Lavrov at G-20 in Johannesburg

Includes Russia's Greater Eurasian Partnership Initiative document

Sergey Lavrov at least got to spend a night in one place as the G-20 Foreign Ministers Meeting is a several-days affair. Lavrov went from Moscow to Riyadh back to Moscow then on to Johannesburg and is always primed and ready wherever he lands. Today’s report consists of Lavrov’s opening remarks on the 20th to the G20 Ministerial Council meeting on the global geopolitical situation followed by his comments today, the 21st, on G20 Objectives in 2025. It appears Rubio has declined to attend as there was no media speculation about the two meeting again on the sidelines. As you’ll read, Russia’s position remains the same as it was during the Biden administration since nothing has changed regarding Outlaw US Empire behavior in the global economic sphere since Team Trump took office.

Dear Colleagues,

We welcome the successful start of the presidency of our South African friends. We understand the choice of geopolitics, which is not quite relevant for the G20: the economy is increasingly becoming a hostage and a victim of political ambitions.

The West's attempts to restrain the objective process of strengthening new powerful growth centers in the hope of maintaining its dominance contradict multipolar realities, lead to destabilization of the geopolitical situation, divert huge resources from solving the problems of sustainable development and overcoming socio-economic imbalances and inequality.

A whole arsenal of hybrid warfare methods is being used against competitors: illegitimate sanctions, protectionism, theft of sovereign assets, destruction of critical infrastructure, machinations of markets and pricing mechanisms, and abuse of the function of reserve currencies. Attempts are being made to justify violations of international law, including interference in the internal affairs of states, by some kind of "rules-based order."

The Western minority is conducting a dialogue with the Global South in the old way, from the position of "white supremacy." Colonialism has not yet been eradicated, contrary to UN resolutions: there are 17 non-self-governing territories in the world. Neocolonial practices are flourishing in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres. The former metropolises would like to continue to pump out natural resources wherever possible, restraining the industrial and technological development of the countries to which these resources belong.

Hotbeds of tension are multiplying. The settlement of long-standing crises is being deliberately slowed down. The unresolved Palestinian issue has already unleashed a new spiral of violence not only in Gaza, but also in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Over the past year and a half, 47,000 Palestinian civilians have fallen victim to the escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is a record number of civilian casualties since World War II. We would like to emphasise that the final resolution of the confrontation is possible only on the basis of a two-state formula and the creation of an independent Palestine coexisting in peace and security with Israel.

Another knot of confrontation is being cultivated in the Asia-Pacific region. The key goal of the "Indo-Pacific strategies" that erode universal ASEAN-centric formats is to promote NATO's interests in this part of the world and "contain" independent players. In Europe, the thoughtless expansion of the alliance has already resulted in the Ukrainian crisis. The end of the conflict is hindered by uncontrolled financial support and the pumping of weapons into the openly racist Kiev regime by its patrons. Nevertheless, it is gradually becoming clear that a solution can only be found by addressing the root causes of the crisis in Ukraine, including the fulfilment of obligations to respect human rights, including the rights to language and religion, and compliance with the principle of indivisible security in Europe. A detailed discussion on this topic took place at Russian-US talks in Riyadh on February 18.

The threat of international terrorism, which has acquired a new dimension as a result of NATO's military adventures in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Syria, remains acute. Terrorist groups around the world are "fueled" by the supply of Western weapons flowing out of Ukraine. In the spirit of "double standards", the West divides militants into "us" and "them". In Europe, such a short-sighted policy has already led to terrorist attacks against the Nord Stream pipelines. Radical nationalist and sometimes openly neo-fascist movements are supported as another tool for confrontation with Russia. In the year of the 80th anniversary of Victory in World War II, we call on our G20 partners to stand on the side of truth and right, acting as a "united front" in the fight against the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and racism.

The dominance of conflicts and hot spots on the international agenda and their impact on global stability prove that it is impossible to ensure the security of some countries at the expense of others. It can only be indivisible and equal for all. In a multipolar environment, there is no place for hegemony and hostile bloc politics. It is time for the West to accept a new balance of power and start building relations with the states of the world majority on the basis of mutual respect. We also discussed this with our American colleagues in Riyadh and agreed on the main thing: international relations should be built on the basis of the recognition that each country has its own national interests.

Geopolitical contradictions can only be resolved through constructive cooperation based on the principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interconnection. This implies the democratisation of global governance in favour of justice for the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Strengthening the role of such multilateral formats as BRICS, the SCO, the EAEU, the African Union, the Arab League and CELAC contributes to solving this problem. We welcome the efforts to normalise relations between the GCC countries and Iran. In the same vein, President Vladimir Putin's initiative to form the Greater Eurasian Partnership is taking place.

The G20 is in demand as a platform for an equal dialogue between the leading economic powers, as a visible embodiment of the concept of multipolarity. It is symbolic that the first African G20 watch is taking place at a time of a significant anniversary for the continent: 65 years ago, at the initiative of the USSR, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. We hope that under Pretoria's leadership, it will be possible to take another step towards overcoming the rudiments of neocolonialism, including reforming the Middle East and the WTO, as well as expanding the representation of Asia, Africa and Latin America–-and only them–-in the UN Security Council. Such agreements will contribute to ensuring sustainable peace and development. [My Emphasis]

Aside from noting certain important points that were discussed with the Outlaw US Empire in Riyadh little has changed since Lavrov’s last appraisal of the international situation at the previous G-20 in Rio, which I reported upon and can be found in the Gym’s archive. IMO, such coarse reminders will continue until the situation changes. And this brings up a question I haven’t seen posed to Lavrov: Were the Outlaw US Empire’s representatives at Riyadh reminded that there’s only one system of international law and it springs from the UN Charter; in other words, did they admit the UN Charter has primacy and the West’s “rules based order” is out-of-order and has no bearing on international relations? If they didn’t, then attaining any real agreements will be very difficult. As we know and Lavrov noted, the West has very little to contribute to global development since they’re too busy spending their scant resources on war to the great neglect of their own citizenry. Lavrov mentioned the Greater Eurasian Partnership which appears to be awaiting “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia [to update] is updating the concept of the GEP in an interdepartmental format, which will be supplemented with practical tools: an action plan at the level of economic authorities and sectoral applied projects.” I don’t believe I’ve provided the 2023 update to the GEP proposal, which is where the above is cited. I’ll append that document to the end of this report. And now for today’s meeting:

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks at the G20 Ministerial Council Meeting on G20 Objectives in 2025: Discussion of the Planned Results of the South African Presidency and Review of the Forum's Activities, Johannesburg, February 21, 2025

Mr President,

In the context of the fragmentation of the global economy, the G20 dialogue on global issues is more in demand than ever. We note South Africa's thorough preparations for the forum and the relevance of the selected thematic priorities. We are particularly impressed by the emphasis on the search for a "common denominator" in the interests of combining steps to promote sustainable growth and development.

So far, we are far from the desired results, and the general background for working together in the face of escalating geopolitical confrontation remains unfavorable. The statistics are well known: we are desperately behind the timetable for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) until 2030. Only 17% of SDG indicators are within reach. On many parameters, including poverty alleviation, food security, and access to energy, additional intensive efforts are urgently needed.

Historical experience shows that it is impossible to cope with common challenges and threats alone. That is why in 2008 the G20 was created at the level of leaders. Then, in extraordinary circumstances, it was necessary to urgently "extinguish the fire" of the global financial crisis. For some time, it was possible to stabilize the markets. However, now we are witnessing a whole cascade of intertwined crises. Behind them are armed conflicts unleashed and encouraged by the West, trade, technological and hybrid wars, the destruction of the international trading system and the transformation of the dollar into an instrument of manipulation and a weapon.

The weakening of one link in the global chain dooms all of humanity to severe trials. A striking example is the West's anti-Russian sanctions, multiplied by the terrorist attacks on Nord Stream, which have hit the competitive potential of the initiators of the illegal restrictions, primarily the EU. Along with the economic miscalculations of the West, all this has reduced the growth rate on the planet, provoked inflation, market disruptions, and undermined the development opportunities of the Global South.

Nevertheless, the modern world is radically transforming and becoming truly multipolar. The five hundred years of Western domination are irrevocably coming to an end. We must find the strength to accept this objective reality. The international community does not want to be held hostage to the unilateral decisions of former sovereigns. This is especially evident today, when we are celebrating the 80th anniversary of Victory in the war against Nazism and the 65th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Declaration on Decolonisation as a starting point for the independence of Africa, Asia and the Global South as a whole.

Back in 2022, the BRICS confidently surpassed the G7 in terms of GDP. Today, the ratio of their shares in the global economy is 37% to 29%. At the same time, developing countries are growing twice as fast as Western countries–-over 4% compared to less than 2%, and are becoming a generator of breakthrough ideas and progress, including in the field of artificial intelligence. During Russia's presidency of the BRICS at the summit in Kazan in 2024, a number of promising decisions were made to launch non-discriminatory mechanisms to stimulate investment and trade that do not depend on anyone's whim, including taking into account the special needs of Africa.

Neoliberal circles in the West consider the objective process of the formation of multipolarity as a challenge, not an opportunity. They are making an absurd bet on confrontation and inflicting a "strategic defeat" on competitors. The practices of neocolonialism are being used: pumping out natural resources from developing countries on the cheap, imposing pseudo-environmental taxes on their products, attempts to block cooperation between Africa, Asia and Latin America with China and Russia, and restraining the industrialization of the Global South. One example: if the extraction of rare earth metals can bring developing countries a meager $11 billion per year, then the production of batteries based on them in the West already turns into revenues of $400 billion.

The peculiarities of the functioning of the global financial system are also well known. Last year, at the November summit of the G20 in Rio de Janeiro, the amount of military spending in the world was named—$2.4 trillion. Assistance to Ukraine, allocated at the expense of stealing sovereign assets and reducing international development assistance, has reached off the charts.

In these conditions, thanks primarily to the efforts of the BRICS countries and their like-minded countries, the G20 still retains the status of a useful platform for aligning the interests of states with different strategies and levels of development. In 2024, the leaders of our states clearly stated that the Global South should receive genuine levers of influence on the activities of multilateral institutions, in particular the IMF and the World Bank, corresponding to its weight, and ensure that its needs are taken into account in the WTO. Now we have to implement the agreements, and Russia will contribute to this in every possible way.

It is important to ensure that developing countries will be able to independently dispose of their natural resources, receive a fair price for them, and have equal and direct access to markets, supply chains, technologies and investments, along with everyone else. We share South Africa's plans to review the G20's activities over the past years. We hope that the results will reaffirm our commitment to depoliticised cooperation based on the inviolability of the principle of consensus in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth set back in 2009. This would be a worthy outcome of the first ever G20 summit on African soil. [My Emphasis]

Clearly there’s lots of work to accomplish. Training and technology transfer will allow those developing nations having extractive assets to add value to them prior to their export as Lavrov described with rare earths and batteries; but that is only one of many such examples. As noted in my previous comment, getting the West to submit to the discipline of the UN Charter and ceasing their neocolonial exploitation is a must, which also means the Neoliberal Parasites within the West living off those rents need to have their behaviors curtailed via law and its very stringent application. If the West doesn’t cease its immoral behavior, then it will need to suffer the application of force so compliance is obtained. Along with BRICS the G-20 must continue its work to develop an alternative global commerce system particularly commodity markets that don’t denominate in dollars. The loaded unmentioned item is debt resolution that’s an absolute must for many nations since dollar-denominated loans are strangling them because the dollar is appreciating on currency markets. Many nations require relief this year, not sometime in the further future. I see Lavrov has conducted a presser at the end of today’s meeting. That will be the subject of my next report. I end by appending the GEP document:

Russia's Greater Eurasian Partnership initiative

The Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP) is a concrete, practical initiative of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, put forward in his Address to the Federal Assembly in 2015 in order to form a broad integration contour on the Eurasian continent. The envisaged collective efforts with interested partners are based on the desire to promote the construction of a fair polycentric world order, which implies the development of equal, multi-speed and mutually beneficial economic cooperation across the entire range of topical issues. Progress in this direction will be carried out on a voluntary basis, will be open and will contribute to the closest possible alignment of all relevant structures, mechanisms and tools in this area.

General approaches to the principles of the GEP operation are set out in key strategic planning documents affecting the international activities of the Russian Federation.

First of all, these include the 2021 National Security Strategy and the 2023 Foreign Policy Concept. It is understood that the GEP, the core of which may be the EAEU, the SCO, and ASEAN, also uses the capabilities of such complementary formats as the Chinese infrastructure initiative BRI and can create the necessary prerequisites for turning Eurasia into a "single continental space of peace, stability, mutual trust, development and prosperity."

Within the framework of the work through the GEP, special importance will be given to the proper consideration of the specifics of the organization of production processes, technological structures and market conditions. The key tasks are considered to strengthen regulatory and physical connectivity, simplify trade operations and investment, and eliminate unjustified barriers that impede the effective establishment of supply chains and economic relations.

In terms of the sectoral structure, the GEP could include the following components:

- Network of international trade and investment agreements;

- Common transport space;

- A single network of economic corridors and development zones;

- Digital measurement;

- Energy space;

- Financial measurement;

The EAEU will be one of the key players in the GEP field. Particular emphasis will be placed on the conclusion of multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements. Such work is already being actively carried out through the EAEU. There is an FTA with Serbia and Vietnam, the prospects for signing similar documents with Egypt, Indonesia, the UAE, India, Iran are being considered (as of today, a temporary FTA agreement is in force with Iran).

The task of forming the Greater Eurasian Partnership is reflected in the Strategic Directions for the Development of Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025, approved at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) on December 11, 2020.

In 2005, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the SCO and ASEAN secretariats. The ASEAN and SCO countries supported the possibility of establishing mutually beneficial cooperation between the EAEU, ASEAN and the SCO at the Russia-ASEAN summit in Sochi in May 2016. On the sidelines of the Russia-ASEAN summit in Singapore on November 14, 2018, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) and ASEAN. The EAEU-ASEAN cooperation programme has been extended until 2025 During the SCO Heads of State Council meeting on 10 November 2020, it was decided to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the SCO Secretariat and the EEC. The relevant memorandum was signed on the sidelines of the SCO Council of Heads of State meeting in Dushanbe on 16-17 September 2021.

An intensive dialogue has been established with China since 2015. As part of the implementation of this agreement, in May 2018, a non-preferential Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation was signed between the EAEU and its member states, on the one hand, and the PRC, on the other hand, which entered into force on October 25, 2019.

In continuation of these efforts, in February 2023, a Plan (Roadmap) for the development of trade and economic cooperation between the EAEU and China was adopted. The document is aimed at intensifying trade and economic cooperation in a practical plane and consists of three sections: digitalization of transport corridors; establishment of dialogues on foreign trade policy; conducting a joint scientific study to study the effects of various scenarios for deepening trade and economic cooperation between the EAEU and China.

The transport sector invariably appears as a priority of the GEP. The transport system is the backbone of any economy for increasing foreign trade flows. Russia, which occupies 1/7 of the world's land area and is located along the entire Eurasian continent, is able to offer a wide range of competitive air, road, rail and sea routes by all modes of transport. Systematic work is underway to develop transport infrastructure in the East-West and North-South directions. The importance of developing these projects was especially emphasized by almost all the heads of the SEEC member states at the last meeting on May 25, 2023. The Northern Sea Route has good prospects for commercial exploitation.

There is close cooperation with all constructive-minded international partners on the issue of supporting the GEP initiative. In addition to China, such dynamic and attractive economies as Vietnam, India, Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan, etc., also declare a positive perception of the GEP in one form or another.

Within the framework of such significant international platforms as SPIEF and EEF, thematic sessions and round. tables are regularly held on various aspects of the construction of Greater Eurasia and the GEP.

Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia is updating the concept of the GEP in an interdepartmental format, which will be supplemented with practical tools: an action plan at the level of economic authorities and sectoral applied projects.

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