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The Global Majority Mixes in Multipolar Moscow

Par : AHH

Takeaway from Moscow: Normal-o-philes and Russophiles of the world, UNITE

By Pepe Escobar at Strategic Culture Foundation.

These have been frantic multipolar days at the capital of the multipolar world. I had the honor to personally tell Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that virtually the whole Global South seemed to be represented in an auditorium of the Lomonosov innovation cluster on a Monday afternoon – a sort of informal UN and in several aspects way more effective when it comes to respecting the UN charter. His eyes gleamed. Lavrov, more than most, understands the true power of the Global Majority.

“A child was born, now our task is to raise him.” Moscow establishes the International Russophile Movement


Moscow hosted a back-to-back multipolar conference plus the second meeting of the International Russophiles Movement (MIR, in its French acronym, which means “world” in Russian). Taken together, the discussions and networking have offered auspicious hints on the building of a truly representative international order – away from the agenda-imposed doom and gloom of single unipolar culture and Forever Wars.

The opening plenary session in the first day fell under the star power of Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova – whose main message was crystal clear: “There can’t be freedom without free will”, which could easily become the new collective Global South motto. “Civilization-states” set the tone of the overall discussion – as they are meticulously designing the blueprints of economic, technological and cultural development in the post-Western hegemonic world.

Professor of International Relations Zhang Weiwei at Fudan University’s China Institute in Shanghai summarized the four crucial points when it comes to Beijing propelling its role as a “new independent pole.” That reads like a concise marker of where we are now:

  1. Under the unipolar order, everything from dollars to computer chips can be weaponized. Wars and color revolutions are the norm.
  2. China has become the largest economy in the world by PPP; the largest trade and industrial economy; and it is currently at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
  3. China proposes a model of “Unite and Prosper” instead of a Western model of “Divide and Rule”.
  4. The West tried to isolate Russia, but the Global Majority sympathizes with Russia. Thus, the Collective West has been isolated by the Global Rest.


Fighting the “theo-political war”

“Global Rest”, incidentally, is a misnomer: Global Majority is the name of the game. The same applies to “golden billion”; those that profit from the unipolar moment, mostly across the collective West and as comprador elites in the satraps, are at best 200 million or so.

Monday afternoon in Moscow featured three parallel sessions: on China and the multipolar world, where the star was Professor Weiwei; on the post-hegemony West, under the title “Is it possible to save the European civilization?” – attended by several dissident Europeans, academics, think tankers, activists; and the main treat – featuring the frontline actors of multipolarity.

I had the honor to moderate the awesome Global South session, which ran for over three hours – it could have been the whole day, actually – and featured several stunning presentations by a stellar cast of Africans, Latin Americans and Asians, from Palestine to Venezuela, including Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla.

That was the multipolar Global South in full flight – as my imperative was to open the floor to as many people as possible. Were the organizers to release a Greatest Hits of the presentations, that could easily become a global hit.

Mandla Mandela emphasized how it’s about time to move away from the unipolar system dominated by the Hegemon, “which continues to support Israel”.

That complemented Benin’s charismatic activist Kemi Seba – who brilliantly personifies the African leadership of the future. In the plenary session, Seba introduced a key concept – which begs to be developed around the world: we are living under a “theo-political war”.

That neatly summarizes the Western simultaneous Hybrid War on Islam, Shi’ism, Christian Orthodoxy, in fact every religion, apart from the Woke Cult.

The next day, the second congress of the International Russophiles movement offered three debate sessions: the most relevant was on – what else – “Informational and Hybrid Warfare”.

I had the honor to share the stage with Maria Zakharova – and after my free jazz-style presentation, focused on over 40 years of practicing journalism across the planet and watching first-hand the utter degradation of the industry, we carried a hopefully useful dialogue on media and soft power.

My suggestion not only to the Russian Foreign Ministry but to everyone all across the Global South was straightforward: forget about oligarchy-controlled legacy/mainstream media, it is already dead. They have nothing relevant to say. The present and the future rely on social media; “alternative” – which is not alternative anymore, on the contrary; and citizen media, to all of which, of course, the highest standards of journalism should be applied.

In the evening, before everyone got down to party hard, a few of us were invited for an open, frank and enlightening working dinner with Foreign Minister Lavrov in one of the magnificent frescoed rooms of the Metropol Hotel, one the grand hotels of Europe since 1905.


A legend with a wicked sense of humor

Lavrov was relaxed, among friends; after an initial, stunning diplomatic tour de force which covered quite a few highlights of the recent decades all the way to the current gloom and doom, he opened the table to our questions, taking notes and answering each one of them in detail.

What’s so striking when you are face to face with the most legendary diplomat in the world for quite some time, in a relaxed setting, is his genuine sadness when faced with the rage, intolerance and total absence of critical thought exhibited especially by the Europeans. That was much more relevant throughout our conversation than the fact that U.S.-Russia relations are at an all-time low.

Lavrov though remains highly driven because of the Global South/Global Majority – and the Russian presidency of the BRICS this year. He hugely praised Indian FM Jaishankar, and the comprehensive relations with China. He suggested the Russophiles Movement should take a global role, playfully suggesting we should all be part of a “Normal-o-philes” movement.

Well, Lavrov The Legend is also known for his wicked sense of humor. And humor is most effective when it is deadly serious. So here’s the key takeaway of these frantic days in Moscow: Normal-o-philes of the world, unite.

≈≈≈

From last year’s inauguration of the International Russophiles Movement (MIR):

Lavrov est arrivé à Antalya en Turquie pour un forum diplomatique

lavrov antalya

lavrov antalyaLe ministre russe des Affaires étrangères Sergueï Lavrov est arrivé en Turquie. Il a été accueilli à l’aéroport par des

L’article Lavrov est arrivé à Antalya en Turquie pour un forum diplomatique est apparu en premier sur STRATPOL.

Lavrov en visite à Cuba

lavrov cuba

lavrov cubaLe chef du ministère russe des Affaires étrangères, Sergueï Lavrov, est actuellement en visite de travail à Cuba. Comme le

L’article Lavrov en visite à Cuba est apparu en premier sur STRATPOL.

For the Freedom of Nations!

Par : AHH

Lavrov and Putin at the Forum of Supporters of Combating Contemporary Practices of Neocolonialism

Thanks to Karl at karlof1’s Geopolitical Gymnasium

The forum “For the Freedom of Nations!” was held in the Russian capital, Moscow, from February 15 to 17, 2024. Representatives from 60 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Europe came to discuss the struggle against neocolonialism.

The United Russia political party held the initial session of what party chairman Dmitry Medvedev said would be an ongoing event happening every two years. Many readers are familiar with the works of Dr. Michael Hudson and numerous other investigators into the modern versions of Imperialism and Colonialism. What the forum is focusing on is the great acceleration in both that occurred upon the USSR’s demise that allowed for the unleashing of the “rules based order” on steroids we’ve all been direct witnesses of and in many cases fought against.

Humanity is arguably at the High Tide moment in history for the hegemonic practice known as Neocolonialism that’s associated with the “order” as the Global Majority has begun to fight back against the rising tide, forming organizations of solidarity to for it to recede, while the parasitical Neoliberal economic system within Neocolonialism has turned on its hosts and is beginning to devour them.

Today’s opening speech by Lavrov is short by his standards—under 14 minutes—but he’s not the only speaker at this event from the Russian government, with Russian media covering their utterances. Lavrov also participated in another event today, a conference marking the 10th anniversary of the coup d’état in Ukraine, to which a short media note is attached at the end of his speech. It’s a much longer discussion-beased event that will merit its own article. So, a short Lavrov speech:

Ladies and gentlemen,

Colleagues

Friends

I am glad to join the greetings that have been addressed to you. Our Forum greets you with a February frost, but I am convinced that traditional Russian hospitality and cordiality warm you up in these cold days. I am sure that this event will be useful.

For the past three decades, there has been a model of globalization “engineered” by the United States and its closest allies, which has proved untenable. The countries of the West have led humanity not to prosperity, but to one of the most acute international crises since World War II. There is an expansion of the conflict space in the world, and there is a deep split between the West and the countries of the world majority.

After the Soviet Union withdrew from the world stage, the West began to impose its “rules-based order,” in fact, its unchallenged dominance in the economy, finance, politics, and culture. The “golden billion” enthusiastically embarked on the neocolonial development of the post-Soviet space, along with the countries of the Global South and East.

Abusing the trust of the world majority, the aggressive minority, led by the United States, perfected colonial practices and did not disdain the use of force, as was the case in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and other countries in Asia and Africa.

In the economic sphere, such tools as limiting opportunities for independent development, forcing the conclusion of unfair contracts, and pumping out resources at low prices formed on Western stock exchanges were used. Former metropolises often use illegal methods of sanctions pressure on countries that refuse to submit to dictates and give up their sovereignty and national identity.

The U.S. embargo against the heroic Cuban people, sanctions against Venezuela, Iran, Nicaragua and many other countries, including North Korea, have long been the main instrument of the foreign policy of the “collective West.” The current generation of politicians in North America and Europe has apparently lost diplomatic skills, such as the ability to negotiate.

I would like to cite a few examples of the West’s attitude towards the global majority. In 2010, $100 billion was pledged to developing countries annually for 10 years for “climate finance” purposes. The West was in no hurry to fulfill its obligations – crumbs were allocated from the announced funds. In 2015, in Paris, the formula “$100 billion” was once again solemnly reaffirmed. per year for 10 years.” But nothing has changed.

On the other hand, the climate agenda has been fully used to gain market advantages over weak countries. By locating “dirty” industries abroad, Western advocates of climate justice are forcing the countries of the South to bear additional costs and buy expensive “green” technologies from the West. The money that was promised for development is being spent on the supply of weapons to the Kiev regime and other military adventures before your eyes.

The example of the distribution of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic is no less illustrative. From the very beginning, the Westerners “chokhom” bought up scarce drugs, leaving the poor and needy alone with their problems. At the same time, international bodies controlled by the West artificially delayed the certification of the Russian Sputnik vaccine, which could have saved millions of lives in developing countries. Western vaccines were almost instantly certified in Europe in violation of all processes. No one has been held accountable for cases of severe side effects from the use of these vaccines.

Another area of neocolonialism is the imposition of neoliberal attitudes to the detriment of traditional spiritual and moral values. Concepts such as gender diversity, drug legalization, and transhumanism are part of this destructive policy.

We are outraged by the impunity with which Westerners conduct biological experiments on living people. According to new data from the Russian Ministry of Defense, confirmed by journalistic investigations, in the city of Mariupol, once controlled by the Kiev regime, large European and American companies conducted experiments on children and adults for pennies, using drugs that almost completely suppress the immune system and stimulate the growth of cancer cells. These trials were focused on the spread of diseases and epidemics among the Slavic race. The collected materials were sent to European laboratories, their further fate is unknown. The West will never present to the world community incriminating facts about criminal biological experiments. The evasion of responsibility by neo-colonizers violates numerous international documents, including the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Convention on Biological and Chemical SafetyThere is utter contempt for international law, not to mention human lives.

The current situation in Ukraine is a good example of how desperately the “world hegemon” is fighting to maintain its dominance. Ukraine is a tool in the hands of American puppeteers. Everyone is well aware that the future of the world order is at stake. In fact, the question is being decided in Ukraine and around it: will the world order become truly fair, democratic and polycentric? Or a narrow group of states will succeed in imposing a unipolar model on the international community, a neo-colonial division of the world into those who consider themselves “exceptional” and the rest who are assigned the role of carrying out the will of “God’s chosen.”

President of Russia Vladimir Putin presented a convincing analysis of what is happening in his numerous speeches and interviews. Our choice in all situations is to negotiate in order to find a balance between the legitimate interests of the parties. I would like to emphasise that they are legitimate. If the U.S. and its allies prefer to continue their hopeless attempts to impose their “ultimatums” in the illusory hope of holding on to the elusive instruments of neocolonial hegemony, that is their choice. Russia is ready for this as well.

Neocolonialism is a dead end. Whoever follows them is doomed to eternal conflict. Suffice it to look at the relations within the Western camp itself, where some neo-colonialists have already begun to “devour” others. Against the backdrop of economic problems, the Americans openly engaged in “sucking” resources from Europe. They are already cutting it off from promising markets for products and reliable energy supplies. For this purpose, the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were blown up without hesitation, and Germany and the whole of Europe were ordered to silently “swallow” this public humiliation. Europe obediently complied, forgetting about the old timid slogans about “strategic autonomy” and self-respect. Now European industry is forced to choose between moving business overseas and going bankrupt. However, Europeans are grown-up people, let them take care of their own fate.

The system of exploitation represented by neo-colonial practices could not be justified in any way. There is a constructive alternative – the formation of a more just and sustainable multipolar system of international relations based on the UN Charter, primarily on the principle of sovereign equality of states. It is extremely important to ensure the application of the principle of indivisibility of security at the regional and global levels, not only in the military-political dimensions, but also in the economic, social and other dimensions.

The formation of multipolarity – a world order that will reflect the cultural and civilizational diversity of the modern world and take into account the right of each nation to determine its own destiny – is a historically natural and irreversible process. A key role in it is played by new centers of power, including members of the SCOBRICS, leaders of the African Union, ASEAN, CELAC and other integration structures of the global majority. It is important to strengthen the positions of these countries in international institutions, primarily in the UN Security Council and the G20, especially after the African Union is admitted to the G20. It is necessary to develop horizontal ties between regional associations of different continents, building a network of constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation. BRICS could play a coordinating role at the global level.

At one time, our country was a leader in promoting decolonization processes. The victory in the Great Patriotic War, which came at a huge price, made it possible to suspend the global expansion of the West for several decades. In the difficult conditions of the Cold War, the Soviet Union laid the foundation for industry in the friendly countries of the Global South and East, helped them to ensure their security and exercise their rights to sovereign development. And this is not to mention the inspiring example of the USSR, which spurred people’s liberation movements around the world.

And today, despite pressure from the West, Russia is once again fighting not only for itself, but for the whole world (as President Vladimir Putin aptly put it). In our joint efforts, we propose, first of all, to develop common approaches of the world majority to the understanding of neocolonialism, as well as to complete the work on decolonization initiated by Soviet diplomacy at the UN. After all, 17 territories still remain in colonial dependence. The metropolises are not going to release them, despite the requirements of the relevant UN resolutions.

The time has come to unite the efforts of all those gathered here and other like-minded people to begin systematic work to eradicate neocolonial practices.

I am confident that the International Inter-Party Forum of Supporters of the Struggle against Modern Practices of Neocolonialism “For the Freedom of Nations!” will be an important stage on this path. Responsible members of the international community must be mobilized to uphold justice in world affairs. To this end, the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter was established. We call on the participants of the Forum to actively support its activities.

In conclusion, I would like to wish the participants in today’s discussion fruitful work, new successes for the benefit of their peoples, common prosperity and development on the basis of mutual respect, indivisibility of security and mutually beneficial cooperation.

At the forum marking the 10th anniversary of the Maidan events that led to the NATO-backed Coup in Ukraine, RT reported on the further message Lavrov had related to that issue, which will be provided in full later today:

Moscow is no longer willing to make any concessions in order to mend the rift with Western powers, leaving the ball in their court, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

The top diplomat reiterated a point made by President Vladimir Putin in his interview with Tucker Carlson, that multiple unilateral gestures by Moscow had not been reciprocated by the West.

Lavrov was answering a question on whether Donald Trump’s possible return to the White House next year could result in improved relations.

“That is their problem. We have made so many concessions, gestures of goodwill… that our reserves have been exhausted,” he said at a conference titled ‘Euromaidan: Ukraine’s Lost Decade’. “The only gesture we’ve seen from them in response to our good deeds was made with one hand.”…

Lavrov called the plan [Zelensky’s] a “baby pacifier,” the officials behind the scheme “swindlers” and “crooks,” and the entire situation a “disgrace” to Western diplomacy. He reiterated Putin’s call for the West to acknowledge that “it took a wrong, failed course” and find an off-ramp, which would allow it to save face.

Elsewhere, Nikolay Patrushev weighed-in on the illegality of the Outlaw US Empire and its UK henchman’s bombardment of Yemen in this report:

The US-led strikes against targets in Yemen are illegitimate and have no justification under the UN Charter, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said on Friday at a meeting of security officials from regional powers.

The US and UK, with support from allies, have launched dozens of attacks since January against the Houthis, a Yemeni armed militia movement supported by Iran. The stated intention was to protect maritime traffic from the militants, who have targeted trade vessels with raids and drone strikes in an attempt to put pressure on Israel.

”Washington and London have unleashed a war with Yemen under the pretext of securing freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. They are trying to drag other nations of the region into it,” Patrushev said. “However, their strikes on the positions of the Houthis are absolutely illegitimate and have nothing to do with the right of self-defense… contrary to what Washington claims.”…

Tensions are on the rise globally, Patrushev said, claiming that the core reason for the violence is “the Western intention to hold on to its dominance in world affairs at all cost.”

“People in Washington are convinced that doing so would be easiest amid a global chaos,” he added. [Emphasis original]

None of the above will be published by Western media. They will focus 100% on the death of the criminal Alexey Nalvalny, who BigLie Media propagandized as some important political figure who in reality was just a fraudster used by CIA/MI6—an event that will be used to torpedo the Putin/Carlson interview and resurrection of long buried and debunked propaganda. Given what we learned about medical advances from yesterday’s article, I’d be curious to know what the autopsy reveals as the cause of death.

≈≈

Putin: Aggressive Manifestations of Neocolonialism Are Seen in West’s Behavior Today

by Muhammad Nooh Osman at Sputnik Africa.

On Thursday, the global stage witnessed a convergence of esteemed political figures and intellectuals, including heads of state and political leaders from Africa, Russia, and other countries, in Moscow for the Forum of Supporters of the Struggle Against Modern Practices of Neo-colonialism, echoing the resounding call “For the Freedom of Nations.”

Colonial policy should have remained a shameful page of the past, but the West is still trying to resort to such practices, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, addressing the participants of the international forum “For the Freedom of Nations“, which is being held in Moscow.

The forum opened Thursday in Moscow, marking the beginning of an event that will run through February 17 and include high-level delegates from 50 countries, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, China, North Korea and others, including some NATO members.

Putin stressed that aggressive manifestations of neocolonialism can be observed today in the behavior of the collective West, in its attempts to exert economic pressure on other countries, deprive them of their sovereignty and impose foreign values.

“I consider your representative meeting an extremely important and relevant initiative. Neocolonialism is a shameful legacy of the centuries-long era of plunder and exploitation of the peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America, and other regions of the planet. We see its aggressive manifestations today in the attempts of the collective West to maintain its dominance and supremacy by any means, to economically subjugate other countries, to deprive them of their sovereignty, to impose foreign values and cultural traditions,” the Russian leader said in his speech read at the event.

President Putin noted that such a policy has become one of the main destabilizing factors in international relations and an obstacle to the development of all mankind. According to Putin, Russia has done a lot to collapse the foundations of the colonial system and support national liberation movements.

“And today we are ready to join forces in the struggle for true freedom and justice, for the progress of all countries and peoples, for the formation of a democratic multipolar world based on the principles of international law, respect for each other’s legitimate interests, mutual trust, and creative cooperation,” he added.

He expressed hope that such meetings would become regular events and contribute to the development of responses to global challenges.

Lavrov at UNSC: Using Truth as a Hammer

Par : AHH

Lavrov at UNSC: Day Two West Asia & Palestine: Using Truth as a Hammer

with thanks to Karl at karlof1’s Geopolitical Gymnasium

Lavrov pulls out a verbal hammer at the end of his remarks at the second day of special UNSC hearings on Ukraine with today’s about the situation in West Asia and Palestine in particular. Here’s Sergey with all emphasis being mine:

Mr. President,

Mr. Secretary-General,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today we are holding a meeting on the situation in the Middle East, primarily on the Palestinian issue, at a truly dramatic moment. Not only considerations of big politics, but also universal morality require us to take urgent measures to enact a ceasefire to end the suffering of the people in Palestine. Likewise, there is a need for steps aimed at preventing further destabilization of the situation in other parts of the Middle East.

So far, our Council has not been able to provide an adequate response to this truly fateful challenge. The reason is well-known – it is the position of the United States, which blocks all efforts and initiatives to stop the bloodshed in the occupied territories. The cunning of American diplomacy, which alternately vetoes ceasefire resolutions and calls for a “reduction in the intensity” of hostilities in Gaza, is astonishing. Clearly, this gives carte blanche to continue the collective punishment of the Palestinians.

On the eve of our meeting, we made another attempt to elicit a united response from the Council to what was happening and proposed a draft presidential statement demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. However, the United States and its allies blocked this document, confirming that saving the lives of Palestinian civilians is not one of their priorities.

The humanitarian consequences of such a policy are dire. Almost 30,000 civilians were killed, including a huge number of women and children. Northern Gaza is almost completely destroyed and uninhabitable. 80% of the total population of the sector are internally displaced persons. A real human tragedy with no end in sight.

The shortage of all vital necessities has reached alarming proportions. I would like to draw your attention to an article in The Jerusalem Post on January 5, written by Professor David Nitzan of Ben-Gurion University (formerly the WHO Emergency Coordinator). The article is based on the assessments of environmental experts, including Israeli specialists. Assessments cast doubt on whether Gaza will ever be habitable after the conflict ends.

As a result of the bombardment, the soil, groundwater, coastal sea area, and the atmosphere are already unprecedentedly polluted with a thick layer of products of explosions and combustion, destroyed equipment, ammunition, chemicals, decomposing biomass (no matter how terrible it may sound), household waste and sewage. Natural sources of drinking water have disappeared. In fact, the sewage infrastructure has been destroyed. It is estimated that 22% of Gaza’s agricultural land will never be restored. Tens of thousands of cases of diarrhea, acute respiratory diseases, scabies, skin rashes and other diseases have been recorded. The risk of epidemics has increased dramatically. The lack of humanitarian access is recognized by the World Health Organization as the main obstacle to the delivery of humanitarian aid. WHO has canceled six planned humanitarian missions to the northern Gaza Strip since the end of December 2023 after requests were denied.

In order to alleviate the suffering of the people of Gaza, Russia, like a number of other countries, has sent hundreds of tons of food, medical devices and medicines to the Gaza Strip. We support the UN humanitarian agencies on the ground, who, unfortunately, are also victims of the war, including 150 dead. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently spoke about this, describing this figure as unprecedented in the history of the Organisation’s participation in various operations in conflict zones.

Of particular concern is the propagation of abhorrent ideas such as the forcible displacement of Palestinians from their places of origin. Such a scenario is unacceptable and should not be implemented under any circumstances. The massive violence by the Israeli army and Jewish settlers in the West Bank must also be stopped immediately, and any attempt to undermine the status quo of Jerusalem’s holy sites must be ruled out.

The failure of this Council to take exhaustive measures has led to the fact that the current escalation of the conflict in Palestine has metastasized throughout the region. And once again, not without the disastrous participation of the United States and its allies, whose military presence in the Middle East, as well as in other parts of the Eurasian continent, creates new unacceptable risks to international security. We categorically condemn the unjustified aggression against Yemen undertaken under the leadership of Washington and London without the sanction of the UN Security Council. The actions of the Anglo-Saxons pose a direct threat to international peace and undermine a world order based not on their “rules” but on the supremacy of universal international law and the central role of the United Nations. We also condemn Israel’s bombing of Syria, including strikes that are declared to be aimed at structures that are legally present in that country at the invitation of its legitimate government. Political assassinations must stop. The situation on Lebanon’s border with Israel is explosive.

It is obvious that unilateral military actions only exacerbate the already difficult situation in the Middle East. A situation that has not developed today and reflects a long history. We are talking about the repeated invasions of independent states by the Americans and their satellites, which led to hundreds of thousands of deaths in Iraq, the destruction of statehood in Libya, the war in Syria, huge flows of refugees, and an unprecedented surge in international terrorism, including on the African continent.

Russia does not accept terrorist manifestations in any form. We also categorically condemned the attacks on civilians in Israel on October 7, 2023. Unlike some of our Western colleagues, who profess double standards, we do not divide extremists into “bad” and “good,” into “us” and “them.” We insist on the release of all detainees in Gaza, regardless of their nationality and origin.

Mr. President,

Today, we hear more and more often, primarily from Western representatives, calls to focus not on today, but on the “day after” of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as if the escalation in Gaza had already stopped and the situation there allegedly no longer required the Council’s attention. But the cunning logic of the Western delegations is obvious. By blocking all the Council’s much-needed efforts to call on the parties to a ceasefire, the United States and its allies want to turn this extremely uncomfortable page as soon as possible, which makes them complicit in the carnage unleashed against the civilian population in Gaza.

I would like to emphasise that the UN Security Council must still fulfil its mandate and call for a ceasefire. Otherwise, there is no guarantee that hostilities will not resume with renewed vigor. And in the absence of such a guarantee, as well as the unconditional implementation of UN decisions on the creation of a Palestinian state, all talk about “tomorrow” is not only premature, but also pointless. And this is well understood by potential donors who could invest in the future reconstruction of Gaza.

When it comes to discussing the parameters of “tomorrow”, the following factors should be of fundamental importance.

First, the consolidated will of the Palestinian people themselves. The Palestinians, who have been deprived of a chance for statehood for decades, deserve to see this issue finally resolved. The first and foremost condition for this is the unity of the Palestinian nation itself. We trust that our Palestinian brothers and sisters will show strategic wisdom and renounce all opportunistic considerations and internecine strife that impede nation-building. They should decide for themselves what their future state should look like, who should govern it and how. In my opinion, our Western colleagues call this democracy. The imposition of solutions from the outside and the “social engineering” so beloved by Western colleagues are categorically unacceptable here.

No less important is the unity of the positions of all external players, who should be guided not by their own political interests and plans in the region, trying to transmit them through one or another Palestinian faction, but by the imperative of finding a speedy solution to the centuries-old conflict. Russia has made its proposals on how to achieve this goal. They could be an important element of a new effective mediation mechanism that enjoys the confidence of both Palestinians and Israelis. We will continue this work.

The second key factor is the inviolability of the two-state formula for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement and the imperative to implement it as soon as possible. We are extremely concerned about the statements of the Israeli leadership that cast doubt on it. We would also like to draw your attention to the extremely vague statements made by the US Department of State leadership in this regard. It seems that Washington is once again relying on its supposedly “effective” but in fact absolutely failed bilateral diplomacy, hoping to somehow “settle” the parameters of the Middle East settlement that are beneficial to it before the November elections and not caring at all about the long-term consequences.

We have seen all this many times before. Each round of the arrogant unilateral policy of the United States in the Middle East, its separate, “shuttle” negotiations with the Party of Regions, accompanied by financial promises, ends in an increasingly bloody outbreak of escalation. That is what happened this time. Washington first “buried” the work of the Quartet of international mediators, and now it is consistently blocking all international efforts to de-escalate within the framework of the UN Security Council. The cynical short-sightedness of the US leadership is well illustrated by the statement by President Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser, a week before October 7, 2023, that “the Middle East region has not been so calm over the past two decades.”

Colleagues (and I am addressing my Western colleagues), the whole world is waiting for you to realise that your persistent disregard for multilateral diplomacy and its outright sabotage have repeatedly led to tragic results.

For Russia, as well as for the overwhelming majority of members of the international community, it is obvious that the logic of confrontation on the Palestinian issue can be overcome only through joint efforts based primarily on the interests of the states of the region. It is they who must ultimately decide his fate. The germs of such positive processes have already been outlined: the normalization of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia with the assistance of China has begun, Syria’s membership in the Arab League has been restored, and a dialogue between Damascus and Ankara is being established.

The task of any international mediation is not to interfere in these processes, not to turn the region into a platform for geopolitical struggle, but to create the most favourable external conditions for restoring trust between the countries located here.

This is what all Russian initiatives for a Middle East settlement are aimed at. After the acute phase of the current crisis, which should be facilitated by the UN Security Council’s joint call for a ceasefire, we propose to convene consultations at the ministerial level to consolidate the positions of key regional players and develop practical steps on their basis to facilitate the restoration of Palestinian unity.

At the next stage, the format of an international conference on the Middle East settlement will be in demand, as the representatives who spoke before me have said. Its goal is the proclamation of a Palestinian state, the development of measures to ensure the reliable security of Israel and the normalization of its relations with all Arab and Muslim countries in general. Russia came up with the idea of convening such a conference in this hall about 15 years ago. Hopefully this idea gets the attention it deserves.

The broader idea of creating a collective security system in the Persian Gulf and in the Middle East as a whole, which would consolidate trust, transparency and guarantees of equal security for all countries in the region, remains on the table. As you know, Russia has specific proposals in this regard, which we have been discussing with all interested countries for a long time. The above is our vision for moving forward. But first, I repeat, it is necessary to achieve an immediate ceasefire.

In conclusion, I would like to call on the members of the Security Council not to succumb to the exhortations of the United States that they allegedly have “everything under control” and that they are “resolving issues on the ground,” and not to postpone the creation of a Palestinian state until better times. It is important that the UN Security Council not only reaffirm that there is no alternative to the existing international legal framework on this most pressing issue, but also outline specific ways and deadlines for its implementation. These are not just obligations arising from UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, the Madrid Principles and other decisions. That is the moral imperative of the international community, and we call for it to be fulfilled.

Mr. Chairman,

Today, some delegations considered it possible to repeat the accusations against Russia in connection with the special military operation against the Nazi regime in Kiev with a memorized tongue twister. Colleagues, I leave these statements on your conscience, although I understand that she will endure a lot.

I would like to emphasise a fundamental point. We have no right to allow the UN decisions on the creation of a Palestinian state to be “buried”, as the 2015 Minsk Agreements, unanimously approved by the UN Security Council, were “buried”, the guarantors of which were France and Germany, which later admitted that they did not even think of implementing them. Such criminal acts against the Palestinian people must not be allowed to happen again.

The Romans sowed the ground with salt so it was untillable as the finishing touch on their genocidal methods and the Zionists have merely modernized the method. I say we put the Zionist settlers in Gaza and let the Palestinians have the rest of Palestine. The offensive against the Outlaw US Empire was well put as was the overall argument for immediate action on mandating a ceasefire. How much of Lavrov’s and other’s views get media exposure will be important, although we can assume very little will be aired or published within NATOstan. The accusations against US, UK, and France for gross violations of UNSC Resolutions were very strong and 100% correct, but those nations have no sense of honor or morality, so I expect a continuing blockade of the required action to send the conflict into a political phase. We’ll see what happens today.

Russian FM Lavrov: 2023 Foreign Policy Review

Par : AHH

Original and Video at Ministry of Foreign Affairs website

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to media questions during a news conference on Russia’s foreign policy performance in 2023, Moscow, January 18, 2024

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am glad to welcome you at our annual event. Every year, we come together right after the New Year and Christmas break. I would like to offer those of you who celebrate these holidays my greetings and wish you a Happy New Year 2024. We all want to make it a better year in every respect, as President Vladimir Putin explained in quite some detail.

We have a clear vision for our domestic development plans. The Government of the Russian Federation is hard at work. President Vladimir Putin held a series of meetings with Government members over the past few days to discuss various ways to promote sustained economic progress in today’s environment, considering the aggressive and unlawful policies of the United States and its satellites. The goal is clear. It is to eliminate our dependence on any manufacturing, supply and logistics chains, financial and banking systems whenever our Western colleagues exercise too much control over them in one way or another. Previous and future decisions articulate this policy without any ambiguity.

As far as foreign policy is concerned, we have also defined our priorities for the foreseeable future. In March 2023, President Vladimir Putin approved a totally new and updated Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation. It responds to the present-day reality in international affairs. The West has demonstrated its total inability to make deals and has proven to be an unreliable partner in all undertakings. The Global Majority can no longer tolerate this selfish approach and wants to prioritise its own national interests and the interests of every single country in its development efforts while strictly abiding by the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, starting with respecting the sovereign equality of states. Since the Charter was adopted in 1945, there has not been a single foreign policy initiative by the West on the international stage which took into account or respected the principle proclaiming the equal rights of nations large and small, as the Charter reads, without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.

On the foreign policy front, we have a clear objective to develop our relations with those who are ready to work with us on an equal, mutually beneficial and mutually respectful footing by engaging in a frank dialogue and talks for finding a balance of interests instead of taking decisions that serve someone’s selfish agenda only, which is what happens with discussions involving the US-led West in an overwhelming majority of cases.

The past year showed that there is no acceptance of the manners traditional to the Western hegemon, manners based squarely on its vested interests and disregard for the opinion of all others. Yes, 500 years of ruling the world and having no serious rivals almost for this entire period (with the exception, perhaps, of the Soviet period) seems to have made it addicted to being hegemon. But life never stops. New centres of economic growth, financial might and political influence have emerged and gained strength, significantly outpacing the United States and other Western countries in terms of development.

I am sure you know how we assess the development of Russia’s relations with the People’s Republic of China. This is the fastest growing economy along with India’s. Our relations with China are at the highest level in their entire centuries-long history. We particularly appreciate the fact that President Xi Jinping paid his first post-reelection state visit to Moscow in March 2023. In turn, President Vladimir Putin visited China in October 2023 to attend the Third Belt and Road International Forum.

The specially privileged strategic partnership with India has been making headway as well. We have established regular top-level dialogue and contacts between corresponding agencies through the foreign ministries.

Considering our immediate environs, it certainly includes the Middle East countries, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. Accordingly, we are interested in expanding not only bilateral relations, but also ties with regional organisations that include many of our partners. I am referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council, the League of Arab States, ASEAN, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and others.

We are working to take our partnership with Africa to a truly strategic level. This was confirmed at the second Russia-Africa Summit held in St Petersburg in July 2023.

An important milestone in the development of our relations with Latin America was the Russia – Latin America International Parliamentary Conference held in Moscow in autumn 2023. We consider Africa, Latin America and Asian countries as emerging independent centres in a multipolar world.

We were active on the UN platform in 2023. The Group of Friends in Defence of the United Nations Charter has been successfully operating there since it was established several years ago. The group has adopted joint statements on fundamental issues of global development. This group catalyses and stimulates the General Assembly’s work, promoting joint initiatives, including Russian ones. We support the ideas of our partners in this new entity.

I will note another important milestone – the adoption of a resolution on combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. It was adopted at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly by an overwhelming majority of the vote, despite the chicanery of the West. However, I have to point out that for the second time in a row, Germany, Italy and Japan voted against that resolution – the Axis countries that publicly repented for the crimes committed during the Second World War after their defeat, and assured everyone that it would not happen again. These states have been voting against the resolution demanding that Nazism never be revived for the past two years, which provokes serious contemplation and makes us wonder where these ideological processes are leading, not only in these states but also in the West as a whole.

We constructively worked in other formats as well. I should specifically note our closest allies, the Union State of Russia and Belarus and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation through which we promoted stability in all dimensions, including military, biological and general security against new threats and challenges such as terrorism, drug trafficking and other forms of organised crime. The Eurasian Economic Union adopted important decisions for deepening Eurasian integration and coupling these processes with projects like China’s Belt and Road Initiative, cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, ASEAN and all the other associations and countries on our common enormous Eurasian continent.

This year, Russia presides in the CIS. We plan to continue the useful projects launched in 2023. As one such project, we will pay special attention to the International Russian Language Organisation founded at the CIS summit in Bishkek last autumn. All the CIS members approved this initiative proposed by Kazakhstan. The organisation is open to any country wishing to join. We know that the Russian language is popular across all continents and we hope there will be many interested participants.

I mentioned the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as an umbrella project. Along with the Eurasian Economic Union, in the context of cooperation with ASEAN and other sub-regional bodies, this organisation objectively and organically helps us form the Greater Eurasian Partnership. President Vladimir Putin spoke about this at the very first Russia-ASEAN summit. The outlines of this partnership are already visible.

In the current conditions, it is important to have an economic partnership that meets the interests of all the countries on the continent we share. It was God’s will that we use the objective competitive advantages of sharing the same space that, as it happens, has been a driver of growth for the global economy for a very long time. And it will maintain this role for many years ahead. In addition to mutually beneficial economic projects, it is important to ensure, regardless of other factors, military and political security in Eurasia. We will support the idea that the countries on the continent should deal with this task without attempts by countries from other regions to intervene in these processes with their own rules. We are convinced that the Eurasian countries are capable of handling these tasks independently.

I have listed several regional entities, but there is also a supra-regional global association called BRICS which epitomises the diversity of the multipolar world. The decision adopted during the summit in South Africa last year to expand the number of BRICS members came as a particularly important step to strengthen the position of BRICS. Russia, which assumed the BRICS chairmanship on January 1, will pay special attention to ensuring that newcomers seamlessly join in the common work and contribute to the strengthening of positive trends not only within the association, but also in the international arena in the interests of the Global Majority. Since over 20 (even closer to 30) countries are interested in establishing close ties with BRICS, we see a bright future for this association with global representation.

We have continued to prioritise the protection of the legitimate interests and rights of Russian citizens abroad. You are well aware of how they are discriminated against in the countries of the collective West. Unlike your Western colleagues who are increasingly trying to hide the truth about journalists’ working conditions in the countries with “established democracies” (pardon the expression), many of you write about this. But in addition to the everyday problems faced by our citizens in the United States, Europe, and other countries, natural and man-made emergencies didn’t go anywhere.

Recently, we have been providing broad-based assistance to evacuate Russians and citizens of CIS countries and some other countries from Gaza and, several months before that, from Sudan riven by internal conflict.

In terms of public diplomacy, I would like to single out the milestone of creating in March 2023 of the International Russophile Movement, which is an informal association of people living on different continents with spiritual and cultural affinity for Russia. The founding meeting of this movement was successfully held and its first full-fledged congress will be held in the first half of this year.

We will continue to promote the ideals of truth and justice in international affairs. We will do our utmost to make international relations more democratic. In this sense, our Ministry strongly supports United Russia’s initiative to hold in Moscow an international inter-party forum of supporters of combating the modern practices of neo-colonialism. It is a popular theme given that the neocolonialist nature of Western policy is present in a big way in the current policies pursued by the United States and its allies. Its thrust remains the same – to use the resources of other countries to their benefit and to live off of others. The upcoming forum promises to be an engaging and important event.

Russia will host a number of major international cultural events, including the World Youth Festival, which is fast approaching, the Games of the Future which is a mix of physical sports and cybersports, and the sports games of the BRICS countries. Both games will be held in Kazan (the Games of the Future in February, and the BRICS Games in the summer of 2024.)

The Intervision international song contest is being prepared. Many countries of the Global Majority showed interest in it. We will do our best to make sure that our guests who will come to these and numerous other events fully experience Russian hospitality as in 2018, when we hosted the finals of the FIFA World Cup.

In closing, I would like to reiterate our openness to communicating with media representatives in a variety of formats. I hope the Ministry representatives present here cannot be accused of ducking the media. Other senior ministerial officials, heads of departments, and our employees (especially when they travel as part of a delegation to international events) are simply under obligation to share information about our work and to make our work clear and transparent. This is what we strive to achieve.

Question: If elections take place in Ukraine this year, can a person willing to talk to Russia come to power there? Kiev signed a security agreement with London and may sign similar agreements with other G7 countries. How important is it for Russia in the context of the future settlement of the conflict? Does it mean that Ukraine won’t have a neutral status?

Sergey Lavrov: Frankly, we are not too concerned over the details in the discussion of Ukraine’s political affairs. The issue of elections surfaced. We heard that the West strongly advised Vladimir Zelensky to hold these elections, apparently in the hope that the election campaign and the voting itself will make it possible to bring him into line with Western interests, because he is getting harder and harder to control.

Zelensky announced in public that he would not hold any elections because of the ongoing war. This reminds one of another staged performance and reflects exclusively the desire of this man and his well-known underlings to hold on to power as much as possible. This is the desire I see.

The West would like to have more flexibility. Apparently, they have already understood that the much-publicised blitzkrieg with the ultimate goal of inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia is a mere illusion. There has been a fundamental shift, primarily in Western minds. They realised their mistake. It is hard to admit it. Now they are looking for some external signals that would allow them to still support Ukraine while pushing Kiev to become more accommodating and listen to its Western bosses. I find it hard to predict how successful they will be in that.

As for the second part of your question, this story is nothing new. Several months ago, there were “clashes” in the West over whether to admit Ukraine to NATO or the European Union. Not everyone was in favour of this and not everyone was happy. Everyone understood that this was yet another completely senseless, irresponsible and risky move for European security. The signing of bilateral agreements with individual Western countries was invented as a product requiring additional assembly. I heard about the contents of the document agreed upon by Zelensky and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. I did not see in its analysis any legally binding provisions unless we consider as such Ukraine’s obligation to come to the defence of Great Britain in case of an attack. This sounds like a joke. But, on the other hand, we can regard it as a continuation of Studio Kvartal-95. Probably, now it will go by a different name.

We do not object to the agreements that other countries sign with Ukraine but this does not change our goal one iota. President Vladimir Putin confirmed this the other day. We will steadfastly pursue the goals of the special military operation and we will achieve them.

The West periodically sends us some signals and then cancels them. We take a philosophical attitude to them. President Vladimir Putin said many times that Russia does not refuse to negotiate. He said this as early as in 2022, when Boris Johnson and other Anglo-Saxons prohibited Kiev from signing an already agreed-upon treaty to reach a settlement with the Russian Federation. This is a well-known episode. It took place in April 2022. Speaking in 2022 about this issue, President Putin said again that we do not reject talks. However, those who do should realise that the more they drag it out, the harder it will be to come to terms later. Now we see how this prediction is coming true. There is no hope at all that Russia will be “defeated.” This was said many times. Those who have not studied history (there are many of them in the West) and geography know little and may engage in flights of fancy. Or they may come up with another plot for the afore-mentioned Studio Kvartal-95. But it will have nothing to do with real life.

Question: I would like to wish you a happy New Year and victory on all fronts to the Russian people.

The United States is creating “international political and military coalitions” which are committing acts of aggression against Yemen and continue to support and encourage Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people, as well as military operations against Syria and Lebanon. What is Moscow’s stance on these issues?

Sergey Lavrov: We have made numerous public statements to present our views on the developments in the Middle East, not only in Gaza but also in the Palestinian territories as a whole and in Lebanon, Iraq and, of course, Yemen.

It is obvious that the United States, Britain and some of their other allies have trampled underfoot all the norms of international law, including the UN Security Council resolution, which only called for protecting commercial shipping. Nobody was given the right to bomb Yemen, just as nobody gave NATO the right to bomb Libya in 2011. A resolution adopted back then only established a no-fly zone over Libya, which meant that the Libyan Air Force aircraft must not fly over the country, and they did not. There was not even the most far-fetched pretext for using armed force there. But the country has been bombed to dust and turned into a black hole. Nobody has been able to reassemble the Libyan state to this day. A huge number of migrants flooded Europe, making it suffer. But the Americans and the British are not suffering. The terrorists whom the West used to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi moved towards central Africa.

We can see the same arbitrariness with regard to Yemen now. It is obvious to everyone. I would say that Washington’s justifications are pathetic.

The other day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Davos that virtually every country in the Middle East wanted the United States and they wanted it leading. I cannot confidently say if the regional countries want this. We should ask them. But one of these countries, Iraq, adopted a decision several years ago stating that the United States had been in the country, its military bases had been in the country for a long time, and that this should end, and the United States should go home. But the Americans refuse to leave.

Baghdad has recently made another statement on the Americans’ reluctance to go home even though they have been encouraged to leave long ago. It is especially regrettable that Secretary of State Blinken also implied that only the United States can help negotiate peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis. He said this. We are aware of such semi-secret contacts involving the United States, Israel and several Arab countries. But these contacts do not involve a direct dialogue between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Instead, they imply that the “big guys” will sit at a table somewhere to decide how the Palestinians should live and will present their decision to them. This cannot succeed. Only a direct dialogue, which must be relaunched, can bring about progress. It went on, with difficulties, but it continued with support from the quartet of international intermediaries. We have always said that the activities of the quartet – the United States, Russia, the UN and the EU – must also involve representatives from the Arab League. It is deeply regrettable that the Americans and the Europeans blocked that idea. And then the United States dissolved all such quartets and monopolised the entire mediation process.

In September 2023, US National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan said that the Middle East region was quieter today than it has been in the past few years. A month later, a conflict broke out in Gaza. This calls for collective efforts, which the United States seems to have lost the habit of. It has become addicted to dictating.

Next Tuesday, the UN Security Council will hold a special meeting on this issue. We plan to attend it, and I will personally travel to New York for this purpose. We will put forth our ideas aimed at resuming collective efforts and ending the attempts to decide everything single-handedly, and not only in the Middle East. The United States wants to promote its agenda throughout the world. We’ll see what comes of it.

Ultimately, life itself will likely teach our Western colleagues a lesson. Regional countries must clearly show that it is their region, and the security of all states in the region is of crucial importance. While external recommendations will not be disregarded, the final decisions must be taken by the regional countries themselves.

The main focus of these efforts should be the establishment of a Palestinian state in strict compliance with the UN Security Council’s decisions. This state should be viable, as the decisions state, and live side by side with Israel and other regional countries in peace and security. Otherwise, we will continue to see outbreaks of violence like the current situation in Gaza. Without a state of their own, the Palestinian people will continue to feel disadvantaged and injured. One generation of young Palestinians after another will be aware of this injustice and will pass on this feeling to their children. This injustice must be put to an end through the establishment of a Palestinian state. I hope that the Israeli leadership will ultimately reach the same conclusion. Currently, very few people consider this solution acceptable to Israel, but this only means that efforts must continue to help them see the truth, which is that Israel’s security cannot be guaranteed without the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Russia wants Israel and its people to live in security. Israel is our long-time partner. Our country was the first to recognise Israel’s independence. About 2 million Israeli citizens also hold Russian passports and have come from Russia. Of course, we are concerned about this. We are ready to play an active role in bringing about a comprehensive settlement that will guarantee Israel’s security while strictly complying with the UN resolution on the Palestinian issue.

To be continued…

≈≈≈≈

Traditionally, Sergey Lavrov holds a large-scale press conference at the beginning of the year to assess the foreign policy events of the past year.

Sputnik Africa goes live as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is summing up the past year at a major press conference.

The event is held in a hybrid format: some Russian and foreign journalists have joined the conference directly in the press center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while others have connected via the Internet. Moreover, the representatives of the press were able to send their questions in advance.


⭕ ❗ Russian FM Lavrov’s statements on the Ukraine crisis:
🔻 Russia sees no US, NATO readiness for fair settlement of Ukrainian conflict, they continue escalation;
🔻West pushing Ukraine to use long-range missiles on Russian territory shows no interest in peace settlement;
🔻Moscow is not concerned about political life in Ukraine, West wants to have more flexibility in Ukraine’s leadership;
🔻Security issues in Eurasia must be resolved without countries outside the region.
⭕ ❗ West is talking more about clash of nuclear powers, there are fewer deterrents, Lavrov states. The Russian foreign minister has also noted that the US wants to resume control over Russian nuclear arsenal under the guise of reciprocity.


⭕ ❗ The main focus of efforts on Palestine should be the creation of a Palestinian state, Lavrov says. He also noted that without the creation of a Palestinian state, the recurrence of violence in Gaza will continue and Israel’s security will not be ensured.
⭕ ❗ US, UK violated all norms of international law with strikes on Yemen, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov says. The UN did not give the US the right to strike Yemen, as before it did in Libya, the Russia’s top diplomat has also underscored.


⭕ ❗ Lavrov: “One of the large European countries that does not speak English” invited the Russian ambassador to think about joint projects in Africa to help regain this country’s lost influence amid the strengthening of Russia’s relations with Africa, in particular with Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad and Niger.
🗣 “The cynicism is off the charts. You remain our enemy […] but in Africa you will somehow help us… There will never be such negotiations,” added the foreign minister.
⭕❗ Argentina’s refusal to join BRICS is the country’s sovereign decision, the Russian foreign minister says.


Highlights from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statements at the press conference on the results of 2023:

Africa and BRICS:
⚫ Moscow is taking its partnership with African countries to a truly strategic level;
⚫ Argentina’s refusal to join BRICS at this time is a sovereign decision of this country;
⚫ BRICS symbolizes the abundance of a multipolar world;
⚫ Russia will pay special attention to ensure that new BRICS members fit seamlessly into the bloc.

Ukraine:
⚫ The situation with the elections in Ukraine is increasingly reminiscent of a staging and reflects Zelensky’s desire to cling to power as much as possible;
⚫ There are no legally binding provisions in the London-Kiev security agreement;
⚫ Russia does not see the US interest in a settlement in Ukraine.

Yemen:
⚫ The US and UK trampled international law by striking at Yemen;
⚫ Washington’s excuses in the situation with Yemen look pathetic.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict:
⚫ Semi-closed contacts involving the US, Israel and some individual states on Palestine will not be successful;
⚫ Only direct dialogue is needed to resolve relations between Israel and Palestine;
⚫ Russia is ready to play an active role in ensuring a full resolution of the conflict in the Middle East.

The security dialogue with the US:
⚫ It is impossible to talk about the prospects for strategic dialogue with the US in isolation from other issues;
⚫ The US has created unacceptable conditions for the implementation of disarmament treaties;
⚫ In December 2023, Russia conveyed its assessments on strategic stability to the US and warned that they had no alternative.

Sergey Lavrov & Wang Yi

Par : amarynth

On January 10, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke over the phone (https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1924819/)with Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China

🤝 The Ministers summed up and spoke positively of the key outcomes of cooperation in 2023, expressing satisfaction with the high tempo of the political dialogue and practical cooperation, which are marked by stability and positive dynamics amid the global geopolitical instability.

They focused on the implementation of agreements reached at the top political level and highlighted the importance of Russian-Chinese strategic interaction to create a just multipolar international order and, in particular, to ensure that the foundations of Eurasian security are solid.

📈 They noted that bilateral trade and economic cooperation has successfully overcome external challenges, with Russia-China trade passing the $200 billion mark as of the end of the year.

Sergey Lavrov and Wang Yi touched on a number of priority items on the international agenda, including the Ukraine crisis, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula and the Asia-Pacific region in general.

They underscored their rejection of the Western bloc’s confrontational policy towards Russia and China, and the attempts to hold back their development using sanctions, deliberate provocations and other illegitimate means.

☝ They also noted the purely constructive nature of interaction between Moscow and Beijing within the #UN, the #SCO, #BRICS and other multilateral formats, which is not directed against third countries. The Chinese side expressed support for Russia’s BRICS chairmanship. The Ministers exchanged views on ways to facilitate China’s contacts with the #CIS.

Read in full (https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1924819/)

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov answers questions from the NTV Itogi Nedeli programme, December 24, 2023

Par : amarynth

Please note the BRICS explanation which I’ve bolded  – Amaryth

https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1922749/

Question: Here is a philosophical question: Yesterday, you spoke about justice, a just solution to the crisis, a just multipolar world order, etc. Now the Global South is closely watching us. What kind of justice can we offer them? How do we make it clear to them?

Sergey Lavrov: I think that any normal person, including politicians, immediately understands what injustice is when they see it. It is clear to them when issues are resolved fairly, based on a balance of interests and the key principle of the UN Charter, which emphasises the need to respect the sovereign equality of all states, big and small. Unfortunately, since the creation of the United Nations, the West, especially the United States, has failed to comply with this key principle of sovereign equality.

The Arab world is not just watching us closely; they are also closely cooperating with us. The atmosphere in Marrakesh during the meeting of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum, as well as my talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Nabil Ammar and the meeting with the President of the Republic of Tunisia Kais Saied, demonstrated that this is not mere observation. There is a strong desire for active cooperation, both bilateral, in terms of developing the economy and mutual investments, and in the international arena. We aim to coordinate not just on specific issues, but on fundamental matters concerning the future world order.

In this context, justice means equal rights for all states and entities established in different regions. This includes the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the African Union, CELAC, as well as numerous subregional institutions in Africa and Latin America. In Eurasia, we have the EAEU, the SCO and ASEAN. These organisations have established close contacts, including through the Belt and Road project.

Integration processes are a natural part of life. Unlike certain plans proposed by Western countries, we do not intend to construct artificial schemes. Instead, we seek to allow these objective tendencies to interact with each other, as there are many overlapping areas where integration naturally develops. Through fair division of labour and mutual benefit for all participants, we will gradually move towards a multipolar world.

Question: Why didn’t you mention BRICS?

Sergey Lavrov: I didn’t mention BRICS because it is self-evident. I listed the organisations that are emerging at the regional level. BRICS is not an organisation but an association. I don’t think there is any interest in turning it into a formal organisation with a secretariat, at least not at this stage and for the foreseeable future. BRICS is a symbol. It represents the shared desire of a majority of countries in the world to develop their initiatives together, taking into account each other’s interests on an equal basis. It serves as a future umbrella for all subregional and regional processes. Some countries in Eurasia, Africa, Latin America and the Arab world are already part of this association. This is the future.

In the West, there are no organisations that have fair rules in terms of equality and genuine consensus. Not the kind we saw in the European Union,  when Hungarian Prime Minister Orban was asked to leave the room and go have a coffee when they made some decisions concerning Ukraine. NATO enforces discipline through force. Perhaps one day, the West will realise that these trends are unstoppable and that the desire for real justice is the driving force behind the growing self-awareness of the World Majority, which includes the Global South and the Global East. We are part of this process.

Lavrov dresse le bilan diplomatique de 2023 dans une interview

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interview lavrovLe ministre russe des Affaires étrangères Sergueï Lavrov, dans une interview exclusive avec TASS sur le bilan de 2023, a

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Lavrov répond à l’Occident au Conseil de sécurité de l’Onu

lavrov onu

lavrov onuLe ministre russe des Affaires étrangères Sergueï Lavrov s’est exprimé lors d’une réunion du Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU consacrée

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Lavrov est arrivé en Afrique du Sud pour le sommet des BRICS

lavrov brics

lavrov bricsLe ministre des Affaires étrangères Sergueï Lavrov est arrivé à Johannesburg, où il participera au sommet des BRICS, a rapporté

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Lavrov en tournée diplomatique en Afrique pour la 3e fois de l’année

lavrov afrique

lavrov afriqueLe ministre russe des Affaires étrangères Sergueï Lavrov effectue sa troisième tournée africaine depuis le début de l’année. Le chef

L’article Lavrov en tournée diplomatique en Afrique pour la 3e fois de l’année est apparu en premier sur STRATPOL.

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