Russian MFA 🇷🇺

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with the Sputnik, Govorit Moskva, and Komsomolskaya Pravda radio stations (April 19, 2024)

💬 Sergey Lavrov: President of Russia Vladimir Putin is constantly reminding everyone that we always prefer talks to fights and wars.

We already had some experience. After the Ukrainians realised that they had overdone it, while shelling Donbass and promoting direct genocide methods against the Russians on their own territory (as they had believed), they suggested launching talks two or three weeks after the special military operation began. We immediately agreed.

At this stage, we always repeat the following whenever anyone asks whether we are ready for talks. First, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky has forbidden himself to negotiate with Russia. As Russia's President Vladimir Putin said answering this question, he should at least take the first step and repeal that order.

Secondly, they cannot be trusted. We have been trying to make ourselves trust them for too long.

☝️ And yet, we are ready to negotiate. But unlike the Istanbul story, we will not pause the military actions for the period of negotiations. The process must go on. In addition, the realities on the ground have changed significantly. These realities must be taken into account.

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✍️ Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s greetings to the organisers, participants and guests of the BRICS Film Festival

💬 Films represent the entire range of civilisations and societies in the association. This diversity keeps in the spirit of #BRICS: an open multilateral organisation, where equal member states are seeking effective solutions to today’s topical problems and national development together.

Your Film Festival serves as a great illustration of constructive dialogue and mutual enrichment of cultures. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this undertaking in today’s conditions. I am confident that it will succeed and become an unforgettable event in the life of Moscow, and also reimage the cultural component of Russia’s chairship in BRICS.

🤝 I wish you successful work together, great and unforgettable impressions, and all the best.

🇷🇺🇱🇨 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Minister of External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation and Diaspora Affairs of Saint Lucia Alva Romanus Baptiste exchanged congratulatory messages to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries (April 19, 2004).

✉️ Highlighting the advancing mutual cooperation between Moscow and Castries, Sergey Lavrov emphasised the trust-based relationship and shared approaches to addressing contemporary challenges. He expressed Russia’s readiness to improve bilateral relations across political, trade, economic, cultural, and humanitarian areas, as well as to intensify interaction within international organisations.

Alva Romanus Baptiste, in response, praised Russian-Saint Lucian relations, particularly highlighting cooperation in the education sector. He affirmed his readiness to bolster ties with Russia and reiterated Castries’ dedication to exploring new opportunities for economic cooperation. He also expressed a commitment to advancing initiatives aligned with the mutual interests of both nations.

🤝 The two Ministers expressed a mutual enthusiasm to promptly finalise an agreement aimed at eliminating visa requirements between the Russian Federation and Saint Lucia to enhance tourism and foster cultural exchanges between the two nations.

#RussiaSaintLucia

🎙 Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov's interview with TV BRICS (April 18, 2024)

Key talking points:

• [When several new members joined BRICS] it was unclear how the adjustment process would go and what would come out of it. After [four months of Russia's Chairship] our cooperation has gained momentum and we are moving forward towards success at an increasing pace.

• During the BRICS Chairship, Russia will continue its work in three key areas: politics and security, economy and finance, humanitarian cooperation. I am glad that all the members of the association collaborate in a friendly manner, striving for best results.

• The Leaders [of the BRICS countries] have taken a decision that made the Group unequivocally stronger. The association asserted itself as a key link in the emerging multipolar world.

• We assume that each of the new members will bring something new to the group. The rich history and cultural traditions of the newcomers speak for themselves. It enriches BRICS.

• Our "group of ten" is beginning to demonstrate solidarity at international platforms. The BRICS countries recently adopted a joint statement at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi. The members of the association are asserting themselves in a constructive manner on the broadest possible agenda.

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🎙 Explanation of vote by Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia after UNSC vote on a draft resolution on admission of Palestine to full UN membership

💬 This day could have made history as the day when after three quarters of a century the global community finally made the right step towards improving the years-long historical injustice as regards Palestine and legitimate aspirations of its heroic people.

It was essentially a simple question whether the Palestinians deserve to be part of the world family and to participate fully in all decisions of international life. A question to which we have consistently responded “yes”, both when we admitted Israel to the United Nations and when we admitted dozens of states liberated from colonial oppression.

❌ However, our American colleagues see things differently. By exercising their veto power for the fifth time since the beginning of the escalation in Gaza, they have once again demonstrated their true attitude towards the Palestinians. For Washington, they do not deserve an independent state of their own.

They are only an obstacle to the implementation of Israel's interests. That is why the US is ready to turn a blind eye to Israel's crimes against the civilians of Gaza to the last, to ignore the illegal settlement activity of Israel in the West Bank.

The goal is to break the will of the Palestinians, to force them to unconditionally submit to the occupying power, to turn them into servants and second-class citizens and, perhaps, to expel them from their homeland.

Indulging in the most reckless actions of its ally, unwillingness to seek just solutions within the existing international legal framework is a direct way to the abyss of war that could engulf the entire region.

❗️ We call on the US to listen to the voice of reason, think about the consequences of its decisions, and urgently join the efforts of the other members of the Security Council to establish an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

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📸 Dmitry Polyanskiy

🎙 Statement by Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question

🔸 For seven months now, the Middle East has been engulfed in a violent conflict that has already claimed the lives of more than 34,000 civilians in Gaza. The escalation is spiraling daily, spreading to other countries of the region, for whom the threat of a full-scale armed confrontation has started to loom for the first time in decades.

🔸 It took Washington six months to finally realize that it had lost all leverage over Israel and ended up in a situation where "the tail was wagging the dog" - when Tel Aviv was actually dictating its terms, demanding unconditional American support for any of its reckless decisions.

🔸 Israel's cleansing of Gaza has already set a historic anti-record for the death toll of UN humanitarian personnel - more than 240 people have been killed. Israeli military has been hitting humanitarian convoys, blocking access, slowing down the passage of supplies. Western countries criticize them fiercely only if such actions kill Western citizens.

🔸 The disdainful attitude of the West towards certain states and their rights, dividing the world into friends, who stand above the law, and foes, whose legitimate interests can be ignored, has brought the Middle East to the brink of a major war.

🔸 The international community has failed (because of the position of one State, which has blocked all our efforts) to protect the Palestinians from the Israeli slaughter. Nor has it been able to alleviate their humanitarian suffering. Nor has it been able to stop the spiral of violence.

🔸 We are convinced that recognizing the status of Palestine as equal to Israel will contribute to a long-term settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the well-known international legal framework approved at the United Nations and reinforced by the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002.

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🇷🇺🇱🇰 Russian Embassy in Sri Lanka:

On the "Daily News" article about presumed recruiting of Sri Lankan mercenaries for the Russian Army by Gayan Kumara Weerasinghe

💬 The Embassy possesses neither information about the participation of Sri Lankan nationals in the Ukrainian conflict on the Russian side, nor any data regarding possible numbers of them. Neither we are aware of a local recruiting agency which ostensibly hires people to join such activities while deceiving about their true nature.

The Embassy denies any connections with the return to Sri Lanka of a corporal who allegedly fled from the combat zone as it follows from the "Daily News" article "Popular tele actresses found recruiting mercenaries" by Gayan Kumara Weerasinghe. We would like to note that protection of interests and rights of Sri Lankan citizens in the territory of Russia is under the jurisdiction of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Moscow.

At the same time the Embassy finds it necessary to stress that visas are issued to Sri Lankans by its Consular Section in Colombo on the basis of valid documents of applicants in confirmation of their travel goals which have nothing to do with military operations. In order to prevent the entrance of persons with such intentions to Russia the Embassy conducts additional interviews with them.

☝️ However, if the Sri Lankans decide to change their travel goal or nature of activity performed in Russia, we cannot impede them to act so. We would like to reiterate that the issues related to foreigners residing in Russia fall within the competence of relevant diplomatic representations in Moscow while the Russian Embassy in Colombo is in charge of protection of the Russian citizens' in Sri Lanka.

Should the Embassy receive an official request from Sri Lankan officials, it will provide available information.

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the presentation of the Republic of Bashkortostan (April 17, 2024)

Key talking points:

💬 We have gathered today for a presentation of a region of the Russian Federation at the Foreign Ministry’s Main Administration for Service to the Diplomatic Corps. Such events have become a good tradition. We take pride in performing this function as it allows us to introduce our foreign friends to the richness of the Russian Federation.

• Situated at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, in the very heart of Eurasia, Bashkortostan is emerging as a driving force in global economic and investment endeavours, as well as in the convergence of global civilisational processes.

• Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan is home to 110 ethnicities practicing different religions and speaking different languages. Accord between them, as well as between all other ethnic groups in the Russian Federation, is built on mutual respect and a careful preservation of traditions, history, faith, way of life and customs.

• Today, Bashkortostan is among the leading industrial and agro-industrial regions of the Russian Federation.

🌐 It is encouraging to see that the republic is striving to expand its foreign trade relations. It has signed foreign trade agreements with 105 countries and prioritises cooperation with the CIS and the EAEU, as well as the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

• We welcome the focus of Bashkortostan’s leadership and its business circles on expanding foreign relations and looking for reliable foreign partners.

🚣 Bashkortostan is generously endowed with natural riches. Water tourism and mountain river rafting have played a significant role in shaping the person I am today. This passion of mine was born in Bashkortostan, for which I am deeply grateful to this remarkable land.

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#PresentationOfRegions

⚡️ Russia's Foreign Ministry statement on personal sanctions on members of Australia’s municipal councils

❗️ In response to the politically motivated sanctions imposed on Russian private individuals and legal entities by the Government of Australia as part of the collective West’s Russophobic campaign, the decision has been made to indefinitely deny entry to Russia to 235 Australian nationals who are members of municipal councils actively promoting the anti-Russia agenda in their country. The complete list of individuals affected by this measure follows below.

📄 List of names of Australian citizens that are now denied entry to the Russian Federation

Given that official Canberra shows no sign of renouncing its anti-Russia position and the continued introduction of new sanctions, we will further update the Russian stop list accordingly.

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks during a meeting of the United Russia General Council’s Commission on International Cooperation and Support for Compatriots Abroad

📍 Moscow, April 16, 2024

#Election2024

• The high interest in voting [during the 2024 Presidential election] was overwhelming, which was confirmed by high turnout as well as the large number of journalists, public figures and representatives from compatriot organisations who observed the elections.

• The electoral process took place amid the hybrid war against Russia unleashed by the collective West. Nevertheless, the Russian Foreign Ministry and its foreign missions have coped with the task. Hundreds of thousands of Russians got the chance to exercise their constitutional right.

#BRICS

• The action plan [of Russia’s current BRICS chairmanship] envisages active work in three main areas, including politics and security, the economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian contacts. The key priority now is to ensure the new members’ harmonious integration into the strategic partnership architecture and to preserve the effective operation of all existing BRICS mechanisms.

• In addition to working on the partner states category, the BRICS members are going to deepen dialogue with friendly countries in the BRICS Plus/BRICS Outreach format. They are planning to involve our associates in the EAEU, CIS, CSTO and the SCO by using this format.

• We are interested in enhancing the role of the BRICS states in the currency, financial and trade systems, developing interbank cooperation, expanding the use of their national currencies in mutual trade and pooling efforts in creating a rating agency and the association’s exchange.

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🇷🇺🇵🇰 Russian Embassy in Pakistan:

Today H.E. Ambassador Albert Khorev inaugurated the Russian Language Centre at Punjab University in Lahore. After the ceremony the Ambassador met with Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Khalid Mahmood and the faculty.

#RussiaPakistan