Lavrov's Media Statement on Modi Visit

Plus additional Media Q&As over the last several days.

Over the past several days, FM Lavrov was asked several questions by Pavel Zarubin for the “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” TV program along with giving a media statement after the formal meeting between the Russian and Indian delegations that took place today. The Q&As will be presented in chronological order followed by the media statement and then the final Q&A:

First Q&A from 7 July:

Question: You said that Joe Biden is "preferable" to us. But we see what we see. How would you comment on this?

Sergey Lavrov: This was a remark by President Vladimir Putin in response to a question about who we are rooting for.

Speaking seriously, the sight is sad. Since the system of "American democracy" produces such results and the course of the election campaign, then everyone can draw their own conclusions about how everything is orchestrated and arranged.

Another "democracy" is France. The first round of parliamentary elections was held. There are two of them in total. Moreover, the second, apparently, was conceived precisely in order to manipulate the expression of the will of voters during the first. When someone can withdraw their candidacy, they are persuaded to "clear" the possibility of defeating (as they say) conservatives or populists - this is not very reminiscent of democracy.

Direct expression of will is the result of public opinion. And he is famous. If the results of the first round were used as the basis for the formation of parliament, then there would be serious changes in France. [My Emphasis]

Second Q&A from 7 July:

Question: We see a clear change in the rhetoric of the current Ukrainian leadership: less peremptory, there is no talk of reaching the 1991 borders.

Sergey Lavrov: Vladimir Zelensky may say the opposite tomorrow with the same "success". We will calculate, evaluate and evaluate only specific cases. For what they say every day, there is a saying about Emelya. It is better not to build a policy on this, but to determine your actions based on the tasks that were set as part of the special military operation.

Third Q&A from7 July:

Question: We hear statements about the shelling of Sevastopol and other regions of the Russian Federation. They say that the United States is responsible for this. What does this mean?

Sergey Lavrov: President of Russia Vladimir Putin spoke about this in detail when he explained how ATACMS and other long-range weapons that the United States supplies to Ukraine work. For any technically competent person who understands military affairs, it is clear that without Washington's direct participation in targeting and preparing data from satellites, these missiles would not have flown anywhere. It is a well-known fact. The Americans and NATO continue to say that they are not at war with Russia. This is a bad face in a bad game. They understand this very well.

As for our reaction, President Vladimir Putin said that we would respond. I am sure that you will find out about this in the foreseeable future.

Question: There are signals that NATO and the European Union are starting to prepare for the outcome of the US presidential election, which they do not like. They are already going to give Ukraine some guarantees of support, regardless of the election results.

Sergey Lavrov: That's what they say. I can't imagine that all the people who say these words believe what they say. Facts are a stubborn thing. And they are directly opposite to the assessments expressed by the West. Fermentation is already underway there. Not because we are doing this, but because there are people there who have retained the ability to analyse the situation and develop realistic approaches to this or that international situation.

The truth is on our side. History has an objective course. We are observing it. They know perfectly well why everything happened.

When the European Union agreed with Ukraine on the start of pre-accession negotiations, Hungary insisted that Kiev be obliged to comply with everything that is required by international conventions regarding national minorities. I spoke on the phone with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto. He confirmed to me that they insisted on the wording concerning not only the Hungarian minority (which, of course, they care about first of all), but all national minorities living in Ukraine. It will be interesting to see how the European Union will prepare for the talks, in particular, on this direct demand, which was grossly violated by the Poroshenko and Zelensky regimes. [My Emphasis]

Media Statement:

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has completed his state visit to the Russian Federation at the invitation of President of Russia Vladimir Putin. Yesterday, the leaders spent a lot of time together in an informal setting, discussed almost the entire agenda.

Today, with the participation of delegations, we discussed in detail the entire range of issues within the framework of our bilateral relations. We have big plans, a lot has been done – an excellent foundation has been laid. During the ceremony of awarding Narendra Modi with the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, the President of Russia and the Prime Minister of India outlined the main areas of our cooperation and emphasised their focus on deepening it in all areas without exception: the economy, political dialogue, humanitarian, cultural, sports and educational ties, military and military-technical cooperation.

Relations fully correspond to the term "special privileged strategic partnership" enshrined in Russian-Indian documents and accurately describing the ties between our countries, which are rooted deep in history. At a time when India was fighting for independence, the Soviet Union was one of the first to recognize a new, young state with a deep, long, thousand-year history and civilization.

During today's talks, in addition to the bilateral tasks outlined by President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi (which have already been adopted), the two leaders exchanged views on the international situation, primarily in the context of Russia's BRICS chairmanship. India has supported the programme that we are now implementing. Narendra Modi assured that he was happy to accept Vladimir Putin's invitation to take part in the association's summit in October 2024 in Kazan.

The situation and prospects for the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization were discussed in detail. The parties confirmed that this format is one of the highest priorities for both Moscow and New Delhi.

We talked about cooperation in the G20, which is currently chaired by Brazil, and in 2023 these functions were performed by India. We discussed how at the G20 summit in New Delhi, primarily through the efforts of the Indian presidency and with the support of Russia, China and other countries of the world majority, it was possible to prevent the Ukrainisation of the G20 agenda, as the United States and its allies persistently sought.

The final declaration of New Delhi objectively provides a geopolitical cross-section, taking into account all factors, with an emphasis on the fact that any conflicts that affect the global economy in one way or another, and unilateral sanctions should be considered in a balanced manner, without prejudice to the "basic" agenda of the G20 itself, which consists in working out agreements on the development of the global economy, the monetary and financial system, and the prevention of crises in these vital areas.

We talked about cooperation at the United Nations. India is one of the most active members of the UN. We speak there from a similar position. New Delhi votes for all Russian initiatives, including those on the inadmissibility of the glorification of Nazism, the prevention of an arms race in outer space, ensuring international information security, etc UN. The work is not easy, the dialogue has been going on for a long time.

Our position in favour of the candidatures of India, Brazil and the African Group remains unchanged. At the same time, we proceed from the premise that the West should not be provided with any additional seats (either permanent or non-permanent). It is already over-represented in this key body.

The visit confirmed the commitment of the leaders of both countries to the comprehensive promotion of a special and privileged strategic partnership. Specific tasks have been outlined. We will talk about their implementation. [My Emphasis]

Q&A from July 9:

Question: The whole world is watching the large-scale Russian-Indian talks. How seriously are they affected by the pressure of the Americans?

Sergey Lavrov: It does not affect me at all. It is not even worth explaining to President of Russia Vladimir Putin. He knows the tasks that were set before him by the Russian people, and then set out for the Government of the Russian Federation in his instructions. Let's solve them.

In this situation, I see no point in discussing the influence of the United States. They should be busy with their own business. Let them influence themselves. [My Emphasis]

IMO, there’re several ways to interpret those final three sentences, none of them positive from the Outlaw US Empire’s POV. Lavrov’s summation of Modi’s visit was good while all the specifics are in the joint declaration as I noted. Lavrov’s comments on the situation with the French elections underline the very fragile nature of the election outcome given its artificialness. The post-election riots performed by the winning faction further underlines France’s very destabilized present nature. The situation there seems very fluid now that Macron’s deep unpopularity is now made clear via the election process. As for Biden’s situation, IMO the main public reactions will come at the conventions, although it’s curious to note that Big Lie Media hasn’t suppressed Congressional Democrats calling for Biden to not seek reelection, whereas two years ago those voices wouldn’t be published. IMO, the world sees there’s a “game” afoot the Donor Class would like to keep hidden as much as possible. The Europeans seem to have already decided Biden is history, which IMO is one reason behind Orban’s courageous journeys to meet with the major world players in the current geopolitical drama. The Question I have is will he be allowed to meet with Biden for IMO his team wouldn’t want that to occur.

Have we already seen “Putin’s response” or are we still waiting? The very long and extensive bombardment of Ukraine over the last 36 hours was very intense, while all along the line of contact Russian troops continue to advance. One interesting note about that bombardment is many Ukies defied the ban on filming them and posted the results on social media which exposed Bankova’s lies about the amount of damage done and missiles intercepted.

I saw that Ryabkov was video interviewed on the 8th by International Affairs magazine, but no transcript’s been provided yet by it or the MFA. The synopsis says:

The interview will focus on the mediation efforts of various countries in resolving the Ukrainian crisis, possible changes in the Russian nuclear doctrine, Russian-American relations, Russia's relations with Latin American countries, the refusal to expand the BRICS membership and much more.

Hopefully, a transcript will be published so it can be shared. In closing, this news note is significant, “Saudi Arabia threatens G7 countries with sale of their securities in case of confiscation of Russian assets”:

The authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) have privately hinted that they may sell part of European debt obligations in the event that the Group of Seven (G7) countries decide to seize almost $300 billion worth of frozen assets of Russia. This is reported by Bloomberg, citing its sources.

The Ministry of Finance of the kingdom informed some of its colleagues in the G7 of its disagreement with the idea, which was supposed to support Ukraine, while one of the interlocutors of the publication called it a veiled threat. The Saudis specifically mentioned the debt issued by the French treasury, two sources said.

In May and June, G7 representatives explored various options regarding the funds of the Russian Central Bank. In the end, the group agreed to use the profits and leave the assets alone, despite the US and UK insisting that the allies consider bolder options, including an outright seizure. Some eurozone member states were opposed to the idea, fearing that it could undermine the common European currency.

"There have been no such threats," the Saudi Finance Ministry said in a statement. "Our relations with the G7 and other countries are based on mutual respect, and we continue to discuss all issues that contribute to global growth and increase the stability of the international financial system," the Ministry of Finance added.

According to Bloomberg, the kingdom's reserves in euros and French bonds may amount to tens of billions of euros, but are probably not large enough to have a significant impact on the exchange rate of the common European currency in the event of a sale.

"Whatever the motives, Saudi Arabia's actions underscore its growing influence on the world stage and the difficulties faced by the G7 in gaining support from the countries of the so-called Global South for Ukraine," the Bloomberg publication said.

In April of this year, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing that the Russian side would not stand on ceremony and would give a decisive response in the event of the confiscation of its assets and their use to finance the Kyiv regime.

"In the event of the confiscation of assets, Russia will be guided by the principle of reciprocity in international relations, which provides for an inalienable right to retaliate. As you understand, we are not going to disclose all this, but the actions will be decisive, no one is going to stand on ceremony in the event of attempts to use Russian reserves as collateral for bonds that can allegedly be issued by the West in order to attract private capital to finance the Kyiv regime," she said.

Zakharova pointed out that the Russian Federation has a significant amount of Western funds, property in Russian jurisdiction, "which may be subject to retaliatory actions." "Any persons, funds that decide to purchase such financial instruments will become the first candidates to fall for counter-sanctions with far-reaching consequences for the prospects of their international activities," the diplomat stressed.

Earlier, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, said that Russia would take steps that meet its interests in the event of an attempt by the Group of Seven (G7) countries to confiscate assets. "We have analyzed the retaliatory steps in advance, we will do so that they meet our interests. No theory authorizing confiscation can be legal, it can only be pseudo-legal," Peskov said.

Answering the question "Is there a specific list of assets of Western countries that Russia can seize in response?", he said: "Yes, there is."

Despite the official Saudi denial, Saudi-Russia relations seem to be approaching the realm of alliance. The plot thickens!

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