Lavrov's Tianjin Post-SCO Council of Foreign Ministers Presser

How many press conferences in one week? Three I believe. This time most of the Qs are related to the event, although Ukraine cannot be escaped. As I wrote last time, Lavrov and team had lots of time to discuss matters with the Chinese and rest of the SCO delegates. IMO, Lavrov enjoyed his time.

Dear colleagues, good afternoon!

We travel a lot and now we have reached the final point of our tour. This is the city of Tianjin, the place where the meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers was held today.

This was the final stage in the preparations for the upcoming SCO summit in Tianjin in late August and early September.

Everyone unanimously noted the business-like, concrete mood of our work. In this regard, we attach particular importance to this morning's meeting with President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, who shared his assessment of the joint efforts under the Chinese presidency and his vision of the main tasks for the progressive development of our Organisation.

The discussion confirmed the common understanding of the growing importance of the aggregate potential of the SCO members in both regional and global affairs. There are still nuances in national approaches, it cannot be otherwise; but, nevertheless, the main trends towards further consolidation of the SCO and increasing its role in the international arena are encouraging.

We stated that our common policy of strengthening the SCO as one of the pillars of a fairer and multipolar world order remains unchanged. This fully takes into account the representative composition of the Association's members that we are witnessing today, and we also see a large number of people wishing to join the work of the SCO.

The geographical area of our structure covers a significant part of the Eurasian continent. We noted that cooperation within the framework of our Organisation objectively contributes to the creation of an architecture of equal and indivisible security throughout Eurasia. We see its socioeconomic foundation as the Greater Eurasian Partnership based on cooperation between multilateral associations operating in the region, such as, first of all, the SCO, the EAEU, the CIS and ASEAN. We are taking into account China's One Belt, One Road project, including the existing agreements between this project and the EAEU. In the context of the approach we have outlined, we reaffirmed our readiness to closely coordinate our actions at the UN in the future.

We discussed the implementation of the proposals approved at the SCO summit in 2024 to improve the activities of the SCO. The preparation of draft agreements on the establishment of the Universal Center for Countering Security Challenges and Threats in Tashkent and the Anti-Drug Center in Dushanbe is being completed. In Bishkek, it is planned to deploy a structure to combat organized crime.

We spoke in favour of further expanding the SCO's cooperation with external players. The upcoming SCO+ summits at the Tianjin summit will be a significant step in this direction. This event will be held back-to-back with the meeting of the Council of Heads of State on September 1, 2025.

We expect representatives of about 30 states and multilateral associations to take part in this event. This is an indicator of the growing creative agenda of the SCO and the attractiveness of the Organization for the countries of the Global South and the World Majority.

Today, we discussed international and regional issues. We informed our friends in detail about their assessments of the latest developments in Ukrainian affairs. We reaffirmed our approaches to the settlement of the crisis around Ukraine, which have been repeatedly voiced by President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

Colleagues, in turn, perceive this with understanding. Today, our position on the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and recognise the existing territorial realities and guarantee the legitimate rights of Russians and Russian speakers, including in the territory that remains under the control of the Kiev regime, has been reaffirmed once again.

We unanimously condemned Israel's attacks on peaceful civilian facilities in Iran. Let me remind you that on June 14 of this year, immediately after these aggressive actions, the SCO promptly issued a corresponding statement. Similarly, US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities are also qualified as gross violations of the principles of the UN Charter and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. At the same time, we emphasised the commitment of our countries to ensuring Tehran's legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Regarding the situation in the Middle East, we stated that sustainable stabilisation in the region is impossible without a fair settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in full compliance with UN resolutions. As an urgent step, everyone called for an immediate cessation of actions that exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe of the Palestinians.

We talked about strengthening security in the region in terms of the situation in Afghanistan. Almost all SCO members are stepping up work with Kabul on a bilateral basis. We all agree on the importance of effectively promoting the reconstruction of this country and its sustainable development as an independent, neutral, peaceful state free from terrorism and drugs. It was emphasized that it is necessary to stimulate the process of national accord, ensuring ethnic and political inclusiveness in the power structures.

We discussed the preparation of documents that will be presented at the leaders' summit. Our approaches to cooperation within the SCO and our coordinated positions on topical issues on the global and regional agenda will traditionally be enshrined in the Tianjin Declaration.

A common vision of long-term guidelines and the further evolution of the association, taking into account the accumulated experience of the ongoing modernization process, are supposed to be reflected in the SCO Development Strategy until 2035.

We consider the leaders' statement on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the establishment of the UN to be one of the most important political documents. In the economic dimension, a whole series of projects is being worked out on topics such as artificial intelligence, green industry, investment cooperation, and the digital economy.

The leaders' decisions on the issues I have mentioned will lay the foundation for effective preparations for the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the SCO States, which will be held on November 17-18, 2025 in Moscow under the Russian presidency.

Question: How can you comment on US President Donald Trump's "new plan" for Ukraine? Is Russia ready to continue dialogue with the United States on the Ukrainian settlement and on the normalisation of bilateral relations after Washington's statements yesterday? How do we assess the threat of introducing 100% duties on our trade counterparties from the point of view of Russia's foreign economic interests?

Sergey Lavrov: We never build our policy to the detriment of our national interests or to the detriment of ensuring the country's security. The special military operation is aimed precisely at nipping in the bud the threats that the North Atlantic Alliance has been creating right on our borders for decades, not for one day. Russia has warned us many times. President of Russia Vladimir Putin has devoted countless speeches and statements to this problem. Unfortunately, he was not heard. This only confirms what President Vladimir Putin recently said in an interview with Pavel Zarubin about how his and our general perception of relations with the West has evolved. At first, it seemed that it would be enough to remove ideological differences, and everything would be fine. Later it turned out that it was not a matter of ideology, that the West (regardless of what ideology was practiced in the Russian Empire, in the Soviet Union, in post-Soviet Russia) was driven by only one thing–-the idea of geopolitical containment, suppression, or even outright military destruction of Russia, as has happened more than once in history. As Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said, we really want to understand what is behind this statement – "50 days." Previously, there were "24 hours." There was also "100 days." We really want to understand what drives the US President. It is clear that he is under enormous, I would say, indecent pressure from the European Union and the current NATO leadership, which unceremoniously support Vladimir Zelensky's demands to continue pumping his regime with modern, including offensive, weapons at the expense of increasing damage to taxpayers in Western countries. We have a proverb–-"Don't dig a hole for someone else..." The sanctions that the European Union has now imposed and those that are being prepared again in Brussels, and the United States is now trying to drag the United States into this "sanctions funnel". But US President Donald Trump specifically explained that Europe will pay for the continuation of the conflict. All this, of course, has already caused serious damage to the European economy. Sensible and objective European analysts, economists and political scientists admit that the losses are primarily incurred by the "author" of this sanctions war. An unprecedented number of sanctions have already been announced against us. We are coping. I have no doubt that we will cope. This conclusion is also based on the assessment and analysis of independent economists and politicians, including many Western ones.

As for our trading counterparties. They hear what has been said. But they can hardly predict their actions now. They have international obligations. Knowing our partners, I do not see how they can abandon their independent policy, the policy of complying with the agreements reached both bilaterally and in multilateral formats.

Question: Could you share the details of your meeting with Xi Jinping and what kind of message did you convey from President Vladimir Putin? What other states are currently expressing interest in joining the Organisation? What initiatives could be useful in reducing the risks of geopolitical crises escalating?

Sergey Lavrov: As for the conversation between the SCO foreign ministers and President of China Xi Jinping and the subsequent conversation with the Russian delegation. They discussed fundamental issues related to the development of the SCO and the initiatives of the Chinese presidency, which are well known. All of them have already been announced. At the bilateral meeting, we discussed our coordination in the foreign policy area in accordance with the fundamental strategic guidelines that were previously agreed upon by President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of China Xi Jinping. As you understand, we will not go into details now.

As for those wishing to join the SCO, it was decided today that the Lao People's Democratic Republic should be granted the status of an SCO partner. Most of these countries wishing to join the Organisation will participate in the new format, which will be held on September 1 immediately after the SCO summit. This format is called SCO+. About 30 countries and multilateral organisations will take part in it.

As for the challenges and risks, I do not want to go into detail about what everyone is well aware of. We are well aware of how we are organising our actions in areas that threaten our security and other interests.

Question: I would like to ask about the regional security system. This was one of the goals of the SCO's creation. Have today's talks resulted in full readiness for counter-terrorism or peacekeeping operations?

Sergey Lavrov: In my opening remarks, I touched on this topic.

Now there is a Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS SCO), which has been actively working. Recently, it has been recognized as expedient to expand the mandate of this structure, which will be responsible for new challenges and threats, given the very close connection between terrorism and organized crime, especially drug trafficking.

In Tashkent, on the basis of the current regional anti-terrorist center, it was decided to create the SCO Universal Center to combat new challenges and threats. At the same time, the SCO Anti-Drug Center is being created in Dushanbe, which will be linked by a special agreement with the Universal Center for Combating New Challenges and Threats. A structure aimed at combating organized crime will be formed in Bishkek. After the reform, this "troika" of mechanisms will create additional opportunities for effectively suppressing threats associated with terrorism and illegal migration, which also often "result" in extremist and terrorist activities. I hope that our Presidents will approve this reform.

Question: On July 15, you met with Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi on the sidelines of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers. Did you discuss Russia's proposal to export surplus enriched uranium from Iran, as well as practical ways to implement this proposal?

Sergey Lavrov: We discussed realistic approaches to ensuring a solution that would be achieved peacefully, politically and diplomatically, while respecting the decisions that were made in the Islamic Republic of Iran a long time ago, namely, Tehran's official renunciation of the possession of nuclear weapons. No evidence to the contrary has ever been presented by anyone, including inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The second most important principle is not to infringe on the legitimate rights of Iran, as well as all other non-nuclear members of the IAEA and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, with regard to the possibility of enriching uranium for energy purposes.

We will continue to discuss with our friends how specific possible moves in this regard are being considered, what technical and negotiating opportunities exist.

Question: Did you discuss at the SCO or during bilateral meetings the issue of providing practical assistance to Iran in restoring the infrastructure destroyed by Israeli-US strikes?

Sergey Lavrov: The Iranian side has not made such requests.

Q: After meeting with you in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China, together with Russia, is ready to take the SCO to a new level. What level are we talking about?

Sergey Lavrov: About the infinitely going up.

Question: You said that Moscow wants to understand where US President Donald Trump's statements come from. Just before D. Trump, US Senator L. Graham claimed in approximately the same terms that Brazil, China and India "play into Putin's hands." You have already said that Moscow has no particular concerns about partners, but I would like to ask whether the SCO or BRICS have any potential for joint action against such a threat?

Sergey Lavrov: Washington has made specific threats to the BRICS that it is necessary to fight the BRICS and that the association undermines the interests of the United States.

To be fair, US President Donald Trump previously expressed a slightly different point of view. He said bluntly that the actions taken by the Biden administration, which used the dollar as a weapon, caused irreparable damage to the authority of this world reserve currency. I am sure that he understands the fairness of that assessment and the fact that, in response to the excesses of the previous administration, the BRICS, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and many others are looking for alternative ways of making payments that would not be tied to the dollar and would thus be insured against Washington's arbitrariness.

This process can no longer be stopped. There are statistics on what the dollar's shares in world trade and in global financial settlements look like now. This is not because we wanted to "run away from the dollar." President of Russia Vladimir Putin has emphasised this more than once. They decided to use the dollar to punish those whose behavior seems to the Americans to be inconsistent with the infamous "rules" on which they want to "keep" the entire world order.

Speaking seriously about concerns, our profession is not to be afraid, but to seek to take into account Russia's interests, to work openly, honestly, on the basis of international law and agreed principles. Otherwise, a self-respecting, strong, independent power cannot behave. We have every reason to believe that the BRICS countries are also sovereign and value this state in the world system.

Q: The US media claim that the United States is now literally forcing its allies in Japan and Australia to decide how they will help Taiwan in the event of a conflict. At the same time, the United States and allies (18 states) are starting the largest exercises in Australia, in which tens of thousands of troops are involved. What do you think is the reason for the new round of tension in the region?

Sergey Lavrov: This is not a new round. This may be a new phase of the very "round" that began quite many years ago, when the United States of America put forward the idea of developing and implementing "Indo-Pacific strategies", by which I mean the Asia-Pacific region, which has been called so all its life and has never "suffered" from it.

The "Indo-Pacific strategies" symbolized the desire of NATO countries to advance their infrastructure to the Far East, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and create alliances with a "nuclear filling" there, such as AUKUS (USA, Great Britain, Australia), the "troika" (the United States, South Korea and Japan), which conduct increasingly large-scale exercises with a nuclear component, as well as many others. The Indo-Pacific Four, patronized by the United States, includes New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and South Korea. All this is accompanied by the eastward expansion of NATO infrastructure, including in such dangerous forms as the transfer of ground-based intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles to the Philippines, which were previously prohibited by the Russian-American treaty.

This very serious weapon will appear for the first time in Southeast Asia. It is also moving into Europe, including Germany. Therefore, the whole process reflects NATO's aggressive eastward advance. They wanted to "absorb" Ukraine, stumbled, but continue to pretend that they will definitely bring the matter to an end. In parallel with the way they use Ukraine as the "tip" of their strikes against Russia, although less and less visible, they are also advancing to the east. Therefore, their desire is to ensure NATO control over the security situation on the entire Eurasian continent instead of constructive alternatives to creating an open, equal Eurasian security architecture that provides for the participation of all continental countries of Eurasia without exception. This structure is being promoted by Russia, the People's Republic of China and our other allies and like-minded people.

About Taiwan. You know, speculation and provocations on the "Taiwan issue" are growing. For example, not so long ago, one of the journalists drew the attention of French President Emmanuel Macron to the logic that I have just outlined. He said that NATO will not interfere in Asian affairs if China makes sure that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea does not interfere in European affairs. How do you like it? If Russia is allowed to take control of part of Ukraine, said Emmanuel Macron, then what can happen to Taiwan? This is an openly provocative statement. The West continues to assure the People's Republic of China that it follows the position and principle of "one China", but at the same time immediately adds that the "status quo" cannot be touched. The "status quo" means that the West treats Taiwan as an independent state, arms it and emphasizes the attributes of its independence in every possible way.

Question: Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Serhiy Kyslytsya said that the "Istanbul format" of talks has practically exhausted itself. Is this a way of trading? Perhaps this is a way to bring the meeting between President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky closer or to pause the Istanbul format again?

Sergey Lavrov: Sergey Kyslytsya is no longer Ukraine's permanent representative to the UN. He is the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Although, of course, he made a reputation for himself as a permanent representative to the UN.

Vladimir Zelensky also said that the Istanbul format is "not serious." Someone else on his team has made similar claims. The argument was simple: they do not discuss anything except humanitarian problems (exchange of prisoners, the return of the bodies of the dead, the return of wounded soldiers). But if they believe that this format has exhausted itself, this once again confirms their disregard for their citizens. Just as they do not want to give the bodies that were handed over to them long ago to relatives in order to save money. Just like they shot down our plane, which was delivering prisoners for exchange, some time ago. This is the "face" of the Ukrainian regime.

But we must not forget that they are disingenuous. In addition to humanitarian issues, which, of course, are important, since they concern people, their relatives and friends. But in addition to them, our delegation submitted draft agreements in the form of a memorandum at the second round of the Istanbul talks. And the Ukrainians handed over their draft memorandum. Yes, they are opposites. At their request, we discussed with the Americans at the expert level how we see the outcome.

The answer is simple. Despite diametrically opposed positions, in April 2022 in Istanbul it was possible to agree on a denouement, not just a ceasefire, but on the principles of a settlement that were proposed by Ukraine and which suited the Russian Federation. The document was initialed. There was already an agreement to start preparing a legal document, a treaty, but then the British, probably with the consent of the United States, forbade the Ukrainians to sign this document.

This is simply an example of the fact that with all the positions that do not coincide and directly contradict each other, there is always an opportunity for a conversation. However, if they say that "the format is exhausted", then this means that in addition to a disregard for their citizens, they have no desire to negotiate. Probably, again the Macrons, Starmers, Ursula von der Leyens and other Merz’ forbid this. All these characters unanimously demand "to urgently pump Ukraine with additional offensive weapons." The head of the situation centre for Ukraine at the German Defence Ministry, Karl Freuding, says bluntly that "it is necessary to give Ukraine the most long-range missiles and types of weapons so that it can strike deep into the territory of Russia."

They say: "No negotiations" (this is now clear), "immediate ceasefire", and then negotiations. But a ceasefire without conditions, as French President Emmanuel Macron openly said a few months ago, when this thesis was first planted, does not mean a cessation of arms supplies to Ukraine. It means that they want us to stop our offensive and that we give Ukraine and its sponsors the opportunity to take a break and arm themselves again.

The same logic, the same approach that they used when they signed the Minsk Agreements, using seven years of efforts to implement them in order to militarize Ukraine to the fullest.

German Chancellor Merz recently said that NATO is obliged to provide Ukraine with "the strongest possible military position" in order for negotiations to begin. That is, no one is hiding anything. "Cease fire, we will pump it with weapons and everything will be fine."

As for our American colleagues. They are well aware of our position. We told them about the "exhaustion" of the format. It has not been exhausted. The United States tried to pretend that the level of our delegation is not suitable. The level of the Ukrainian delegation will now change.

Former Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustam Umerov is going to visit his family in the United States as an ambassador. The third round of talks, which we proposed to start the week of June 22, is still not mentioned in any Ukrainian statements or "advice" given to them by their Western curators. Now the negotiator has left.

If our explanations, which we have repeatedly conveyed to our American colleagues, including during meetings on the sidelines of ASEAN events, are simply ignored or not reported to US President Donald Trump, it is difficult to judge what is behind this.

To say that there is no progress and therefore "50 days". If the Ukrainian side had agreed to announce the date of the third round in the week of June 22 of this year, perhaps they would have already met the deadline of 30 days. Of course, this does not make us happy, but we are acting according to the plan approved by President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

This plan is to guarantee the legitimate security interests of the Russian Federation and to guarantee the rights of Russians and Russian speakers who remain to live in Ukraine, which violates all norms of international law prohibiting discrimination on national, ethnic, linguistic or religious grounds. [My Emphasis]

As most already knew, Trump’s 50 days is based on a false assumption that was just explained above. On the SCO’s terrorism and international crime fighting aspect, I await a statement aimed at the West’s direct and deep involvement —IMO, it’s imperative that CIA, MI6, and other “agencies” be publicly called out for the crimes they commit and foment. Yes, western BigLie Media will ignore it but not the media of the Global Majority, which is now in the process of forming new outlets specifically to combat western lies and misinformation. One question I hoped would be asked was about the EU3’s promise to initiate the “snap-back” sanctions clause of the JCPOA. IMO, the JCPOA as a binding UNSCR is voided by the actions of the Outlaw US Empire and the EU3—one broke the agreement outright and the three never fulfilled their obligations, which in essence was also breaking the treaty. Only Iran, Russia and China remained true to the JCPOA. Again, we see the West breaking treaties then demanding the right to use their components to impose the enforcement mechanisms they contain. The Global Majority ought to show the UNSC their middle fingers if the “snap-back” crap is allowed.

The Global Trade War started by the Outlaw US Empire has now lasted about six months with the primary target being China, although BRICS is now being added. Here’s a few key figures reported by Global Times:

China's economy posted a solid 5.3 percent growth in the first half of 2025, while exports rose 7.2 percent year-on-year to reach 13 trillion yuan ($1.81 trillion) - the highest ever for the same period - demonstrating China's economy's resilience and vitality.

Doesn’t look like Trump’s War is having the desired effects. In another report:

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent implied during an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday that the US approved Nvidia’s H20 sales to China because Huawei can already make equivalent chips.

Whoops! The export embargo on advanced chips which was part of the Trade War didn’t work either. And again, tariffs are a tax on the importing nation’s public and drives inflation because prices rise to pay the tax. Imports might be reduced, but exporters do have other choices as markets are growing outside the West. So, the best plan is what China decided to do—stand up to the tariffs by reciprocating while seeking other outlets for exports. The way global commerce was trending prior to Trump’s return was away from the US market. Now that many nations and exporters were forced to reexamine their trade destinations, many have discovered they don’t need the US market, or that they can redirect away from it in a year or two without any significant damage being done to their domestic industry and be healthier in the long run. Clearly, the short-term Neoliberal bean counters in the Outlaw US Empire didn’t realize or dismissed that possibility. It also seems that little thought was given to laying steep tariffs on South Korea and Japan.

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