? Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions following the Russia-ASEAN conference and the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (Vientiane, July 27 2024)

*?* We have been working in the capital of Laos for two days. This year, this country chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (#ASEAN).

The annual #RussiaASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting took place on July 26, 2024. During the meeting, we reviewed our cooperation in all aspects in a trust-based, specific and business-like manner, and went on to adopt a Joint Statement on the 20th Anniversary of Russia’s accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (the Bali Treaty).

The Joint Statement sets forth the principles of equality, mutual benefit, taking into consideration each other’s interests and achieving a balance of interests. We expressed our shared view that these principles remain fully valid and relevant, especially today, considering the attempts to introduce a bloc-based mindset in the Asia-Pacific Region and create all kinds of exclusive mechanisms there, while also enabling NATO with its infrastructure to gain a foothold in this region. This runs counter to the objective of reinforcing an ASEAN-centric security architecture. Shaped by decades of continuous efforts, it meets the interests of all participants.

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We carried out a performance review under the Comprehensive Plan of Action to Implement the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Russian Federation Strategic Partnership in 2021-2025.

? The coordination of documents on digital transformation is nearing completion. In 2024, Russia has become ASEAN’s digital partner. And the drafting of joint documents on countering terrorism and the safe use of information and communications technology is in its final stage. These domains are of utmost importance. In fact, it was largely Russia that initiated these joint plans with ASEAN to work on this agenda.

The East Asia Summit (#EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (#ARF) are scheduled to take place today at the foreign ministers’ level. These two formats offer an opportunity to emphasise the contrasts between the trends that have been taking shape within the ASEAN-centric architecture over the past decades, with the developments the West is trying to introduce in this region by seeking to accelerate its militarisation, setting up restricted military and political blocs, deploying new weapons and escalating confrontation in general.

☝️ The ASEAN-centric architecture implies an inclusive vision. The EAS and the ARF bring together ASEAN and its major partners, such as China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and Western countries. On the other hand, the West promotes cooperation formats which are less inclusive with a clear objective of containing China and Russia.

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? Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at a meeting with directors of Russian non-profit organisations (July 23, 2024)

Key talking points:

?The role of public diplomacy has grown compared to the earlier period, primarily when it comes to maintaining a healthy atmosphere of confidence in relations with our foreign partners and explaining problems created by the West.

? This applies to the the countries which we regard as unfriendly. I believe that we should use this term for governments, whereas the mood in the countries is largely determined by people’s lives and aspirations. I do not see any nation on the planet that would be unfriendly to our people in the first place.

? I am aware that pubic organisations in Western countries somehow manage to maintain ties with some of their partners in Russia. This interaction is extremely important for keeping up relations at the level of civil societies and trying to understand each other.

? We are beginning to see the outlines of a new multipolar world order. Nations around the world want to see their right to rule their destinies respected, and are searching for new ways of addressing various issues as alternatives to Western solutions.

? The West is not ready to engage in mutually beneficial and equal cooperation. It has been seeking to hold on to its erstwhile standing which follows the path of irreversible, albeit slow, degradation. The NATO Summit in Washington provided yet another example of this process by adopting a declaration which once again emphasised the West’s unilateral approaches.

? Today, Europe has been reduced to acting as Washington’s subject. Germany, for example, is the cornerstone of European politics and economy, but it still had to stomach the terrorist attacks against the Nord Stream pipelines which undermined its economic and social wellbeing. It had to pretend that this is the way it had to be.

? The process of eradicating the centralised dictatorial model that America’s globalisation has morphed into will go hand in hand with regionalisation of economic processes. Preferably, in view of their interdependence with the global economy, the developments in Eurasia, Africa and Latin America ought to be coordinated and harmonised to a certain extent. #BRICS is quite capable of doing that.

? We certainly believe that the United Nations remains a unique platform for universal cooperation that has no alternative. The UN Charter principles are relevant as never before.

? I said earlier that Eurasia is emerging as an independent part of the multipolar and polycentric world. We are moving forward towards creating a Greater Eurasian Partnership, something that President Vladimir Putin mentioned 10 years back.  Since then, this process has led to stronger ties between #EAEU, #SCO, and #ASEAN.

? We trust that non-governmental and non-profit organisations will actively participate in these processes and continue to contribute to the overall efforts seeking to strengthen Russia’s position on the continent and around the world, including the promotion of the Russian language and our multiethnic culture.

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▪️ President of Russia Vladimir Putin extended his condolences to President of Vietnam To Lam on the passing of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong.

The message reads, in part:

? “Nguyen Phu Trong devoted his whole life to serving his homeland. Over the years of serving in high-responsibility state and party posts, he has earned deep respect from his compatriots and significant weight in international affairs. In Russia, he will always be remembered as a true friend of our country, who made a great personal contribution to the establishment and development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Moscow and Hanoi.

I had a chance to spend time with this wonderful person many times, and I will forever cherish the memory of him. I ask you to convey my words of sincere sympathy and support to the family and friends of the deceased, as well as to all the friendly people of Vietnam.”

? Statement by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the UN Security Council meeting on multilateral cooperation in the interest of a more just, democratic and sustainable world order (New York, July 16, 2024)

? The actions of the US and its allies are hindering international cooperation and the creation of a more just world. They have taken countries and regions hostage, prevent nations from realising their sovereign rights declared in the UN Charter

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I am confident that this situation can be changed if there is good will, of course. To stop the implementation of a negative scenario, we would like to propose to discuss a number of steps towards restoring trust and stabilising the international situation.

1. The root causes of the ongoing crisis in Europe should be eliminated once and for all. The conditions for restoring stable peace in Ukraine have been put forth by President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

A political and diplomatic settlement should be complemented with practical steps, to be taken in the West and the Euro-Atlantic community, to remove threats to the Russian Federation. The coordination of mutual guarantees and agreements should be based on the recognition of the new geostrategic realities on the Eurasian continent, where a continental architecture of really equal and indivisible security is taking shape. Europe risks lagging behind this objective historical process. We are ready to discuss a balance of interests.

1. The restoration of the regional and global balance of forces should be accompanied with active efforts to eliminate injustices in the global economy. There must be no monopoly in monetary and financial regulation, trade and technologies, by definition. <...>

2. Major fundamental changes are necessary in other institutes of global governance if we want them to work to the benefit of all. This primarily concerns the United Nations Organisation, which remains the embodiment of multilateralism against all the odds, with unique and universal legitimacy and universally recognised broad competencies.

An important step towards the restoration of the UN’s effectiveness would be the reconfirmation by all Member States of their commitment to the principles of the UN Charter, not selectively but in their entirety and as a whole. <...>

1. Regional associations have practical significance for the development of multipolarity, including the #CIS, the #CSTO, the #EAEU, #ASEAN, the Gulf Cooperation Council (#GCC), the Arab League, the African Union and #CELAC. <...>.

❗️It depends on member countries alone whether our world will be diverse and equitable. The Charter of our Organisation is our foothold.

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? Statement by FM Sergey Lavrov during the UNSC meeting on multilateral cooperation in the interest of a more just, democratic and sustainable world order

*? New York, July 16, 2024*

? Today, the very foundations of the international legal order - strategic stability and the UN-centric system of international politics - are put to the test. We won’t be able to resolve the mounting conflicts unless we understand their root causes and restore faith in our ability to join forces for the common good and justice for all.

Let’s face it: not all countries represented in this chamber recognise the key principle of the UN Charter which is the sovereign equality of all states. Speaking through its presidents, the US has long declared its exceptionalism. This applies to Washington’s attitude towards its allies, whom it demands to be unquestioningly obedient even to the detriment of their national interests.

? Rule, America! This is the thrust of the notorious “rules-based order” which presents a direct threat to multilateralism and international peace.

The most important components of international law - the UN Charter and the resolutions of our Council - are interpreted by the collective West in a perverse and selective manner, depending on the instructions coming from the White House.

Key talking points:

• Washington’s hegemonistic policy has been the same for decades. Absolutely all schemes of Euro-Atlantic security were based on America’s domination, including the subjugation of Europe and the “containment” of Russia. The main role in this was assigned to NATO, which has ultimately tramped down the European Union that had been created to serve Europeans. The alliance has unceremoniously privatised OSCE bodies in brazen violation of the Helsinki Final Act.

• The unrestrained enlargement of NATO, which went on for years contrary to Moscow’s warnings, has also provoked the Ukraine crisis that began with the state coup organised by Washington in February 2014 to seize full control of Ukraine and use the neo-Nazi regime they brought to power to prepare an attack on Russia.

• NATO’s military infrastructure is moving into the Pacific with the obvious aim of undermining the ASEAN-centric architecture, which has for many decades been built on the principles of equality, mutual interests and consensus.

• Where are the free market attributes that the US and its allies have been telling everyone to follow for so many years? Market economy, fair competition, inviolability of private property, presumption of innocence, freedom of movement of people, goods, capital and services - all of these have been scrapped.

• The pivotal element of the reform of the UN should be the reshuffle of the UN Security Council, <...> which clearly has too many representatives of the collective West. A badly needed step is to reach the broadest accord possible on the concrete parameters of the reform, which should increase the representation of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

• The personnel policy of the UN Secretariat should be changed as well to eliminate the domination of Western citizens and subjects in the administrative UN bodies. The UN Secretary-General and his staff must faithfully and with no exceptions comply with the principles of impartiality and neutrality.

• #BRICS and the #SCO are playing an increasing role in the development of a just multilateral world based on the principles of the UN Charter. Their member states represent different regions and civilisations whose interaction is based on equality, mutual respect, consensus and mutually accepted compromises, which is the golden standard of multilateral cooperation involving great powers.

❗️ The UN will be able to overcome current disagreements and to reach consensus on most issues if everyone, without exception, honours its letter and spirit. “The end of history” has failed to materialise. Let us work together in the interests of launching the history of genuine multilateralism that reflects the entire wealth of cultural and civilisational diversity of the world’s nations.