Посольство России в Норвегии - Russlands Ambassade i Norge

🚀 On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union opened humanity’s path to the stars!

#OTD, the Space Age officially began: the world’s first artificial satellite – Sputnik 1 – entered Earth’s orbit.

At 10:28 pm Moscow time, an R-7 launch vehicle, developed under the leadership of the outstanding Soviet rocket engineer Sergey Korolev, lifted off from the Tyuratam launch site (later named Baikonur). Just over five minutes later, the satellite separated from the rocket and transmitted its world-famous signals: “Beep! Beep!”

📰 On October 5, 1957, Soviet newspaper Pravda reported:

On October 4, 1957, the USSR successfully launched the first satellite.

The satellite is currently following an elliptical orbit around Earth, and its flight can be observed in the light of the rising and setting Sun using the simplest optical instruments.

Updates on the movement of the first artificial satellite, launched in the USSR on October 4, will be broadcast regularly by radio stations.

🛰 An aluminium sphere 58 centimetres (~23 inches) in diameter, weighing 83.6 kilograms (~184 pounds), with four antennas and two radio transmitters – this was humanity’s first envoy in orbit. Behind its simple exterior lay the immense efforts of Soviet scientists, engineers and workers.

Sputnik completed an orbit around Earth roughly every 96 minutes, and radio enthusiasts worldwide picked up its famous signals.

Its radio transmitters operated for about three weeks, while the satellite itself remained in orbit for 92 days. During that time, it completed 1,440 orbits around Earth, travelling some 60 million kilometres (~ 37.3 million miles). Its flight ended on January 4, 1958, when it entered the dense layers of the atmosphere and burned up.

The historic launch validated the calculations and technical solutions needed to reach space. Observations of the satellite gave scientists new data on the density of the upper atmosphere and the propagation of radio waves through the ionosphere.

🌐 Sputnik 1 was a triumph of Soviet science and engineering – an achievement for all humanity. It proved that the path beyond Earth was open – paving the way for Yuri Gagarin’s flight, the exploration of the Moon and other planets, and the construction of orbital stations.

For 6️⃣9️⃣ years, satellites have served humanity. Today, they are essential to everyday life: they provide communications and television broadcasting, help us navigate, forecast the weather and monitor climate change.

☝️ But the first was ours. Forever. #Sputnik1

✅ That’s a wrap on the Russian delegation’s diplomatic marathon led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the #UNGA81 High-Level Week! 🏁

#TeamRussia kept up a relentless pace at UN HQ in New York.

A few figures: In over 90+ hours of nearly nonstop work, Russian diplomats took part in nearly 50 events – bilateral meetings and multilateral talks – as well as the General Debate of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly and a UN Security Council meeting.

📹 Watch the highlights of #VideoRecap 👇

👉 #DAY1
👉 #DAY2
👉 #DAY3

🎙 Sergey Lavrov’s statement at the UNSC meeting on Ukraine
🎙 Sergey Lavrov’s statement at the #UNGA81 General Debate
🎙 The Foreign Minister’s press conference

📄 Joint Statement “Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century: Inauguration of Negotiations”
🎙 Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks at the high-level meeting on the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century

#UNCharterIsOurRules

🎙 Remarks and answers to media questions by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov following the High-Level Week of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly (New York, September 26, 2026)

Key points:

• Without a doubt, the UN needs to be adapted to the new realities, including through reform of the Security Council by adding representatives from Asia, Africa and Latin America. We cannot envisage any additional seats for Western countries. We cannot allow that, because the West is already overrepresented on the UN Security Council.

• We expect the new Secretary-General to represent the interests of all humanity, not just the “golden billion,” and to meet all the criteria set out in the UN Charter, including impartiality, objectivity and proper performance of the functions of the Organisation’s chief administrative officer.

• I have repeatedly set out the sequence of events in the development of the Ukraine crisis. There is no lack of trust on our part. Moreover, we continued the bilateral talks in Istanbul, and trilateral talks were also held in Abu Dhabi with US participation. None of these rounds of negotiations were terminated by us, but by those who now claim that “the Russians are avoiding contacts and have nothing to say”.

• We believe that the Islamabad Memorandum was, as they say, a fair deal. Since it was signed at the highest level, it was presumably done consciously. So why not return to it?

• As for drafting the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century, we are not setting any artificial deadlines. At the same time, we certainly would not want this work to drag on, given that our Eurasian continent badly needs a continent-wide framework open to all countries and organisations of the continent without exception and free from any external interference.

•All the damage being inflicted on commercial shipping is the result of Ukrainian terrorist attacks, not only in the Black Sea but also in the Caspian Sea.

• The trend towards outright Nazism is evident not only in Europe’s support for the Kiev regime, but also in what I mentioned in my statement. German chancellor Friedrich Merz has said – more than once, so this was no slip of the tongue – that his goal is to ensure that Germany “once again becomes the leading military power in Europe”. Does he understand the meaning of the words “once again” in that context? These are very dangerous trends, prompting many analysts to speak of attempts to create a “Fourth Reich”.

• We maintain a regular dialogue with the administration of US President Donald Trump in various formats, and that alone is already a sign of normality. If relations are reduced to issuing propaganda statements every morning condemning Russia and demanding that Russia suffer a “strategic defeat,” then that is not diplomacy.

• In today’s world, no country – not even one as powerful as the US – can solve all global problems single-handedly, especially at the expense of others.

👉 I am confident that reality will teach our American partners to start thinking in terms of #Multilateralism. They are not the only economic and military power in the world, nor the only independent actor on the international stage.

• I am frankly tired of discussing this issue [European leaders calling for preparations for war with Russia]. We have stated our position many times, so I have nothing to add. President of Russia Vladimir Putin has recently reaffirmed it in St Petersburg: we are not going to wage war against Europe. The very idea is absurd and nonsensical.

☝️ Yet it is Europe that is preparing for war with us.

Read in full

🎙 Statement by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the General Debate of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly* (New York, September 26, 2026)

💬 Over the past few days, both from this rostrum and on the sidelines of the General Assembly, we have repeatedly heard that tectonic shifts are taking place in world politics and that a more just #MultipolarWorld order is emerging before our eyes.

The countries of the Global South and East are asserting themselves as sovereign centres of development and taking responsibility for security in their respective regions. They demonstrate their commitment to international law, rejection of external pressure, and interest in the prosperity of all states, not just a select few.

This constructive philosophy also underpins Russia’s foreign policy. It is shared by our many like-minded partners and forms the foundation for cooperation within the #CIS, #SCO, #BRICS and other associations of the #WorldMajority.

❌ However, not everyone welcomes these developments. The Western minority, which dominated for five centuries at the expense of others’ resources, continues its attempts to preserve its privileges and impose its “rules” on everyone else.

The West is increasingly resorting to brute force, acting unpredictably and recklessly, and putting at risk the lives and well-being of millions, if not billions, of people on our shared planet. As President of Russia Vladimir Putin put it, the dictatorship of a single hegemon “has spun out of control and is simply dangerous to everyone around it”.

At the beginning of 2026, in violation of every conceivable norm, including basic standards of morality, the US intervention in Venezuela culminated in the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and their detention without trial in a US prison. This comes despite the fact that international law expressly requires respect for the immunity and inviolability of senior state officials.

👉 We insist on the immediate release of the Venezuelan Leader and his wife and demand that such actions never be repeated.

We regard the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, members of his family, as well as members of the Islamic Republic’s military and political leadership, as an unacceptable manifestation of the use of force and coercion.

***

A year ago, we marked the 80th anniversary of Victory over German Nazism and Japanese militarism. Next week, on October 1, we will mark 80 years since the conclusion of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. The historic Judgment the Nuremberg Tribunal unequivocally condemned Nazi criminals and placed the inhuman ideology of Nazism beyond the bounds of law and morality.

☝️ Yet 80 years later, the lessons of Nuremberg have clearly not been learned by everyone.

Judging by statements from their representatives, the ruling elites of a number of EU countries appear to be infected with ideas of racial superiority and continue to promote extremist, Russophobic views.

They indulge the leaders of the Kiev regime when they honour notorious war criminals and Hitler collaborators in Kiev – people whose hands are stained with the blood of Russians, Jews, Belarusians, Ukrainians and people of other nationalities.

***

Having launched the special military operation in 2022 to protect the people of Donbass and Novorossiya from extermination by the Kiev regime, Russia continues to fight for their security and rights in full accordance with the letter and spirit of the UN Charter.

❗️ Our struggle for truth and justice will be carried through to the end: the objectives of the special military operation will be achieved, threats to Russia’s security will be eliminated, and peaceful life will be restored.

This will happen regardless of any circumstances, including the inability of the current leadership of the UN to take the only correct position on the situation around Ukraine – that of defending the principles of the UN Charter not selectively, but in their entirety, completeness and interconnection.

*Unofficial translation

Read in full

📆 18 сентября в Международном мультимедийном пресс-центре «Россия сегодня» прошёл брифинг директора Департамента европейских проблем МИД России, старшего должностного лица от России в Арктическом совете В.В.Масленникова, приуроченный к отмечаемому 19 сентября 30-летию Арктического совета.

В ходе мероприятия изложены российские оценки ситуации в сфере международного сотрудничества в Заполярье, освещена деятельность Арктического совета на современном этапе.

***

Основные тезисы выступления:

• Возможности для взаимодействия в Арктике сохраняются, однако приходится учитывать и негативные тенденции в развитии геополитической ситуации в высоких широтах.

• В подходах западных стран в отношении Заполярья превалируют установки на противоборство, «сдерживание» России. В результате в регионе, ранее отличавшемся исключительно мирным конструктивным сотрудничеством, нарастает напряжённость. Итоги прошедшего 13-14 сентября 2026 года «Европейского арктического саммита» подтвердили, что Евросоюз и его страны-члены не готовы отказаться от политизации сотрудничества в высоких широтах и настроены на дальнейшую эскалацию.

• Вне зависимости от внешних факторов абсолютный приоритет для России — поддержание мира и стабильности на Севере, обеспечение безопасных условий для эффективного социально-экономического и технологического развития нашей Арктической зоны. Важным инструментом для достижения этих задач остаётся международное взаимодействие, для которого в Арктике по-прежнему есть необходимые предпосылки.

• На протяжении многих лет Арктический совет (АС), объединяющий восемь региональных стран и шесть организаций коренных народов, имел статус наиболее авторитетного форума международного сотрудничества в Арктике. К своему 30-летию Совет подошёл не в лучшей форме, пребывая с марта 2022 года в «подмороженном» состоянии. В то же время организацию пока удаётся поддерживать «на плаву», все её участники демонстрируют заинтересованность в сохранении данного формата. Со своей стороны прикладываем усилия для восстановления полноформатной работы АС, в том числе на политическом уровне.

• Видим растущий интерес внерегиональных стран к взаимодействию с Россией в Арктике по широкому кругу вопросов. Динамично развивается двустороннее сотрудничество с Китаем, Индией и рядом других стран по раскрытию транспортно-логистического потенциала Северного морского пути (#СМП) как ключевого элемента Трансарктического транспортного коридора.

👉 Смотрите выступление полностью