Newsweek Interviews Lavrov; Post CIS FM Meeting Presser

The dateline says Moscow, 7 October 2024, but will Newsweek publish the interview in its entirety or only in snippets? The transcript is from Russia’s MFA, otherwise I wouldn’t know of it. As I understand it, Newsweek is considered unfriendly media for many valid reasons. As Lavrov interviews go, this one is short and to the point, and there’s no accompanying video, at least at this moment. Lavrov had several items published dealing with China’s 75th anniversary of its current status that I refrained from providing since they didn’t add anything new, although I will have an article on China following this product which begins now:

Question: Against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, how does Russia's current position differ compared to 2022, and how do the costs of the conflict correlate with progress in achieving strategic goals?

Lavrov: Our position is well known and remains unchanged. Russia is open to a political and diplomatic solution. It must address the root causes of the crisis. At the same time, we should talk about the end of the conflict, and not about a ceasefire. The West must stop the supply of weapons, and Kyiv must stop hostilities. Ukraine must return to a neutral, non-aligned and nuclear-free status, protect the Russian language, and respect the rights and freedoms of all its citizens.

The Istanbul Agreements, initialed on March 29, 2022 by the delegations of Russia and Ukraine, could serve as the basis for a settlement. They provide for Kyiv's refusal to join NATO and contain security guarantees for Ukraine while recognizing the realities that developed at that time "on the ground." It is clear that since then, over the past two years, these realities have changed significantly, including in legal terms.

On June 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin named the following prerequisites for a settlement: the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions; recognition of the territorial realities enshrined in the Russian Constitution; neutral non-aligned nuclear-free status of Ukraine; its demilitarization and denazification; ensuring the rights, freedoms and interests of Russian-speaking citizens; the lifting of all anti-Russian sanctions.

Kiev reacted to this statement with an armed invasion of the Kursk region on August 6. His patrons, represented by the United States and other NATO countries, want to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Russia. Under these conditions, we have no choice but to continue the special military operation until the threats emanating from Ukraine are eliminated.

The costs of the conflict are greatest for the Ukrainians, whose leadership drives them, without pity, to the slaughter. For Russia, it is about protecting its people and vital security interests. Unlike, by the way, the United States, where they rant about some "rules", "way of life" and the like, apparently having a poor understanding of where Ukraine is and what the stakes are in this war.

Question: How realistic do you think it is to achieve a military or diplomatic settlement of the conflict? Or is there a more likely danger of the clash escalating into something larger due to the supply of modern NATO weapons to Ukrainian troops and entry into Russian territory?

Answer: I'm not going to guess, it's not my job. I just want to say that we have been trying to extinguish this crisis for more than ten years, but every time agreements that suit everyone are fixed on paper, Kiev and its masters "back down." This applies to the February 2014 agreement, which the opposition, with the support of the United States, trampled on by carrying out a coup d'état. A year later, the Minsk agreements, approved by the UN Security Council, were signed, which were sabotaged for seven years, and the leaders of Ukraine, Germany and France who signed them later boasted that they did not even think of implementing them. The document initialed in Istanbul at the end of March 2022 was not signed by Vladimir Zelensky at the insistence of his Western curators, in particular, the then British Prime Minister.

At the moment, as we understand, the restoration of peace is not included in the enemy's plans. V. Zelensky did not cancel his decree prohibiting negotiations with Moscow. Washington and its NATO allies are providing Kyiv with political, military and financial support to continue the war. The possibility of allowing the Armed Forces of Ukraine to use Western long-range missiles to strike deep into Russia is being discussed. Such "playing with fire" can have dangerous consequences. As President Vladimir Putin said, we will make appropriate decisions based on our understanding of the threats posed by the West. Draw your own conclusions.

Question: What are Russia's specific plans in accordance with its strategic partnership with China and other powers to achieve changes in the current world order, and how, in your opinion, will these ambitions be realized in regions of high competition and conflict, including the Middle East?

Lavrov: It is about adapting the world order to modern realities. The world is now experiencing a "multipolar moment". The formation of multipolarity is a natural process of rebalancing forces, reflecting objective changes in the global economy, finance, and geopolitics. Later than others, but also in the West, they began to recognize its irreversible nature.

We are talking about strengthening new centers of power and decision-making in the Global South and East. These centers do not seek hegemony but understand the importance of sovereign equality and civilizational diversity, advocate mutually beneficial cooperation and consideration of each other's interests.

Multipolarity is manifested in the strengthening of the influence of regional associations – the EAEU, the SCO, ASEAN, the African Union, CELAC and others. BRICS has become the standard of multilateral diplomacy. The UN should remain a place for coordinating the interests of all countries.

We advocate that all states, including the United States, fulfil their obligations on an equal footing with others, and do not cover up legal nihilism with mantras about their exceptionalism. We stand in solidarity with the overwhelming majority who see international law being trampled on with impunity in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and before that in Kosovo, Iraq, Libya and many other places.

Our Chinese partners can answer for themselves, but I think and know that they share this approach in the main sense – in the understanding that security and development are indivisible and that as long as the West strives for domination, the ideals of peace enshrined in the UN Charter will remain on paper.

Question: What impact will the US presidential election have on Russian-American relations if Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins, and how is Russia preparing for both scenarios?

Lavrov: By and large, we do not care how these elections end, given that there is a bipartisan consensus in the United States regarding confrontation with Russia. If something changes in American policy and there are proposals for us, we will be ready to study them in accordance with our interests. In any case, we will resolutely defend Russia's interests, especially when it comes to national security issues.

But in general, it would be logical for the owner of the White House, whoever he or she is, to focus on solving the problems of his country and not look for adventures tens of thousands of miles from American shores. This, I am sure, is what American voters want. [My Emphasis]

Honest, forthright, without animosity, emphasizing the conflict has lasted ten years, although he could have gone further back in time to 1994. No question related to Palestine despite the date. Since Newsweek’s a Deep State propaganda organ, it asked questions that are of the highest importance to that regime. It should be mentioned that Russia’s ambassador to the Outlaw US Empire, Mr. Antonov, is no longer at his post as his term has expired and he’s returned to Moscow with no replacement named, which has de facto lowered relations to the counselor level.

Now we’ll turn to the presser that followed the annual CIS FMs Meeting whose proceedings were mostly explained to the media:

Ladies and gentlemen,

We have completed a regular meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It was devoted to preparations for tomorrow's Council of Heads of State of the CIS, which will be held here in Moscow. Today we worked on the agenda. We have adopted the documents of the foreign ministers. Among them, I would like to note the following: a document on the unacceptability of unilateral coercive measures – "sanctions"; on the main parameters of work on the formation of the Eurasian security system; on cooperation in the field of physical culture and sports. This document is important in conditions when the principles of Olympism, fair sports wrestling are being questioned, or even simply ignored.

We approved the plan of consultations between the foreign ministries for 2025, which contains about 20 topical issues. I am confident that it will contribute to the further development of our cooperation, the coordination of our actions in the international arena, including at the UN, as well as during the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which opens next month in Baku.

As for the documents that are submitted for consideration by the heads of state, I would like to highlight the draft appeal to the peoples of the CIS countries and to the world community in connection with the upcoming 80th anniversary of Victory in World War II and the Great Patriotic War next year. I would like to note that the title of the CIS has been established - "City of Labor Glory. 1941-1945". Another project that our presidents and heads of government will consider tomorrow is the concept of an anti-radicalization program. This is a relevant topic due to the fact that the ideology of extremism does not disappear, despite the steps taken to suppress it, and fuels terrorist and other violent crimes.

A number of decisions were made in the field of cooperation between our law enforcement agencies. An important innovation is a document on the establishment of substantive ties and interaction in the field of artificial intelligence. There is a large block of cultural and humanitarian issues related to interaction between young people and volunteer organizations. A separate decision proposes the heads of state to approve the cultural capitals of the Commonwealth for 2025 - Azerbaijani Lachin, for 2026 - Armenian Meghri and for 2027 - Belarusian Molodechno.

Question: It is known that the West is now putting pressure on the CIS countries to impose anti-Russian sanctions. How do you manage to cope with such challenges? How effective, in your opinion, is this approach of Western countries to defeating Russia?

Sergey Lavrov: I can say right away that we are coping well.

The methods used by the West are rejected by all other countries, including the states of the post-Soviet space. Illegal measures of "secondary" and "tertiary" sanctions, when someone does not like the fact that two independent countries are building relations with each other, have nothing to do with international law.

All the steps that we are taking to ensure not only the preservation, but the increase of trade and economic ties and their volumes with our strategic partners and allies are fully in line with the norms of international law. We are talking about fair competition, market mechanisms, and the inviolability of property. All these postulates of globalization, promoted by the West as "eternal", have been trampled on by the West itself. There have always been honest and fair principles of interaction between our countries. And they remain so.

Question: You have spoken a lot about a multipolar world within the framework of the World Majority. How is this principle implemented in the CIS countries? What threatens the stability of our relations with friends in the Commonwealth today?

Sergey Lavrov: A centre of a multipolar world is being formed on the territory of the CIS countries (I would say it has already been formed), which is being born and is already asserting itself in many of its aspects in everyday international life. The Commonwealth of Independent States, along with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, is an important, I would even say, central part of Eurasia. The membership of the CIS and the SCO has many similarities. This is also the reason for the close cooperation between these structures, which is becoming richer and more specific every year.

Through the CIS-SCO "bundle", the interaction of the three largest states of the Eurasian continent – the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China and India – is ensured. The economic, logistical, and creative potential of these associations in the Eurasian space is enormous. Every year it materializes more and more in specific projects. They benefit all our countries and contribute to the well-being of their people.

Nothing threatens this relationship. They are developing steadily with regard to the "efforts" that the United States and its satellites are trying to expand in the form of "secondary", "tertiary" and other illegal sanctions.

We know how to counteract this essentially illegal and criminal activity and act strictly in accordance with international law and the norms of the World Trade Organisation. We are progressively developing the economy of each of the CIS countries. Each of them is growing GDP, trade turnover among themselves, turnover of investments and other economic means. [My Emphasis]

I’d say Lavrov was buoyed by the meeting. His answers were more positive and demonstrative. The West’s actions are more akin to dandruff that can easily be swept from the shoulder, a nuisance, tiresome perhaps, but merely a nuisance. Perhaps Armenia finally changed its tune and awoke to reality.

*
*
*
Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a monthly/yearly pledge to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!