Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🗞️Read 🇷🇺Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov’s interview with Trud newspaper, published on August 21, 2020
🔗https://is.gd/3qQMBk
#Diplomacy #UN #COVID19 #WWII #EU #US #NATO #OSCE #Ukraine #Donbass #Georgia #Armenia #Azerbaijan #Estonia #Latvia #MiddleEast #Serbia #Kosovo
🔗https://is.gd/3qQMBk
#Diplomacy #UN #COVID19 #WWII #EU #US #NATO #OSCE #Ukraine #Donbass #Georgia #Armenia #Azerbaijan #Estonia #Latvia #MiddleEast #Serbia #Kosovo
🔹During the exchange of views on key issues on the international and regional agenda, the Russian side emphasized its inalterable approach to strengthening the multipolar world order, establishing positive practice-oriented cooperation between the countries of the Asia-Pacific region aimed at countering the evolving threats to its stable and progressive development, including amid the global economic crisis provoked by the West with severe consequences in the food and energy sectors.
⚡️The risks related to the "globalization" of #NATO and the Western thread on the militarization of the Asia-Pacific region, including through the formation of a military-technological infrastructure on the AUKUS platform (US-UK-Australia), with its conjugation with the Euro-Atlantic power potential were particularly emphasized. The attention of the partners from #ASEAN was drawn to the false bottom of the "Indo-Pacific" projects starting from the block platforms, that base their activities not on the broadest possible cooperation, but on the objectives of deterrence and counteraction.
🤝Russia expressed support for ASEAN's efforts to preserve the unity of the organization and maintain a multipolar, sustainable architecture of interstate relations in the Asia-Pacific region, based on the principles of mutual respect and equality, as well as maintaining a balance of interests of all participants of the regional process.
ASEAN-organized summit events had taken steps to further strengthen relations between the Association and other institutions of the Eurasian space with a positive agenda and in the interests of building broad cross-platform cooperation. There were contacts between ASEAN and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming delivered the address at the opening of the #EAS plenary session.
🔹The Russian side spoke in favor of building up non-politicized applied cooperation within the East Asia Summit framework, including in the context of harmonization of the new mid-term EAS Plan of Actions – a roadmap of its activities for 2023-2027.
🇷🇺Russia has put forward the idea of launching a collective response mechanism to pandemic threats on the EAS platform. It could have become a good practical outcome of longstanding efforts to promote cooperation in this area, with its key aspects reflected in the EAS relevant top-level statement, adopted in 2020 following our country’s proposal.
We drew the partners’ attention to the need to fulfill the objectives, set in the Russia-initiated 2021 Leaders’ Statement on developing cooperation in tourism. The Russian side noted the importance of an early organization of a meeting of the heads of relevant authorities of the EAS States Parties, aimed to launch the programs of targeted interaction to stimulate the post-pandemic economic recovery of the countries of the region.
🔸The Russian proposals to establish cooperation among the volunteer organizations to deepen the region-wide humanitarian interconnectedness received ASEAN’s active support.
⚡️The risks related to the "globalization" of #NATO and the Western thread on the militarization of the Asia-Pacific region, including through the formation of a military-technological infrastructure on the AUKUS platform (US-UK-Australia), with its conjugation with the Euro-Atlantic power potential were particularly emphasized. The attention of the partners from #ASEAN was drawn to the false bottom of the "Indo-Pacific" projects starting from the block platforms, that base their activities not on the broadest possible cooperation, but on the objectives of deterrence and counteraction.
🤝Russia expressed support for ASEAN's efforts to preserve the unity of the organization and maintain a multipolar, sustainable architecture of interstate relations in the Asia-Pacific region, based on the principles of mutual respect and equality, as well as maintaining a balance of interests of all participants of the regional process.
ASEAN-organized summit events had taken steps to further strengthen relations between the Association and other institutions of the Eurasian space with a positive agenda and in the interests of building broad cross-platform cooperation. There were contacts between ASEAN and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming delivered the address at the opening of the #EAS plenary session.
🔹The Russian side spoke in favor of building up non-politicized applied cooperation within the East Asia Summit framework, including in the context of harmonization of the new mid-term EAS Plan of Actions – a roadmap of its activities for 2023-2027.
🇷🇺Russia has put forward the idea of launching a collective response mechanism to pandemic threats on the EAS platform. It could have become a good practical outcome of longstanding efforts to promote cooperation in this area, with its key aspects reflected in the EAS relevant top-level statement, adopted in 2020 following our country’s proposal.
We drew the partners’ attention to the need to fulfill the objectives, set in the Russia-initiated 2021 Leaders’ Statement on developing cooperation in tourism. The Russian side noted the importance of an early organization of a meeting of the heads of relevant authorities of the EAS States Parties, aimed to launch the programs of targeted interaction to stimulate the post-pandemic economic recovery of the countries of the region.
🔸The Russian proposals to establish cooperation among the volunteer organizations to deepen the region-wide humanitarian interconnectedness received ASEAN’s active support.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with TASS news agency (December 30, 2024)
Key points:
#Ukraine #USA
• We have not received any official signals [from the USA] regarding a settlement in Ukraine.
• We are not happy with the proposals made by members of the Trump team to postpone Ukraine’s admission to NATO for 20 years and to station British and European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine.
• What we need is reliable and legally binding agreements that would eliminate the root causes of the conflict and seal a mechanism precluding the possibility of their violation.
#RussiaUSA #NATO
• We are ready to renew the political dialogue which Washington terminated after the start of the special military operation, if the United States is ready for this. Since it was the Americans who cut it off, it is for them to make the first move.
• They [the West] have been long relying on efforts to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries, including our closest neighbours, as their foreign policy tool. For many years, Washington and its satellites have been acting this way in an effort to deter and contain their geopolitical rivals and do away with any unwanted actors, as confirmed by what happened in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Ukraine.
#Georgia
• The developments in Georgia stem from the double standards when caring for democracy and human rights serves as a pretext for overturning election results after even the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights with its tainted reputation recognised the election as being free and fair. Why do they want to change the results? Just because the puppet masters in Washington and Brussels did not find the way people voted there to their liking.
• The United States and the European Union are trying to impose a distorted vision on Tbilisi which consists of dividing everyone into those who are with us and those who are against us. Meanwhile, it seems that Georgian authorities have opted for a sovereign policy which meets the country’s national interests. They refuse to act as pawns manipulated by the West in its effort to destabilise Georgia, undermine its economy and incite escalation in its relations with Russia.
#Syria #MiddleEast
• The Syrians’ hopes for improvements after a convincing defeat of international terrorism, including with the help of Russia’s Aerospace Forces, have not materialised.
• Washington, which has effectively occupied the resource-rich north-eastern part of Syria and is putting serious sanctions pressure on Damascus together with a coalition of its satellites, bears a great deal of blame for this. This line for strangling the Syrian economy stirred up social discontent.
• Trying to maintain its influence [in the Middle East and North Africa], Washington actively interfered in the internal affairs of Arab countries and aggressively drew new dividing lines there. Iraq and Libya are still trying to clear up the consequences of the Americans and their satellites’ reckless behaviour.
#China
• The Americans are taking inciting actions in the Taiwan Strait and supplying weapons to Taipei while forging a quasi-political dialogue with the local authorities.
• It is clear to us that this policy pursued by Washington in violation of its obligations to Beijing on Taiwan is part of their strategy to step up military and political pressure on the PRC and eventually undermine regional security at the eastern end of the Eurasian continent.
• Russia reaffirms its adherence to the #OneChina principle, recognises that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China, opposes any form of “Taiwan independence,” and firmly supports China’s measures to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity and achieve national reunification.
Read in full
Key points:
#Ukraine #USA
• We have not received any official signals [from the USA] regarding a settlement in Ukraine.
• We are not happy with the proposals made by members of the Trump team to postpone Ukraine’s admission to NATO for 20 years and to station British and European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine.
• What we need is reliable and legally binding agreements that would eliminate the root causes of the conflict and seal a mechanism precluding the possibility of their violation.
#RussiaUSA #NATO
• We are ready to renew the political dialogue which Washington terminated after the start of the special military operation, if the United States is ready for this. Since it was the Americans who cut it off, it is for them to make the first move.
• They [the West] have been long relying on efforts to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries, including our closest neighbours, as their foreign policy tool. For many years, Washington and its satellites have been acting this way in an effort to deter and contain their geopolitical rivals and do away with any unwanted actors, as confirmed by what happened in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Ukraine.
#Georgia
• The developments in Georgia stem from the double standards when caring for democracy and human rights serves as a pretext for overturning election results after even the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights with its tainted reputation recognised the election as being free and fair. Why do they want to change the results? Just because the puppet masters in Washington and Brussels did not find the way people voted there to their liking.
• The United States and the European Union are trying to impose a distorted vision on Tbilisi which consists of dividing everyone into those who are with us and those who are against us. Meanwhile, it seems that Georgian authorities have opted for a sovereign policy which meets the country’s national interests. They refuse to act as pawns manipulated by the West in its effort to destabilise Georgia, undermine its economy and incite escalation in its relations with Russia.
#Syria #MiddleEast
• The Syrians’ hopes for improvements after a convincing defeat of international terrorism, including with the help of Russia’s Aerospace Forces, have not materialised.
• Washington, which has effectively occupied the resource-rich north-eastern part of Syria and is putting serious sanctions pressure on Damascus together with a coalition of its satellites, bears a great deal of blame for this. This line for strangling the Syrian economy stirred up social discontent.
• Trying to maintain its influence [in the Middle East and North Africa], Washington actively interfered in the internal affairs of Arab countries and aggressively drew new dividing lines there. Iraq and Libya are still trying to clear up the consequences of the Americans and their satellites’ reckless behaviour.
#China
• The Americans are taking inciting actions in the Taiwan Strait and supplying weapons to Taipei while forging a quasi-political dialogue with the local authorities.
• It is clear to us that this policy pursued by Washington in violation of its obligations to Beijing on Taiwan is part of their strategy to step up military and political pressure on the PRC and eventually undermine regional security at the eastern end of the Eurasian continent.
• Russia reaffirms its adherence to the #OneChina principle, recognises that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China, opposes any form of “Taiwan independence,” and firmly supports China’s measures to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity and achieve national reunification.
Read in full
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🎙 Following the EAEU summit, President of Russia Vladimir Putin answered questions from Russian journalists
📍 Minsk, June 27, 2025
#EAEU
As for the outcomes of today’s EAEU summit, we are satisfied with the results and have drawn certain conclusions.
The President of Belarus has already noted that our development strategy, which was designed to run until this year, is nearing completion. We are considering how to structure our joint efforts moving forward. However, overall, the results of our work cannot but satisfy us. They satisfy all of us. Why? Because the key aggregate indicator of economic performance is the growth rate.
In the EAEU, it exceeds the global average. As is known, global growth stands at 3.3 percent. The EAEU’s growth is over 4 percent – significantly higher. In some countries, it is substantially greater, reaching 5 percent or even approaching 6 percent, in my view. This is, among other things, a direct result of our joint efforts, as the very purpose of our work is to eliminate trade and other economic barriers to cooperation. Without exaggeration, this multiplies the potential for economic growth.
#Ukraine
Regarding the memorandums [Russian and Ukrainian], as expected, there were no surprises. I will not tell you anything surprising, either. These are two absolutely opposing memorandums, but that is precisely why talks are set up and held – to find ways to bring positions closer. The fact that they were diametrically opposed does not seem surprising to me, either. I would not like to go into details, as I believe it would be counterproductive – even harmful – to get ahead of the talks.
With regard to what has been achieved so far following the talks, I think you can see it for yourself. Today, if I am not mistaken, another exchange took place… or was it yesterday? Today, right? And this is important. The humanitarian aspect matters because, as diplomats say, it creates conditions for substantive discussions on core issues. We agreed that after completing these exchanges and the humanitarian operation which we proposed – specifically, the transfer of the servicemen’s bodies – we would press ahead with more contacts.
We have already handed over more than 6,000 bodies and are ready to transfer nearly 3,000 more, but it is now up to the Ukrainian side to agree to accept the remains of their fallen soldiers.
We agreed that after this phase is completed, we would hold the third round of talks. We are ready for it overall. The venue and the time need to be agreed upon. I expect President Erdogan to keep unchanged his supportive stance with regard to this process. We are very grateful to him for that. We stand ready to hold this meeting in Istanbul. As for the exact timeframe, the heads of the negotiating teams from both sides – who remain in constant, direct contact and regularly get on the phone with each other (which, I believe, is a good sign) – are discussing the date for the next meeting.
The agenda? In my opinion, the discussion should focus on the memoranda from both sides.
#EU #NATO
We are planning to cut the defence expenses next year and the year after, as well during the next three years. The Defence Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development have yet to reach the final agreement, still, in general, everybody is thinking along these lines. And Europe is thinking about raising its defence expenses.
So, who is getting ready for any aggressive actions, us or them?
Yes, we do want to complete the special military operation with the result we need. Certainly. This is what we take into account when planning our defence expenses, not aggressive aspirations against Europe and NATO countries. And we want to decrease the expenses, while they want to increase them.
📄 Read in full
📍 Minsk, June 27, 2025
#EAEU
As for the outcomes of today’s EAEU summit, we are satisfied with the results and have drawn certain conclusions.
The President of Belarus has already noted that our development strategy, which was designed to run until this year, is nearing completion. We are considering how to structure our joint efforts moving forward. However, overall, the results of our work cannot but satisfy us. They satisfy all of us. Why? Because the key aggregate indicator of economic performance is the growth rate.
In the EAEU, it exceeds the global average. As is known, global growth stands at 3.3 percent. The EAEU’s growth is over 4 percent – significantly higher. In some countries, it is substantially greater, reaching 5 percent or even approaching 6 percent, in my view. This is, among other things, a direct result of our joint efforts, as the very purpose of our work is to eliminate trade and other economic barriers to cooperation. Without exaggeration, this multiplies the potential for economic growth.
#Ukraine
Regarding the memorandums [Russian and Ukrainian], as expected, there were no surprises. I will not tell you anything surprising, either. These are two absolutely opposing memorandums, but that is precisely why talks are set up and held – to find ways to bring positions closer. The fact that they were diametrically opposed does not seem surprising to me, either. I would not like to go into details, as I believe it would be counterproductive – even harmful – to get ahead of the talks.
With regard to what has been achieved so far following the talks, I think you can see it for yourself. Today, if I am not mistaken, another exchange took place… or was it yesterday? Today, right? And this is important. The humanitarian aspect matters because, as diplomats say, it creates conditions for substantive discussions on core issues. We agreed that after completing these exchanges and the humanitarian operation which we proposed – specifically, the transfer of the servicemen’s bodies – we would press ahead with more contacts.
We have already handed over more than 6,000 bodies and are ready to transfer nearly 3,000 more, but it is now up to the Ukrainian side to agree to accept the remains of their fallen soldiers.
We agreed that after this phase is completed, we would hold the third round of talks. We are ready for it overall. The venue and the time need to be agreed upon. I expect President Erdogan to keep unchanged his supportive stance with regard to this process. We are very grateful to him for that. We stand ready to hold this meeting in Istanbul. As for the exact timeframe, the heads of the negotiating teams from both sides – who remain in constant, direct contact and regularly get on the phone with each other (which, I believe, is a good sign) – are discussing the date for the next meeting.
The agenda? In my opinion, the discussion should focus on the memoranda from both sides.
#EU #NATO
We are planning to cut the defence expenses next year and the year after, as well during the next three years. The Defence Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development have yet to reach the final agreement, still, in general, everybody is thinking along these lines. And Europe is thinking about raising its defence expenses.
So, who is getting ready for any aggressive actions, us or them?
Yes, we do want to complete the special military operation with the result we need. Certainly. This is what we take into account when planning our defence expenses, not aggressive aspirations against Europe and NATO countries. And we want to decrease the expenses, while they want to increase them.
📄 Read in full