Lavrov in Qatar: Important Remarks & Q&A

More Shuttle Diplomacy by Lavrov as he visits Qatar for critical talks. Much more than Ukraine was discussed as you’ll read:

Dear Colleagues,

We completed our visit to Qatar, where we held meetings with Emir of the State of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

We have long-standing good relations. Today, we reaffirmed our commitment to their all-round development based on the agreements reached during previous contacts between President Vladimir Putin and Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

We talked about continuing meetings at various levels on various issues. The immediate task is to hold a regular meeting of the Joint Russian-Qatari Commission on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation. It is scheduled for next month in Doha. Contacts between our foreign ministries are also ahead. We always keep in mind the possibility of holding high-level meetings. Both sides are interested in this.

We agreed to step up work in all areas, primarily in trade, the economy and energy within the framework of organisations such as the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Doha, including cooperation between the Qatar Investment Agency and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. There are also many plans for humanitarian exchanges, the encouragement of tourist trips and other cultural events.

We talked a lot and in detail about Middle Eastern affairs. First of all, from the point of view of the process that is unfolding in the Syrian Arab Republic after the change of power. We are interested in ensuring that this process does not get out of control and does not lead to internecine strife. Such risks remain. In some places, there are still clashes between various groups after the new government was established in Damascus. Many parts of Syrian territory are striving to separate themselves from the central authorities. This applies not only to the Kurds, who for many years under the Biden administration nurtured the idea of separatism (which is categorically unacceptable for all countries in the region, since it could lead to a major war), but also to other ethnic and religious groups that are not averse to taking advantage of the current situation to claim their rights to a certain autonomy.

In order to streamline these processes in some way and direct them into a single channel, the Syrian authorities recently held an All-Syrian National Congress, at which (as they announced) all political and ethnic and religious forces in Syria were represented.

A declaration has been adopted that positively calls for further work to be carried out transparently with the participation of all groups representing Syrian society and to create conditions for socioeconomic development and overcoming serious problems. They were "inherited" as a result of the unilateral "suffocating" sanctions that the United States and the Europeans imposed against the Assad government.

We spoke at the UN in favour of lifting all these sanctions immediately. They did not hit Bashar al-Assad and his government, but the Syrian people, and they continue to do the same under the government, which the West considers more acceptable than the previous government. We will raise this issue and seek the lifting of these unilateral sanctions without any conditions. The Europeans tried to put forward demands that any easing of the sanctions regime should involve "kicking out" Russia from the Syrian Arab Republic.

This is the same mentality that has distinguished Europe in recent years – "either with us or against us." This was the case with preparing the ground for "tearing" Ukraine away from Russia, and in many other situations. This mentality everywhere has a disastrous effect on any processes. In general, even now, when the alignment of political forces in Ukraine (we talked about this today with Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani) is changing (which was evident yesterday in the UN vote), Europe is immediately trying to undermine this trend, announcing new large packages of military aid to Kiev, "instigating" it to continue hostilities, and openly declaring (as Danish Prime Minister Mark Frederiksen did) that in this situation peace for Ukraine is worse than war. Europe's role in "inflating" crises and its reputation in this field (which it has earned over many centuries of human development) remains in the same state.

We are in favour of all external players (Arabs, the West, China, Russia and Iran) contributing to the normalisation of the situation in Syria. We know that the Syrian leadership (this was confirmed to us by our Qatari interlocutors) is interested in the fact that assistance to reforms and processes of normalisation of the situation in the country should proceed evenly and in a balanced manner, so that no one tries to subordinate these processes to their geopolitical goals. Syria no longer wants to be a territory where the geopolitical problems of external players are resolved.

We paid special attention to another topic. This is the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement and in relations between Israel and Lebanon. We are concerned that every day the Israeli army is taking additional steps that are not provided for in the agreements with Hamas and Lebanon, and which create facts on the ground that contradict the agreements and UN Security Council resolutions on Palestinian affairs and the Lebanese problem.

In this regard, Qatar and the Russian Federation share the need to move the process towards compliance with the principles approved by the UN Security Council. The issue of creating a Palestinian state is a key one. If attempts are made to drag out these decisions of the Security Council and replace the creation of a Palestinian state with the "resettlement of Palestinians in the region", this will only plant a "time bomb", as has happened more than once in many decades of ignoring the demands for a two-state solution.

We will continue consultations with Qatar. A useful dialogue is taking place between Russia and the League of Arab States within the framework of the joint format that exists between us. Our experts discuss all issues that need to be coordinated on a daily basis. We will use our opportunities in the international arena (including the UN) to ensure that the processes go on a constructive track. So far, this has not happened.

We pin our hopes on the conference of the League of Arab States, which they are convening in Cairo, where the future of the Gaza Strip will be discussed in the context of the initiatives that have been made, up to and including turning it into a tourist zone. The Arabs want the right of Palestinians to live on their land to be protected. This is what the summit will be about.

On March 14, the Joint Committee of the League of Arab States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation will meet in Istanbul, which will also consider approaches to regulating relations in the entire region. Israel – Palestine, Israel – Lebanon, Israel – Syria.

Israeli representatives, just as they decided to "linger" in southern Lebanon, have now "entered" the south of the Syrian Arab Republic. This creates a new situation and requires not just comprehension, but the development of some constructive steps that take into account the security and development interests of all countries in the region without exception, including, of course, Israel. But it is necessary to resolve issues of security and development not to the detriment of the security and development of others.

Question: Qatar as a country has made a lot of efforts to ensure that children separated from their parents can be reunited. How do you see Qatar's further mediation in resolving the Ukrainian problem?

Sergey Lavrov: Today, we once again expressed our appreciation and gratitude to Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani for the efforts that they are making in a business-like manner to assist in resolving humanitarian issues in relations between Russia and Ukraine. First of all, issues related to the return of children to their families. This work will continue, and we have been clearly told about this today.

We always welcome well-intentioned initiatives proposed by the countries of the region. In addition to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are doing useful work. We consider this to be a manifestation of goodwill, which benefits, first of all, specific people suffering from the conflict.

As for other areas of assistance from Qatar, we do not expect any special steps. We are waiting for our European colleagues to finally stop lying about Russia "blocking talks." President of Russia Vladimir Putin has repeatedly responded to these false statements, recalling that it is primarily the Ukrainian leadership, instigated by Europe, who refuses to negotiate. In addition to Vladimir Zelensky's notorious decree, which prohibits negotiations with the Russian Federation, we hear statements and assertions every day that there is no need to sit down at the negotiating table now, but that it is first necessary to ensure superiority on the battlefield. In this militant spirit, European countries are now promoting their hopelessly outdated and failed policy on Ukraine.

We proceed from the premise that the best help from those who sincerely want to help resolve the conflict is to understand its root causes. As US President Donald Trump did in his recent speeches, calling NATO expansion and the attempt to absorb Ukraine into the North Atlantic Alliance the biggest mistake of the Biden administration and one of the key reasons for unleashing this conflict.

Today, we once again drew attention to another outrageous reason that the West did its utmost to hush up until recently. Now it also continues to hush it up. The course of the regime that came to power as a result of a coup d'état and is aimed at exterminating everything Russian by adopting laws. Including in the field of education, the media and culture. Recently, the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church was banned. This is a direct violation of the UN Charter, which demands respect for human rights, including and above all linguistic and religious rights. None of the Western representatives is talking about this.

Therefore, promoting this truth, familiarizing ourselves with the facts that we constantly cite, and understanding the root causes will be the best contribution on the part of any country to creating the conditions for a fair settlement of this conflict.

Question: How do you see the prospects for further cooperation with Qatar in the energy sector?

Sergey Lavrov: Qatar is one of the largest shareholders of Rosneft. This is a fairly stable process. Doha is the headquarters of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, an important structure that we value as ensuring harmony in the energy market, in particular natural gas.

Projects worth almost $1 billion are being implemented through cooperation between the Qatar Investment Agency and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Projects worth an even larger amount are being considered for the future. Some of these agreements can be aimed at new forms of energy cooperation. This is up to the relevant ministries and companies to decide.

Question: French President Emmanuel Macron said following talks with Donald Trump that the parties agreed on the need to deploy European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine after the end of the conflict. The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that Russia is not considering such a scenario. Which European countries (if not NATO) would Russia be ready to consider?

Sergey Lavrov: We cannot consider any options. I do not know what President Emmanuel Macron said. He did not play his role very convincingly in Washington.

When this topic was touched upon at the news conference, President Donald Trump said that the decision to deploy peacekeeping forces is possible only with the consent of both sides. Apparently, he means us and Ukraine. No one asks us about this.

The approach imposed by the Europeans, primarily France, as well as the British, is again aimed at "heating up the conflict" further, suppressing any attempts to calm it down.

In Washington, Emmanuel Macron spoke about the need for an urgent truce and the introduction of peacekeeping forces. Then, he said, we will talk about territories, the fate of people and other principles of settlement. This is cunning. It is impossible to reach an agreement that is aimed at achieving one single goal – to pump Ukraine with weapons again. On February 24, a large delegation from Europe arrived there and again announced multibillion-dollar arms supplies.

When the United States submits a resolution on the urgent need to move to peace, Europe votes against it. Then they confirm by their deeds that it does not want any peace, because its "wards" have not yet fulfilled their main tasks. True, these tasks are changing. Until recently, it was a "strategic defeat" against Russia, which the European Union and NATO repeated every day like a "mantra". Now President Emmanuel Macron said in Washington that it is necessary to achieve a settlement that will not look like capitulation.

The "guys" navigate quickly, but not in everything. Therefore, talk about some kind of peacekeeping forces is all empty. The main thing is to destroy the root causes of the conflict. They are not in the absence of peacekeeping forces, but in drawing Ukraine into the North Atlantic Alliance with an eye to developing its territory to create a military infrastructure aimed against Russia and the total extermination of the rights of Russians and Russian speakers.

Some say that there is an idea to leave the "line of contact". Firstly, this will not happen. There is a Constitution based on the will of the people. Secondly, what "remains" of Ukraine should also be exempt from racist laws. People also remain there, who are more comfortable speaking Russian, and who want to preserve the traditions of their ancestors brought up in Russian culture.

Therefore, such "simple mechanical things" as the deployment of troops will not get off. It will be necessary to talk about the root causes.

Question: Reuters previously reported that Moscow is considering the option of spending its frozen assets on the restoration of Ukraine, provided that some of them will be used for the needs of the new regions of Russia – the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions? Is Russia really considering this possibility or will it seek the full return of its assets?

Washington and Kiev are preparing to sign an agreement on rare earth metals, and a significant part of the reserves of these resources are located in four new regions of Russia. During the meeting in Riyadh and subsequent consultations, did you discuss production in these territories with the United States? When President Vladimir Putin invited American companies to mine in Russia, did he mean these four regions there?

Sergey Lavrov: When the President or another representative of the Russian leadership invites foreign investors to participate in projects in Russia, he is of course referring to the entire territory of the Russian Federation, in full compliance with its Constitution.

This issue was not touched upon or discussed at the meeting in Riyadh. We talked about the need to remove artificial obstacles to the development of mutually beneficial economic and other ties, which is in the interest of representatives of the relevant business structures in the United States and the Russian Federation, as it was emphasized in the telephone conversation between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. But this is a "principle." First of all, we need to change the unhealthy and stupid situation that does not even allow for a conversation between the two leading great powers.

As for our assets that have been stolen by the Europeans. There have been no specific talks about this, but there is no doubt that this issue will not disappear as part of the settlement. The Americans also understand this.

Secretary of State Miguel Rubio recently said that the issue of "frozen" Russian assets should be considered, and in conjunction with the steps taken by the Russian Federation in response that affect the interests of American companies. This is a healthy reflection on the need to abandon thieves' methods and not expect them to remain unanswered.

Another interesting remark by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said "a lot of new things." When he was asked a question on the same topic, he said that Russian assets seized in Europe should not be touched, because this would be a violation of international law. And the profit they receive from these assets can be used to support Ukraine.

We would like to ask our French colleagues to explain in which international legal document it is allowed to use the profit from what you stole.

Question: You have already said that, first of all, you are going to resolve the issue with the embassies: Russia in the United States and the United States in Russia. Is there any scheme for discussing the topics or their sequence that will be discussed in the future? You said that Ribio is ready to discuss this issue. Will the issue be resolved? Will Russia insist on the return of these assets?

Sergey Lavrov: This has nothing to do with the functioning of embassies. The issue of assets is a matter of the state level.

We announced that our diplomats and high-level experts will meet and consider the systemic problems that have accumulated as a result of the previous administration's illegal activities to create artificial obstacles to the activities of the Russian embassy.

Naturally, we reciprocated this and also created uncomfortable conditions for the work of the American embassy in Moscow.

Such a meeting will take place tomorrow in Istanbul. I think that its results will make it clear how quickly and effectively we can move.

Question: How can you comment on the results of the elections in Germany? What are Russia's expectations from Merz's policy?

Sergey Lavrov: We have already made comments. Our ambassador to Berlin, Sergey Nechayev, gave his assessments. We see changes in Germany's domestic political landscape. Once again, there is a division into East and West of this country.

The East is more focused on resolving internal problems, which have been significantly exacerbated by Germany's thoughtless accession to anti-Russian sanctions, due to the fact that Germany "tucked its tail" after the terrorist attacks to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines and shamefully "dragged out" the investigation, although this undermined the sound foundations of the German economy, which allowed it to be a leader in European development for many decades. This is their choice. I think voters are beginning to better understand what is happening and who is advocating what.

As for Mr Merz. He has specific approaches to Russia. For example, unlike Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he insisted on sending long-range Taurus missiles to the Ukrainians for attacks deep into the territory of the Russian Federation. When Germans actively nurture such ideas, it certainly evokes memories. But it must, first of all, bring back memories to the Germans themselves.

Merz recently said that the United States can no longer be relied on. They will probably either remove their nuclear "umbrella" or will not use it, so it is necessary to reach a new agreement between the Europeans (within Europe, the European Union and NATO) that from now on France and Britain will provide a "nuclear umbrella" for Europe as two nuclear powers. There is no need to speculate how much this brings the "improvement of the situation" in Europe closer.

Therefore, so far, Mr Merz has quite aggressive views. It often happens that when a person turns from a candidate into a functioning political statesman, in this case, into a chancellor, the views become more realistic. Let's see how this will happen if Mr Merz takes the chair of the German Chancellor. [My Emphasis]

As Lavrov explained, the talks happening between Russia and the Outlaw US Empire only relate to reestablishing normal working relations. Nothing has begun on the issue of the Ukraine conflict. Lavrov noted the importance of what Trump said about who is engaged in that conflict—it doesn’t include the Empire; thus, the Empire has no standing in negotiations unless it acts as Ukraine’s agent. I’m not too surprised Lavrov said nothing about the illegitimacy of the mineral deal between Ukraine and the Empire. Those known as European elites have made it clear to all Europeans they have no interest in promoting peace. Presumably that was known to the German electorate before the elections, yet enough voted for the warmonger to make his party the top vote getter.

After the funeral for Nasrallah, I expect Hezbollah to resume its war against the Zionists. I also expect Ansarallah to modify their reasons for attacking the Zionists to include the attempted genocide of all Palestinians within Occupied Palestine so it can aid those being attacked in the West Bank. As for the Arab and global Islamic nations, I don’t see them being capable of doing any more: Diplomacy is useless, so all that remains is going to war or continue sitting on your hands. What Iran will do remains a mystery as one faction says an attack will occur while another says it won’t. Hypothetically there could be coordination between Iran, Egypt and Jordan, but that seems very unlikely.

Next up will from the Russian Foreign Ministry will be reaction to Starmer’s meeting with Trump and a recap of the talks in Istanbul.

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