🇷🇺🇲🇳 President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President if Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh took part in the celebrations marking the 85th anniversary of the joint victory of Soviet and Mongolian armed forces over the Japanese militarists on the river Khalkhin Gol.

The two Leaders laid a wreath at the monument to Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov at the Georgy Zhukov Memorial Complex in Ulaanbaatar.

ℹ️ In 1939, Georgy Zhukov was awarded the first golden star of the Hero of the Soviet Union for the operation on the Khalkhin Gol river, which resulted in victory of the Soviet-Mongolian forces over the Japanese Kwantung Army. In 1969, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Mongolian People’s Republic.

The Memorial Complex includes a museum and a monument. It was opened in 1979 to mark the 40th anniversary of the Khalkhin Gol victory, at a site where in 1939–1940 the residence of Georgy Zhukov was located.

Presidents Putin and Khurelsukh talked briefly with a Khalkhin Gol war veteran and search party members and participants in the 6th “Memory is Stronger than Time” youth expedition.

#RussiaMongolia

🇷🇺🇲🇳 Statement by President of Russia Vladimir Putin following bilateral talks with President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh (Ulaanbaatar, September 3, 2024).

💬 I am convinced that our military brotherhood forged during the grim years of ordeals, as well as long-time traditions of neighbourliness and mutual assistance, will continue to serve as a solid foundation for the friendly Russian-Mongolian relations.

These relations are developing dynamically and becoming stronger in full conformity with the Interstate Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, signed here, in Ulaanbaatar, exactly five years ago. <...>

📈 Both countries paid great attention to fostering mutually beneficial trade and investment ties. Russia is one of Mongolia’s largest foreign economic partners. In the first seven months of 2024, trade between Russia and Mongolia grew by over 21%. It is notable that trade settlements between our two countries are almost entirely denominated in currencies other than the US dollar and the euro. <...>

Russia has long been a reliable supplier of energy resources for the Mongolian economy. Over 90% of petrol and diesel used by Mongolia in 2023 was imported from Russia. <...>

There are good prospects for our cooperation in the gas sector. We have completed the design documentation for the Soyuz Vostok gas pipeline extension, which will run for nearly 1,000 kilometres through Russia, Mongolia and China. The project is at the stage of state expert appraisal and assessment of its potential environmental footprint. <...>

Of course, it is important to us that Mongolians love and learn the Russian language. Over the decades, Mongolia has established a good teaching system that opens up broad opportunities for studying, expanding business, academic and cultural links between our countries. Russia will continue to support the teaching of the Russian language in Mongolia, including in its border regions. <...>

🌐 As we covered the international agenda, we reaffirmed that Russia and Mongolia have similar views on many topical global issues. Our cooperation programme continues.

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#RussiaMongolia

​🇷🇺💬Points forts de la conférence de presse de la porte-parole du ministère russe des Affaires étrangères, Maria Zakharova, du 4 septembre 2024:

🔹La partie russe avertit les responsables politiques de l'Union européenne et des pays de l'Otan qu'en cas de nouvelles mesures agressives de la part de l'Ukraine, la réponse de la Russie sera immédiate et douloureuse;

🔹L’Allemagne n'a toujours pas fourni de résultats concrets de l'enquête sur l'affaire du sabotage des gazoducs Nord Stream 1 et 2;

🔹Le sang des civils russes n'est pas seulement sur les mains des forces armées ukrainiennes et de Zelensky, mais aussi sur les mains de l'Occident, qui fournit au régime de Kiev des armes et des informations tactiques;

🔹Moscou surveille les activités de l'Otan en Finlande et évalue les risques potentiels;

🔹Moscou vise à approfondir la coopération avec Pékin, ce qui profite à la fois à la Russie et à la Chine, ainsi qu'à la région et au monde dans son ensemble;

🔹Le travail de mise à jour de la doctrine nucléaire russe est principalement dû aux défis mondiaux et régionaux pour la sécurité internationale, qui se multiplient en raison de la position absolument irresponsable de l'Occident, en raison des actions, en premier lieu, des États-Unis et de leurs alliés de l'Otan.

🎙 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

🇷🇺🇷🇸 President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vulin met on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.

💬 President Putin: I hope that your business mission here will be both successful and useful, particularly in terms of carrying out a careful review and assessing cooperation opportunities with Russia’s Far East, a vast region that holds immense potential and promise.

We have so many guests from a wide range of countries here, representing companies of all kinds and from across the world, including Asia and Europe. I believe that in addition to taking part in informal debates and official events, you can also engage with your colleagues from other countries. This is what makes events of this kind so valuable, among other things.

🤝 As for our bilateral relations, it is widely known what they represent. I am referring to the deep-rooted relations, their historical roots and the spiritual affinity between the people of Russia, the Russian nation and the Serbian nation.

Unfortunately, in terms of our trade and economic ties, trade has been declining, albeit slightly. I am aware that you and your cabinet are working on these matters. Perhaps it is time to hold an intergovernmental commission meeting in order to review the obstacles we face in this regard and remove them. Moreover, we have so many interesting avenues for cooperation in manufacturing, transport and industrial cooperation.

As you know, Russia plays a crucial role in supplying Serbia with energy resources, doing so efficiently and at a high level, always in a timely manner and on favourable terms for Serbia. This is something we will also discuss. There are specific issues we must address in this regard. For example, I am referring to the fact that our gas supply deals are set to expire in March 2025.

Of course, we are looking forward to hearing your assessment of what has been happening in your region from a security perspective and in terms of fulfilling the existing international agreements, particularly the Dayton Agreement. It would be very interesting and useful to hear your perspective and assessments on all these matters.

📄 Read in full

#RussiaSerbia

🎙 Excerpt from the interview with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for 'Bridges to the East' documentary, Moscow (August 31, 2024)

❓ Question: You mentioned the Kursk region earlier. I’d be remiss not to ask you a question about ongoing developments. You pointed out not long ago that Zelensky would have never dared invade the Kursk Region without orders from the United States. What is the West trying to accomplish by doing what it is doing and by flooding Ukraine nonstop with more weapons and mercenaries?

There are media reports where Zelensky may be possibly replaced by someone else. If that happens, will talks with Kiev remain on the table?

💬 Sergey Lavrov: I find it hard to tell what their exact plan was, because our Western colleagues have a devious mind and they often do things their own way, but nothing ever comes of it.

<...>

It’s hard to figure what their goals and plans were. Political analysts are discussing this. Even Zelensky said they needed this for future prisoner swaps, so he will thus capture some prisoners and grab some square kilometres in the process. This is so naive and guileless.

We do not discuss our territory with anyone. We do not hold talks over our territory. We are ready to discuss cutting short the crimes that the Kiev regime committed after the coup.

It started bombing its own cities because people in these cities refused to recognise the outcomes of the coup. These people rose up against the decision of the militants who came to power and banned the Russian language in all spheres of life. These people were declared terrorists. We were ready to negotiate in order to stop this. We held talks, which resulted in signing the Minsk agreements, which, as has recently been made public, no one ever planned to act upon. All they wanted was buy time to arm the Nazi regime, which continued to choke off everything Russian, with weapons for waging war against Russia.

❗️ To protect the rights of these people, their history, the legacy of their ancestors, their language, religion, and their culture, we were compelled to recognise the DPR and the LPR and to stand up for them as they requested us to do, and in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.

We supported the talks that led to the signing of the agreements between then-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich and the opposition in February 2014. The opposition tore them up the next morning and staged a bloody coup. Have those agreements been implemented, Ukraine would now be within its 1991 borders, which Zelensky dreams of.

If a year later, in February 2015, the Ukrainian leadership and its backers, France and Germany, had implemented the Minsk agreements, Ukraine would have still been within its 1991 borders, though without Crimea for obvious reasons. Had Ukraine fulfilled what we agreed upon in Istanbul in April 2022 and not listened to then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who told it not to do so, it would still be within its 1991 borders, less Crimea and a significant portion of Donbass.

Each time, Ukrainians were hopeless in their inability to reach and honour agreements. The West made it clear that it needed Ukraine only to hurt Russia, to annoy us, and to wage war against our country. The Western countries never had any use for these agreements. Each time the agreed-upon documents were sabotaged, Ukraine had more to lose.

<...>

In Istanbul, less than a month into the special military operation, reaching an agreement was easy. Ukraine didn’t want this, because it had not yet fully achieved its goal of “exhausting” Russia.

<...>

❓ Question: So, the subject of talks can make it back to the table provided these conditions are met?

Right now, talks are off the table. We are tired of saying that the President has made this point many times. Those who are implying that Russia is “turning negotiations down” while Ukraine is ready for them should take President Putin’s advice and tell Zelensky (when he is of sound mind and lucid memory) to cancel the executive order that bans talks.

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answer to a question of the Moscow.Kremlin.Putin programme (Ulaanbaatar, September 3, 2024)

❓Question: You have said that the atmosphere is great. The EU and the US have expressed concern that Mongolia is receiving President Putin.

💬 Sergey Lavrov: I pity them if they are concerned with such a good occasion. Two neighbours, two countries that fought side-by-side during WWII. We were allies with Mongolia at the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, and Mongolia was our ally in the Great Patriotic War.

If people raise questions about our close ties, then perhaps these are the people who have allowed Nazi undertones slip through again. And not just in their remarks, but in actions through their support of the Kiev regime.

✍️ Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s greetings to the organisers of and participants in a commemorative meeting on the 79th anniversary of Victory over militarist Japan and the end of the World War II

💬 It is a great honour and privilege for me to send my greetings to the participants in the commemorative meeting organised by the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation to mark the 79th anniversary of Victory over militarist Japan and the end of World War II.

Today, we remember the feat accomplished by the Soviet soldiers. They formed a single front with the people of China and Mongolia and had to bear the brunt of the aggressive push by the Japanese militarist regime, including in the heat of the battles of Lake Khasan and Khalkhin Gol River, and all this happened before Hitler staged his treacherous invasion of the Soviet Union.

The fact that we emerged victorious from these battles was instrumental in terms of military and foreign policy affairs for securing our far eastern borders. In 1945, our country made a decisive contribution to delivering a final blow to the Japanese militarist regime.

Unfortunately, the collective West has been stepping up its efforts and multiplying attempts to rewrite history by whitewashing those who stained their names forever by perpetrating war crimes and crimes against humanity. Tokyo’s official position consists of refusing to repent the aggression against several countries, including the USSR. Moreover, it persists with its absurd accusations alleging that it was our country that unleashed World War II.

We can see that they have been consistently seeking to falsify facts dealing with the creation of the Tripartite Pact by militarist Japan, Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, as well as the fact that Tokyo offered military, technical and logistics support to the Third Reich during its invasion of the Soviet Union.

At the same time, the Japanese authorities have been intentionally silencing the fact that it was the United States which bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Instead, the annual commemorations in these cities offer a stage for making sacrilegious statements alleging that the threat of using nuclear weapons comes from Russia.

☝️ Against this backdrop, we believe that it is high time that we highlight the courage and valour demonstrated by the Red Army soldiers and officers who defeated the Kwantung Army. Together with its friends in China and Mongolia, the Foreign Ministry has been acting on multiple fronts in its awareness, outreach and educational efforts, as well as commemorative and memorial work to expose more crimes perpetrated by Japan during World War II. We believe that Tokyo’s compliance with the peace-related provisions of its own constitution would strengthen regional and global security.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the senior officials from the Russian Defence Ministry for their initiative to convene this gathering and for making all these effective arrangements. I wish you fruitful work and all the best.

⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry's Ambassador-at-Large on the Kiev Regime's War Crimes Rodion Miroshnik:

💬 Today's shelling of the Sokol market in Donetsk by the Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed a horrific toll of 13 people being hit, killing three people, including two children, leaving others injured.

According to the latest data of the DNR Joint Centre of Control and Coordination, during the shelling of the Sokol market in Donetsk three people were killed: a girl born in 2011, a teenage boy born in 2009, and a man born in 1989.

Another child – a boy born in 2013 – was moderately wounded.

Another eight people also sustained injuries and wounds from the shelling: men born in 1976, 1984, 1986, 1994, 1996 and 1998, and women born in 1975 and 1988. Two of the victims are in serious condition, the other six – with injuries of moderate severity.

📹 © RIA NOVOSTI

🎙 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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🇷🇺🇲🇾 President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim met on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.

💬 President Putin: Mr. Prime Minister, I would like to begin by thanking you for accepting our invitation to come here and attend the Eastern Economic Forum. Tomorrow, we will take part in its plenary session, and I am certain that this will be a useful event for discussing our objectives in bringing the regional economies closer together. In fact, we have many guests here from dozens of countries, which means that you will be able to engage in useful contacts not only with your Russian colleagues, but also with colleagues from other countries.

Of course, I do hope that we will have an opportunity to explore ways to expand our cooperation as part of these efforts. Today, trade between our countries amounts to about $3.5 billion, which can hardly be considered a satisfactory result for us considering the potential we have. In fact, there are many opportunities on both sides.

As you know, Russia pays considerable attention to developing its relations with Southeast Asia and ASEAN. Malaysia plays a prominent role in this association, and will be assuming the chairmanship of ASEAN next year. We sincerely hope that during your chairmanship, we will be able to explore new opportunities for cooperation with this rapidly growing and promising region.

🎊 To conclude my opening remarks, I would like to congratulate you and the Malaysian leadership, as well as the entire nation on Independence Day, the national holiday you have celebrated recently. As far as I know, it is observed on August 31. I would like to use this opportunity to wish the people of Malaysia all the best, prosperity and wellbeing.

#RussiaMalaysia