Lavrov Q&A to Federation Council of the Federal Assembly

Still Acting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appeared at the plenary session of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly for a short Q&A session that was very global in scope. Hopefully the acting prefix will soon be dropped. Lavrov alerts us to many key upcoming events. Before Lavrov’s Q&A, the initial agenda of Putin’s China visit this Thursday/Friday is now known:

Putin's aide Yury Ushakov has given details of the president's forthcoming visit to China (16-17 May):

▪️At the talks in Beijing, the leaders will discuss the situation around Ukraine, in the Middle East and in the Asian region.

▪️Moscow notes Beijing's balanced position on the Ukrainian crisis, and China understands its causes.

▪️Putin and Xi Jinping will hold an informal meeting, in which Belousov and Shoigu will also participate.

▪️A large number of bilateral documents, including economic ones, have been prepared for Putin's visit.

▪️Russian government members Chernyshenko, Manturov, Novak, Trutnev and Golikova will attend the extended talks as chairmen of bilateral commissions.

▪️The delegation will also include other members of the Russian government, including representatives of the economic bloc: Oreshkin, Lavrov, Nabiullina, Siluanov, Belozerov, Likhachev, Borisov, Gref, Deripaska, Kostin, Mikhelson, Sechin, Shuvalov and Shokhin.

▪️Putin will address students at the Harbin Polytechnic University on 17 May and answer their questions.

▪️A preliminary agreement has already been received from Xi Jinping to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan.

▪️Putin will conclude his visit to China with a meeting with Russian journalists covering the trip.

The Kremlin did say it was to be a full state visit. And as you see, there’ll be much to report. And now here’s Lavrov’s Q&A session:

Question: President of Russia Vladimir Putin will visit China in the near future. Today, Beijing demonstrates that it is not afraid of sanctions pressure from the United States for relations with Russia. What are the approaches of Russia and China to the formation of a new world order?

Sergey Lavrov: This is one of the key issues on today's agenda. Indeed, the struggle for the West to maintain its hegemony has already entered an acute phase. You mentioned that Beijing is not afraid of sanctions from the West for cooperation with Russia. It is not only for this that sanctions are announced there.

Recently, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping met with President of France Emmanuel Macron in Paris. At this meeting, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, openly stated in the presence of Chinese guests that China "produces too much." Like, it would be necessary to produce less. Like, otherwise they will impose sanctions. The Americans have imposed sanctions on electric cars and batteries for them. They are not only "punished" for Russia, but everyone who wants to show independence.

China has "broken out" into the leaders of world development. This does not suit the United States, which, together with its satellites, having "crushed" the rest of the West, declared at the doctrinal level that they could not allow anyone to become stronger and more influential than Washington. Therefore, our Chinese colleagues and I are objectively interested in continuing to lead in efforts to establish a more just and democratic world order. The West is interested in democracy only when it is necessary to interfere in the internal affairs of any other country. Then he remembers democracy. But in the international arena, it categorically rejects any equal forms of cooperation, grossly violating the UN Charter, which states that the Organization is based on the sovereign equality of states.

Russia and China are not alone in their efforts to reform the international system and promote a multipolar world order that reflects the real weight of the state and their associations. Together with us within the framework of the UN, the members of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations are cooperating. This is an important structure, the number of which is growing. Members of BRICS and the SCO are also with us.

After the expansion of BRICS, there are more of us in the G20. Half of the G20 are either members of the BRICS or like-minded people. Therefore, the G20 will also undergo positive changes in terms of more fully taking into account the interests of all other regions of the world and groups of countries, and not just the "collective West." Of course, Russia and China, in addition to cooperation within the framework of BRICS and the SCO, actively support other integration processes in Eurasia: the SCO-EAEU, SCO-ASEAN. The EAEU is also developing relations with ASEAN.

China and Russia also have extensive ties with structures such as the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf. If we look at other continents, the African Union and numerous sub-regional structures on the African continent are traditional partners of Russia and China. The same applies to Latin America. There, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, especially with the coming to power of President Lulus Lula da Silva in Brazil, is gaining a "second wind" and is once again becoming a "magnet" for all countries in the region. Russia and China have relations with this structure.

We have many allies. I have no doubt that their number will grow. All this will be for the benefit of the democratisation of international relations, when everyone will take their place in world affairs with justice and a real contribution to the development of the world economy, politics and security system, and not through blackmail, threats and ultimatums, as the West is doing now.

I can safely say that the "duo" of Moscow and Beijing plays a very important, balancing and counterbalancing role in world affairs. I am confident that President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to the People's Republic of China will strengthen our joint work.

Question: In 2024, Russia will chair the BRICS association. How is the work to implement the priorities of the Russian Chairmanship going? What prospects do you see for BRICS?

Sergey Lavrov: The priorities of Russia's chairmanship are set out in a fairly voluminous document. About 200 events are planned in all areas of BRICS activities. These are almost all areas of interaction between states, from politics and security issues to healthcare, sports, culture and the arts.

We see the main strategic task as ensuring the smoothest possible entry into the work of all BRICS mechanisms of new members, which, according to the decision of the XV BRICS Summit in 2023, became full members of our association from January 1, 2024. These are Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia. This is a crucial task that can be written down "in one line," but it requires daily effort. This work is already actively underway. Sherpas, Sous-Sherpas have already met several times. Meetings were held on sectoral areas of cooperation. We see that the process is going well.

The second fundamental task is to ensure the build-up of our foreign policy coordination at multilateral venues. I have already mentioned the role played by BRICS and like-minded countries in the G20 and the UN. We will continue to interact with them. We will use the upcoming meeting of BRICS Foreign Ministers in Nizhny Novgorod in June to intensify work on foreign policy coordination and focus it on more concrete actions. This is an important event, which will be held in an expanded format for the first time. Our focus will be on international cooperation and coordination.

The priorities include countering new challenges and threats: terrorism, drug trafficking, information crime, corruption, money laundering, and legalization of criminal proceeds. In all these areas, the BRICS have relevant industry structures.

Another important task is to establish a dialogue with states that are interested in rapprochement with BRICS in a wide range: from full membership to the establishment of working and partnership relations. There are about 30 such states. The question of how we can strengthen dialogue with them will also be one of the main political priorities.

At the BRICS summit in 2023, the leaders of the BRICS countries decided to form a new category of interaction – "partner countries". This category will largely replace the existing form of interaction "BRICS plus". We intend to invite a large number of countries and heads of regional organisations of the Global South to events held by our foreign ministries in Nizhny Novgorod and to the summit in Kazan.

I have already mentioned the main ones. We pay special attention to sports events, BRICS games, cultural exchanges and parliamentary diplomacy. In July, the BRICS Parliamentary Forum is planned in St. Petersburg. I know that the Federation Council is actively involved in its preparation. Therefore, there are enough things to do.

Question: I would like to thank you for your systematic support of parliamentary and public diplomacy. Cooperation with the countries of the African continent has noticeably intensified. I would like to ask about the implementation of the second Russia-Africa Summit, which took place in July 2023.

Sergey Lavrov: This issue is a priority for us, the President and the Government. During the second summit, a large number of not only plenary sessions were held, but also bilateral contacts with individual subregional structures of the African continent. All this continues to develop in working mode. This is one of the main issues on the agenda, including the implementation of the Declaration and Plan of Action adopted at the second summit. A total of 5 documents were adopted between the African Union and the Government of the Russian Federation. They are aimed at developing practical cooperation in the field of investment, trade, in the creation of new supply chains, the transition to trade with payment in national currencies or through the creation of alternative payment platforms.

There is the BRICS New Development Bank, which is headquartered in South Africa. It focuses on the implementation of projects in African countries. We actively support them. Our participation is in the same vein: a couple of years ago, we joined the African Export-Import Bank. This is a useful mechanism that allows you to look for new opportunities for investment and the implementation of mutually beneficial projects. The Russian Export Center also helps to work in this direction. There is a public structure – the Association of Economic Cooperation with Africa. We want it to be more actively "introduced" into practical activities to implement the agreements that were reached in St Petersburg in July 2023.

This is what concerns practical cooperation, i.e. the material basis of our interaction. But politically, African countries are our allies on many issues on the international agenda, including the protection of the principles of the UN Charter, which the West wants to apply selectively. When he needs something, then one principle is taken as a basis. When there are opposite goals, then a principle is taken that interprets differently. For example, when there was a referendum in Crimea, the West said that it contradicts the principle of territorial integrity. When Kosovo declared unilateral independence without any referendum (and we talked about the territorial integrity of Serbia), the West said that this was the principle of self-determination of peoples. Therefore, we insist (Africans support us) that all the principles of the UN Charter should always be applied in their entirety and interrelatedness. And here they are our allies. There are many issues on the agenda of the UN, where we vote in solidarity.

We are closely cooperating on the Palestinian issue, on the horror observed in the Gaza Strip. This year in February, African participants were among the most active supporters of the fight against modern practices of neocolonialism within the framework of the International Inter-Party Forum held in the framework of the International Inter-Party Forum. They will participate in the work of the structure that was created as a result of the forum. And the neocolonial topic is now being raised very sharply at various venues. Africa, as an example of liberation from colonial dependence, is leading in these processes. We support this trend.

In the light of all of the above and many other factors, in the course of the planned structural adaptation of our ministry to the new realities, we are paying special attention to a significant increase in the share of resources, including human resources, and to increasing the organizational capabilities of work in the African direction.

Question: Questions for you have been exhausted. Perhaps you want to say something in conclusion?

Sergey Lavrov: Valentina Matviyenko,

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for the attention you are paying to the work of the Foreign Ministry. We have many common initiatives.

I mentioned the Russia-Africa Parliamentary Forum, which was held in parallel with the Russia-Africa Summit. Parliamentarians pay similar attention to relations with other regions of the world, including Latin America. A parliamentary forum was held on this topic last year, and Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matviyenko personally launched many initiatives of parliamentary diplomacy, including parliamentary forums for women elected representatives of the people. Including cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and within the framework of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly. All this significantly strengthens our common work to implement the foreign policy approved by the President.

Yesterday, at a meeting of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs following our discussion, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko and her colleagues formulated a number of wishes that we have taken into account, including those related to organising the practical activities of our foreign missions. As far as the development of our human resources is concerned, there is no limit to perfection. We are grateful for this attention and look forward to continuing close cooperation between the Ministry and the Federation Council. [My Emphasis]

It would appear the confirmation process is now complete, although we’ve yet to see the final vote for approval. Most notable was the absence of questions about relations with any European nation or the EU, or with the Outlaw US Empire, although the West was mentioned as a whole by Lavrov in several answers. The main focus on BRICS+, China and Africa is understandable. IMO, it’s all rather exciting.

Information has surfaced informing us the Nikolai Patrushev wasn’t promoted into retirement but made Putin’s special liaison with the shipbuilding sector. Readers who’ve consistently followed articles will know there are some specific issues with that sector that warrant closer executive attention, and Patrushev has a solid background in that sector. So, the slight shuffling within Team Putin at first glance shows overall improvement. It remains the Year of the Family, so what more will be done for that project?

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