Lavrov: Outlaw US Empire Relations Still Tenuous

Interview with New Regions of Russia magazine

Earlier today, FM Lavrov was interviewed by New Regions of Russia magazine, a publication I hadn’t heard of before. It consists on only three questions that were well focused and generated important answers. So, here’s Lavrov:

Question: What general international and foreign policy results, both positive and negative, can our country sum up over the three years of the special military operation? Have we gained the same "experience, the son of difficult mistakes," in the words of a classic?

Sergey Lavrov: The past three years have become a kind of "moment of truth." After the start of the special military operation to protect the people of Donbass and Novorossiya, the "collective West" exposed its true face. The notorious rule of law and the basic rules of decency were discarded. The so-called European values – the inviolability of property, the presumption of innocence, freedom of speech and movement, access to information and others – have vanished like smoke. Those who are used to teaching everyone how to live proclaimed themselves democrats and champions of human rights, and without batting an eye supported the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev.

The whole world has seen that the ultra-liberal ruling elites of the West are driven by hegemonic instincts. The predatory, colonial habits of the former metropolises from among the current countries of the European Union and Britain, their innate vices: arrogance, a tendency to deceit, and unscrupulousness in the conduct of business, have not disappeared. A new global "watershed" has de facto formed: on one side is the Western minority, and on the other is the world majority. These are all those countries, as well as people of goodwill in the West itself, who advocate the establishment of a multipolar world based on a balance of interests.

I think that the main lesson is the following: in the main issues of the life of the country, we must rely only on ourselves, as well as on trusted friends who remained with us in the hour of trial.

As for coexistence with Western neighbors, much will depend on their behavior, readiness to admit and correct the mistakes made, including the rejection of the maniacal desire to inflict a strategic defeat on our country.

Question: Do you support the opinion that US President Donald Trump can take an active part in the negotiation process between Russia and Ukraine and become a kind of "peacemaker"?

Sergey Lavrov: I would not like to get too far ahead. As President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said, we are always ready for talks. But at the same time, our national interests must be guaranteed. The root causes of the conflict in Ukraine must be eradicated, as the head of state emphasized in his telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump on February 12. Let me remind you that we are primarily talking about the need to eliminate threats to Russia's security from the Ukrainian and western directions as a whole, which have arisen as a result of NATO's eastward expansion, as well as the need to stop the Kiev regime's practice of exterminating everything that is in one way or another connected with Russia and the Russian world – the Russian language, culture, canonical Orthodoxy and the Russian-language media.

It is too early to draw far-reaching conclusions, but what we have heard so far from representatives of the Trump administration is generally encouraging. The owner of the White House himself admitted that one of the root causes of the conflict was the expansion of NATO and attempts to draw Ukraine into it. US Secretary of State Miguel Rubio talks about the multipolarity of the modern world and the need to respect the interests of all states, large and small. At the UN, for the first time in three years, US diplomats voted together with Russia and our like-minded people against the odious General Assembly resolution promoted by Kiev and its patrons from the European Union.

All these are steps in the right direction. We appreciate them, but I repeat: it is premature to draw any profound conclusions on this basis. By and large, we have not even begun to work on overcoming the accumulated problems and contradictions in our relations with the Americans.

Question: In 2025, Russia will celebrate the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. As a politician, diplomat and statesman, do you think that patriotic sentiments are sufficiently developed in our country, especially among the younger generation? Are we doing everything right to fully preserve the historical memory of our state about the past and present?

Is Russia's voice loud enough in the international arena today in the context of an active information confrontation with the "collective West" and attempts to rewrite our history?

Sergey Lavrov: The 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War is undoubtedly the most important anniversary of the coming year. The Foreign Ministry, like other government agencies, is preparing to mark this date as worthily as possible, paying tribute to the memory of the feat of our heroic predecessors. The Victory Organising Committee, headed by President Vladimir Putin, is drawing up a plan for the preparation and holding of festive events, together with all 89 Russian regions. It already includes more than 170 items and continues to be updated.

In addition to Moscow, St Petersburg and other cities, the Battle of Stalingrad Museum-Reserve in Volgograd and the Prokhorovka Field Museum-Reserve in the Belgorod Region, the Arsenyev Museum-Reserve of the History of the Far East in Vladivostok, the Malakhov Kurgan Memorial Complex in Sevastopol and Malaya Zemlya in Novorossiysk, and the Museum of the World Ocean in Kaliningrad will become the centres of the all-Russian celebration.

It is difficult to answer the question of whether enough attention is paid to the patriotic education of young people. In such a sensitive area, there is always something to improve. In a sense, it was easier for the post-war generations, to which yours truly belongs: we had before our eyes the example of still living front-line soldiers, participants in the Great Patriotic War.

For today's youth, such an example should be the heroism of the fighters and commanders of the special military operation. Hundreds of them served and returned home, work in schools and with teenage teams. The participation of NWO soldiers in the patriotic education of young people is in high demand. The state is interested in this, it is no coincidence that the current year 2025 has been declared the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland in Russia.

Speaking about the foreign policy dimension, I would like to note that, despite the information war unleashed by the "collective West", the voice of our country in the international arena sounds loud. The world understands that the falsification of history and the undermining of spiritual and moral values lead to the degradation of state foundations and the loss of sovereignty. Ukraine sets a tragic example.

We are supported by those who oppose the revival of Nazism in all forms and manifestations. The overwhelming majority of UN member states annually vote in favour of Russia's General Assembly resolution on combating the glorification of this misanthropic ideology.

The 80th anniversary of the Great Victory is of particular importance for our relations with the neighboring countries, since our grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought shoulder to shoulder against the Nazi invaders and collaborators from most European countries. It is no coincidence that on October 8, 2024, the heads of the CIS member states adopted an Address to the peoples of the Commonwealth and the world community in connection with the 80th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The governing bodies of the Commonwealth decided to establish a single jubilee medal "80 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945". [My Emphasis]

Lavrov’s message essentially: There’s nothing yet to celebrate; the process we have begun will take many months—The Outlaw US Empire has much to do to regain our trust. I emphasized Lavrov’s remarks about Rubio’s words because his actions and those of his boss make them lies—“the need to respect the interests of all states, large and small”—as their behavior and hegemonic words towards Canada, Greenland, Panama, Denmark, Mexico, and China prove. Rubio has always been a snake and hasn’t changed as his confirmation testimony and subsequent actions have confirmed. And with Trump, what he does not what he says is where the focus should be placed. As for the upcoming anniversary, I’d very much like to be in Russia from May first to the fourteenth for the Moscow parade and the many events at the memorials and museums.

And as an FYI, many of the suggestions made by the women Putin met with last week have already been made into a directive issued by Putin.

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