship.

#BRICS2024
The ‘Seamless Transit’ project to expedite cargo transportation in the region of Central Asia, the Trans-Caspian route and the Transcaucasian countries is being implemented across the Eurasian Economic Union (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan).

🤝 The project was launched in May 2024 along the China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan route (Southern Transport Corridor) and it is expected to be implemented along the China-Kazakhstan-Russia-Belarus route (Northern Transport Corridor) in 2025.

✔️ The ‘Seamless Transit’ enables automatic administration of container transportation by rail along routes from China to Central Asia and Europe via the Altynkol railway checkpoint on the Kazakh-Chinese border.

#EAEU #EurasianIntegration #Kazakhstan #digitalization
🎙 Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:

President Vladimir Putin, in his address at the Russian Foreign Ministry on June 14 this year, outlined the goal of fostering cooperation among the diverse countries and associations of the Eurasian continent. This aims to harmonise their efforts towards ensuring reliable stability, security, and sustainable development.

☝️ It was underscored that this initiative is open to all countries and entities on the Eurasian continent, including its western sections, without exception.
This is not in line with the rules imposed by #NATO and the #EuropeanUnion, where Washington and Brussels dictate terms, but rather adheres to the principles spelled out in the #UN Charter.

🤝 These principles are observed within the #EAEU, the #SCO, #ASEAN, and other organisations on our shared continent. It is a commitment to sovereign equality of states, mutual respect for each other's interests, and pursuit of balanced interests to implement constructive projects.

🔗 Read Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks following the 21st annual session of the Valdai International Discussion Club

#Valdai2024
🇷🇺🌍 During the First Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, Special Presdidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Mr. Mikhail Bogdanov met with Deputy Chairperson for the African Union (AU) Commission Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa.

🤝 The parties held a comprehensive discussion on a wide range of issues on the shared agenda of #Russia and the #AU. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the comprehensive Russian-African partnership to promote peace, security, stability, and create conditions for sustainable development.

☝️ They also expressed mutual interest in expanding economic ties, including between the #AU and the Eurasian Economic Union (#EAEU), as well as in implementing major energy, mining, infrastructure, and other investment projects.

❗️The Russian side emphasized that, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia would continue to give the highest priority and provide necessary support to African initiatives aimed at resolving conflicts on the continent, including efforts to strengthen the AU's peacekeeping capacity.

Our country also reiterated its readiness to maintain close coordination with the AU and its member states in international fora when addressing the continent's topical challenges, always in compliance with the principle "African solutions to African problems."

#RussiaAfrica