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

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov’s video address to participants in the 9th BRICS Legal Forum (Moscow, September 19, 2024)

💬 I would like to cordially greet the organisers and participants in the #BRICS Legal Forum, being held in this format for the ninth time.

Over the years, the Forum has asserted itself as an influential international platform that provides professional jurists with an excellent opportunity to exchange experience and applied knowledge in the field of regulating various spheres of public life and interstate collaboration. This makes it possible to better understand the specific features of BRICS member states’ legal systems in the interests of strengthening comprehensive legal cooperation between them.

I am noting with satisfaction that the Forum’s central theme, Law: Safeguarding a Fair World, meets the current agenda. It is common knowledge that countries of the US-led collective West strive to destabilise the existing system of international law and to replace it with their own pro-Western rules-based world order.

For its part, Russia is firmly committed to the principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interconnection. We believe that unconditional compliance with the norms of international law is a highly important component of forging a more equitable multipolar world order heeding the cultural and civilisational diversity of nations worldwide and their sovereign right to decide their destiny.

🤝 I am delighted to note that our position enjoys the broadest support among like-minded BRICS countries and other states of the Global Majority.

Your meeting has a rather packed agenda. You will discuss a wide range of topical issues, including the international justice system, the legal dimension of international trade, as well as legal aspects of sport and energy cooperation.

I am confident that the Forum will take place in a constructive and creative setting, and that it will contribute to more effective legal collaboration and to charting common approaches towards the regulation of various aspects of cooperation within BRICS.

I wish you productive discussions.

#BRICS2024

#RussiaIndia

🇷🇺🇮🇳 On September 25, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, held a meeting on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The two Ministers discussed key matters on the bilateral cooperation agenda, as well as urgent international issues, including preparations for the upcoming #BRICS Summit in Kazan, the Ukraine settlement, as well as the situation in the Asia-Pacific Region in connection with the Western attempts to bring NATO elements into this region.

They agreed to continue coordinating interactions between Russia and India within the key multilateral formats.

#DruzhbaDosti #UNGA79

📺 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on the sidelines of the 79th Session.

📍 New York, September 25, 2024

💬 The formation of a multilateral world requires upgrading of the international governance architecture, if we want to build a more just and democratic world order based on the enduring principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interconnection.

#G20, as a leading economic forum, can give a powerful boost to these objective processes that are dictated by life itself. We believe that the G20 should strictly adhere to its mandate and not delve into issues of peace and security and other universal problems, which the UN is here to deal with. It is important that the activities of our platform are strictly based on the principle of consensus.

At the G20 summit in New Delhi in 2023, we promised to strengthen the voice of developing countries in collective decision-making. It is necessary to translate these promises into concrete actions. The reform of international institutions, which must be considered as global public goods, should be carried out taking into account the interests of new growing centres of global development. The current conditions show that there have been significant changes in the balance of economic leaders.

📈 Two years ago, BRICS member countries surpassed the G7 in terms of real GDP. According to forecasts, the ten BRICS members will produce about 37% of the world’s output, while the G7 group will fall to 27% or even lower.

At the same time, we can see the African continent and other regions of the Global South and East quickly rising. Russia is actively reorienting its trade to their markets. This includes the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

🌐 Innovative multilateral formats such as #BRICS (where Russia presides in 2024), the SCO, the EAEU, ASEAN, the African Union, and CELAC are becoming increasingly important.

Projects designed to align integration efforts, such as Russia’s flagship Greater Eurasian Partnership initiative, are picking up momentum.

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A tangible progress has been achieved in the context of efforts to de-dollarise the international financial and economic system. In particular, the share of national currencies in Russia’s settlements with the SCO and EAEU countries has exceeded 90%. Russia and its BRICS partners have achieved an indicator equal to 65%, and this figure grows. The share of the dollar in the BRICS payments pattern is currently below 29%.

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🤷‍♂️ Nevertheless, certain global mechanisms are still in the West’s hands, and it tends to abuse them. A matter of particular concern are the attempts on the part of the United States and its allies to impose a confrontational agenda on international organisations in order to make them the vehicles of unilateral restrictions, plunder, impoundment of sovereign assets, trade wars and unfair competition, including in the name of environmentalism and climate.

All of these are clear manifestations of neocolonialism. Over the past ten years, the collective West has introduced more than 21,000 illegal restrictions against Russia alone. Their extraterritorial use – and this is an even more odious, illegitimate, raider-style approach – is primarily affecting the poorest countries and destitute population groups, depriving them of affordable energy, food and fertiliser.

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Another topical task is combat the predominance and influence of Western states’ citizens who occupy top positions in international secretariats.

🇺🇳 A reform of the global governance system should heed the intransient central role of the UN in the system of international relations. The UN Charter and international law should not be substituted by any behind-the-scenes "rules".

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☝️ We should be guided by a striving to achieve genuine multilateralism, the main guarantee of strategic stability, indivisible security and an open and non-discriminatory economy.

Full transcript

🌐 On September 26, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took part in a traditional #BRICS Ministerial meeting held on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The Ministers had an in-depth exchange of views on a broad range of international issues, including items on the agenda of the 79th UN General Assembly session. Discussions focused on peace and security, global economic stability, and sustainable development. The participants reiterated their commitment to enhancing coordination within BRICS on international platforms.

As part of preparations for the upcoming BRICS Summit in Kazan on October 22-24, the ministers reviewed pressing BRICS cooperation-related issues, including the establishment of a partner country category. The Brazilian delegation provided an outline of its BRICS chairmanship in 2025.

#UNGA79

🎙Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview to Newsweek magazine (October 7, 2024)

❓Question: As the Ukraine conflict continues, how different is Russia's position than in 2022 and how are the costs of conflict being weighed against the progress made toward strategic objectives?

💬 Sergey Lavrov: Our position is widely known and remains unchanged. Russia is open to a politico-diplomatic settlement that should remove the root causes of the crisis.

It should aim to end the conflict rather than achieve a ceasefire. The West should stop supplying weapons, and Kiev should end the hostilities.

👉 Ukraine should return to its neutral, non-bloc and non-nuclear status, protect the Russian language, and respect the rights and freedoms of its citizens.

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On 14 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin listed prerequisites for the settlement as follows: complete AFU withdrawal from the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson Oblasts; recognition of territorial realities as enshrined in the Russian Constitution; neutral, non-bloc, non-nuclear status for Ukraine; its demilitarization and denazification; securing the rights, freedoms and interests of Russian-speaking citizens; and removal of all sanctions against Russia.

Kiev responded to this statement by an armed incursion into the Kursk Oblast on 6 August. Its patrons – the US and other NATO countries – seek to inflict a «strategic defeat» on Russia. Under the circumstances, we have no choice but to continue our special military operation until the threats posed by Ukraine are removed. <...>

❓Question: How likely do you think it is that a military or diplomatic solution can be achieved, or do you see a greater risk of the conflict spiraling into something even larger with Ukrainian forces receiving more advanced NATO weaponry and entering Russian territory?

💬 Sergey Lavrov: Making guesses is not my job. What I want to say is that we have been trying to extinguish this crisis for more than a decade, yet each time we put to paper agreements that suite everyone, Kiev and its masters would backpedal. <...>

At present, as far as we can see, restoring peace is not part of our adversary's plan. Zelensky has not revoked his decree banning negotiations with Moscow. Washington and its NATO allies provide political, military and financial support to Kiev so that the war would go on. They are discussing authorizing the AFU to use Western long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory. "Playing with fire" in this way may lead to dangerous consequences. As stated by President Putin, we will take adequate decisions based on our understanding of the threats posed by the West. It is up to you to make conclusions.

❓Question: What concrete plans does Russia have in line with its strategic partnerships with China and other powers to achieve changes in the current world order and how do you expect these ambitions to play out in areas of intense competition and conflict, including the Middle East?

💬 Sergey Lavrov: What we have in mind is that the world order needs be adjusted to the current realities. Today the world is living through the "multipolar moment". Shifting towards the multi-polar world order is a natural part of power rebalancing, which reflects objective changes in the world economy, finance and geopolitics. The West waited longer than the others, yet it has also started to realize that this process is irreversible.

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Multipolarity manifests itself in the increasing role of regional associations, such as the #EAEU, #SCO, #ASEAN, #AfricanUnion, #CELAC and others. #BRICS has become a model of multilateral diplomacy. The #UN should remain a forum for aligning the interests of all the countries.

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🎙 Briefing by Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (October 2, 2024)

🔹 FM Sergey Lavrov’s schedule
🔹 Developments in the Middle East
🔹 Kiev regime crimes
🔹 Ukrainian Armed Forces’ links with terrorist organisations
🔹 Situation in Moldova
🔹 US military build-up in the Asia-Pacific region
🔹 Russian chairmanship in BRICS
🔹 75 years of Russia-China diplomatic relations
🔹 Ministerial Conference of the #RussiaAfrica Partnership in Sochi
🔹 FM Sergey Lavrov’s article about post-war partition of Germany and Austria

📰 Read
📺 Watch

#Ukraine #KievRegimeCrimes

People who came to the temporary accommodation centre in Kursk told journalists about the first days of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ invasion of the Kursk Region, including the large number of civilian casualties.

According to eyewitnesses, the Ukrainians warned the residents that if they did not leave, then “foreign mercenaries would come and leave no one alive.” Sudzha resident Vladimir Maltsev said: “Georgians, Poles, Frenchmen – all these mercenaries – were exterminating people like cockroaches,” and “a lot of women were killed, abused, and raped.”

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Kiev regime does not hide its links with terrorist groups around the world and, in particular, on the African continent and in the Middle East. The international community’s attention has been drawn to this more than once. In this regard, we note that an increasing number of states become aware of the terrorist nature of the Kiev regime.

We believe that this practice of criminal cooperation between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the international terrorist international is absolutely unacceptable. We will continue to fight this evil spirit by all available means, regardless of where it appears

#RussiaChina

Today, the relations between Russia and China are at their all-time high, and the effort to further reinforce them meets the long-term development goals of the two countries. This is a steady and lasting trend.

On the international stage, Russia and China have been acting in tandem and emerged as a major factor of stability. The two countries are committed to do even more to coordinate their actions in order to fast-track the emergence of a democratic multipolar world order with greater justice for all, empowering all countries to have a say on global governance matters, ensuring equal and indivisible security, and rejecting confrontation and conflict.

#BRICS

In our work, we primarily strive to stand up to the challenges and threats of our time, and find collective solutions to the global challenges of international development. Specifically, we focus on a wider use of national currencies, joint payment instruments and platforms in mutual trade transactions.

Our combined efforts are aimed at promoting and building an interconnected and interdependent international system on a non-aligned and non-hegemonic basis, which would give precedence to such common priorities as economic growth, poverty alleviation, food, climate and water security, combating international terrorism, extremism, and organised crime, etc.

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions following the 19th East Asia Summit (#EAS)

📍 Vientiane, October 11, 2024

💬 Sergey Lavrov: We have completed our meetings as part of the 19th East Asia Summit. President of Russia Vladimir Putin instructed me to represent him at this event.

The discussions evidenced that our Western colleagues, who are #ASEAN partners <…> have been seeking to undermine the multilateral economic and security architecture which has evolved over decades with ASEAN at its core and which has proven its relevance and effectiveness.

However, it is obvious today that the United States and its allies decided to draw the Asia-Pacific Region into NATO’s sphere of interests by creating all these narrow and exclusive US-led military and political associations. <...>

☝️ We have highlighted that this Western policy may lead to the region’s militarisation, while also threatening stability and sustainable development in the Asian part of our shared continent.

Russia reaffirmed its unwavering support for ASEAN countries in their efforts to preserve peace and ensure equal cooperation with all ASEAN partners.

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👉 Instead of using the events held as part of the East Asia Summit for pursuing vested political interests, Russia opted for promoting initiatives in several domains, including pandemic response, people-to-people contacts, including tourism, and supporting volunteering. We offer practical avenues for working together which can benefit all the participants and advocate equal and mutually beneficial cooperation. <...>

The Association hosted the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as its guest at the East Asia Summit for the third time. He put forward a proposal to promote closer contacts between the SCO and ASEAN in various spheres that are relevant for the countries involved. <...>

We welcomed the fact that several ASEAN countries want to forge closer ties with #BRICS. Today, this structure acts as one of the cornerstones of a multipolar world order. In just a few days, Kazan will be hosting the BRICS Summit, which will be a major international event. Several ASEAN countries were invited to attend it, and they accepted these invitations.

Excerpts from responses to media questions. Key talking points:

• The final declaration has not been adopted because of the persistent attempts by the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to turn it into a purely political statement, contrary to the decades-long practice of East Asia summits, which boils down to preventing the saturation of declarations with confrontational geopolitical narratives.

• When the United States and its allies unanimously reaffirmed their commitment to ASEAN’s central role in facilitating cooperation in the region today, they were being dishonest. Everything they do is aimed at containing Russia and China. Everything that has been accomplished in the ASEAN-centric format over decades is being sacrificed to this goal now. That format was convenient for everyone and incorporated the interests of each and every stakeholder. So, the destructive nature of Washington’s actions in the region is obvious.

• We are seriously concerned about re-militarisation of Japan. Having forgotten the lessons of WWII, the Japanese authorities have stated increasing defence spending and augmenting its basic doctrines with a pre-emptive strike capability.

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🇷🇺🇹🇲 On October 11, President of Russia Vladimir Putin had a meeting with the national leader of the Turkmen people and Speaker of Halk Maslahaty (People’s Council) of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

💬 Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much, Mr Berdimuhamedov. I am also delighted to see you. In fact, we have not met for quite some time, and I genuinely appreciate the opportunity to have this face-to-face meeting with you and this conversation.
Russia and Turkmenistan have built a positive track record in promoting their strategic partnership, which is largely attributable to your efforts. You laid the groundwork for forging this close, trust-based relationship between our countries. We sincerely welcome this position and will do everything to maintain this momentum.

We have developed a positive relationship with the current President, which includes both official and personal ties. He regularly visits Russia, and was there just recently for the #CIS summit in Moscow. We look forward to seeing him in Kazan at the #BRICS Leaders’ Summit. I believe that these meetings will be quite interesting and beneficial. There will be many countries there. In fact, as of today, 35 countries have registered to attend the summit. We also expect to see your President at the CIS leaders’ meeting in St Petersburg on New Year’s Eve.

There has been positive momentum in our trade and economic ties, and effective projects are underway.

🤝 We see progress in our region-to-region ties. In fact, 6️⃣0️⃣ Russian regions have been working closely with their friends and partners in Turkmenistan. It is quite natural for Tatarstan, the Astrakhan Region, as well as St Petersburg to lead the pack in this category.

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#RussiaTurkmenistan

L’entretien de l’Ambassadrice de la Russie au Maurice Irada Zeynalova pour L’express:

Q: Le prochain sommet des BRICS 2024, à Kazan, devra confirmer «le droit volontaire des membres de la coalition BRICS à dédollariser les échanges commerciaux et financiers entre eux». C’est un sommet très important alors ?

R: Oui, très important. Les pays BRICS représentent plus d’un tiers du Produit intérieur brut (PIB) mondial en termes de parité de pouvoir d’achat (PPA) et environ un quart des exportations mondiales de marchandises. Ces chiffres ne peuvent que croître. Ils confirment le droit des monnaies nationales des pays BRICS à être traitées dans l’économie mondiale sur un pied d’égalité avec les monnaies du reste du monde.

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Интервью Чрезвычайного и Полномочного Посла России на Маврикии Ирады Зейналовой маврикийскому изданию L’express:

В: Следующий саммит БРИКС 2024 в Казани должен будет подтвердить «добровольное право членов коалиции БРИКС для дедолларизации торговли и финансовых обменов между ними." Это очень важный саммит?

О: Да, очень важный. На страны БРИКС приходится более трети мирового ВВП по ППС и около четверти мирового экспорта товаров, и цифры будут только расти. Эти показатели подкрепляют право национальных валют стран БРИКС циркулировать в мировой экономике наравне с валютами остальных стран.

#BRICS
#Kazan
#Summit

https://lexpress.mu/s/irada-zeynalova-labandon-du-dollar-a-ete-provoque-par-la-politique-des-etats-unis-et-de-leurs-satellites-europeens-539429