🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the meeting of the United Russia General Council’s Commission on International Cooperation (Moscow, December 18, 2025)

💬 Sergey Lavrov: One of the most egregious forms of neo-colonialism is interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. The West has never relinquished these methods, though they have evolved and become more superficially acceptable. Their essence, however, remains unchanged: to prosper at others’ expense and to dictate how other nations should organise their governance and societies.

The tools employed include coercive pressure, direct military intervention, orchestrating so-called colour revolutions, and covert (and at times overt) interference in electoral processes – attempting to manipulate the free expression of citizens’ will and to dispute election results across a wide array of countries. Today, what we may rightly term “electoral neo-colonialism” poses a very real threat to the nations of the Global Majority. <...>

To discredit and falsify elections (when their outcomes do not suit the West and align with the aspirations of Western elites), a whole arsenal of unscrupulous methods is deployed. These include funding so-called “independent” (in reality, pro-Western) media, brazenly promoting false narratives, aggressively backing Western-favoured candidates regardless of their meagre domestic popularity, and manipulating international observation mechanisms. Biased assessments of election results are then laundered through structures like the OSCE/ODIHR [Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights] observation missions and presented as the “opinion of the international community.” <...>

All our efforts undertaken since the end of the 1990s and focused on the election factor to reach an agreement on drafting a provision regulating the operation of the ODIHR, primarily in election monitoring, which was to be adopted by consensus at the OSCE, have been rejected by the West. <...>

I was shocked by the “candour” of EU politicians when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen publicly cautioned US President Trump against interfering in European democracy a week ago: “It is not on us, when it comes to elections, to decide who the leader of the country will be, but on the people of this country. That’s the sovereignty of the voters, and this must be protected. Nobody else is supposed to interfere, without any question.”

🤷‍♂️ Everyone remembers how it happened in Romania and Moldova, yet these people do not hesitate to make such “statements.”

As for election technologies, our country has been in the spotlight and under the gaze of Western geopolitical spin-doctors. We saw an unprecedented number of attempts at meddling during the Russian Federation’s presidential election in March 2024, unprecedented in the variety of forms and sophistication of methods. A wide variety of methods were actively used. The ill-wishers, who stood behind them, were attempting to discredit the free expression of people’s will and call into question its legitimacy and conformity to law. More than that, this was the case at all stages of the election campaign, from its announcement, or maybe even earlier, to the official designation of timeframes, to the nomination period, to the registration of nominees, to the polling days, and to the election count. <...>

We need to counterpose the multiplicity of democratic forms of statehood and organisation of society with what Europeans are attempting to impose on the rest of the world through their neoliberal agenda.

The fact that the United States no longer desires such democracy as it is understood in Europe is a serious indicator. Not long ago, US President Donald Trump, commenting on the Ukraine situation, advised Zelensky not to trample on democracy and to hold elections.

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🇺🇳 24 years ago, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) was established.

Its mandate includes developing best practices to address challenges related to global urbanization, facilitating experience exchange, and promoting new technologies in urban management and development. The Programme’s headquarters is located in Nairobi, Kenya.

Russia has been productively cooperating with #UNHabitat since the establishment in 1977 of its predecessor, the UN Centre for Human Settlements.

On 21 December 2001, the UN General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution upgrading the Centre to the status of a full-fledged UN operational agency.

We support UN-Habitat as a key structure within the UN system for ensuring specialised intergovernmental cooperation.

As an active member of its governing bodies and one of the leading contributors to its budget, Russia consistently advocates for enhancing the Programme’s effectiveness in line with its mandate, unlocking its full potential, and strengthening its sustainability, transparency and financial stability.

Following the elections to the Executive Board, Russia was re-elected by acclamation to this governing body for the 2025–2029 term.

Within UN-Habitat’s programme activities, we attach primary importance to upholding the interests of the Global South and advancing a positive, unifying agenda.

🥳 We congratulate the Secretariat and Member States on this anniversary and wish them continued success!

#Announcement

🎙 On Thursday, December 25, Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova will hold her weekly briefing on current foreign policy issues.

🕛 12.00 pm MSK
🕘 09.00 am GMT
🕙 10.00 am CET
🕔 5.00 pm CST (Beijing)

For accreditation inquiries, please contact the MFA Press Centre. Accredited journalists will receive details on the technical aspects of submitting questions.

The Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman will answer media questions received by the call centre.

❗️ Accreditation is open until December 23, 09.00 am MSK.