They will not only fill the Russian treasury for decades to come, but will also claim significant shares of world markets in the most promising sectors of the economy. Cargo from the Arctic mega-projects will fill the Northern Sea Route, via which cargo traffic should grow six times by 2030. All the measures to develop the Arctic economy aim to improve the quality of life of all residents of this strategically important region for our country,” Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Alexei Chekunkov said.

The events of the pillar ‘Climate Change and Ecology of the Arctic’ were devoted to issues on the environmental agenda. The experts and specialists who took part in these events discussed the problems of handling waste and microplastics in the northern latitudes, lifting flooded radioactive and hazardous objects from the seas of the Arctic Ocean, melting permafrost, and the bioremediation of the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems of the Arctic coast. Participants in the large-scale Safe Arctic exercises in 2021 and 2023, for their part, worked on ways to prevent emergency situations in the Arctic.

During its chairmanship, Russia paid special attention to issues concerning the socioeconomic development of the territories of the Far North. During the conference ‘Investment and Trade in the Arctic’, which was held in September on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, experts considered prospects for cooperation between Russia and its foreign partners in the Arctic and opportunities for developing the Northern Sea Route, while building new logistics chains. In addition, the events held as part of this pillar included a discussion on the modernization of the telecommunications sector and digitalization in the Arctic, as well as the creation of a tourism industry in the North.

Cultural events were also a key part of the chairmanship programme. The following festivals were held over the last two years: Teriberka (16–17 July 2022, Murmansk Region), Bering Strait (2–7 August 2022, Anadyr), The Power of Colour (6–7 May 2023, Kirovsk), as well as the Gastronomic Festival of Northern Cuisine (10–11 December 2021, Moscow).

“In March 2022, the Arctic states of the West initiated a politicized and counterproductive ‘temporary freeze’ on the Council’s full-scale activities. Amidst these conditions, Russia continued to responsibly perform its functions as chairman and consistently implement the activities of the programme of Russia’s chairmanship (except for official meetings) and repurposed the chairmanship mechanism during the period of this forced ‘freezing’ to search for effective solutions to practical problems related to the development of our country’s northern regions, which are enshrined in the Fundamentals of the Russian Federation’s State Policy in the Arctic for the Period until 2035 and the Development Strategy for the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and Ensuring National Security for the Period until 2035,” said Nikolay Korchunov, Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials and Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Starting from May 2021, during Russia’s chairmanship, discussions were initiated for the first time via the Arctic Council about the protection of the intellectual property rights of Indigenous Peoples amidst globalization, the social responsibility of entrepreneurs, as well as public-private partnerships for the sustainable development of northern ethnic groups. Russia proposed numerous projects and initiatives, in particular, related to the digitalization of the cultural and linguistic heritage of Indigenous Peoples, the development of creative industries and traditional Arctic medicine, the creation of an international Arctic scientific station that runs on carbon-free energy, ensuring biosecurity in the region, and the creation of a unified digital museum platform.

Improving the efficiency of research activities and developing scientific cooperation was also one of Russia’s main goals as chairman of the Arctic Council.

In particular, based on an initiative from Moscow State Institute of International Relations, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed an agreement on the formation of the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Legal Research in the Arctic in 2022. The creation of this structure is a step towards forming an all-Russian consortium of Arctic Universities that is open to international partnerships. In addition, during the Northern Sustainable Development Forum, an agreement was signed on the establishment of the Russian-Asian Consortium for Arctic Research, as more than ten organizations became members of this organization.

The plan for Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council was calculated until August 2023 from the very beginning, so Russia will hold a number of events that aim to promote socioeconomic development, preserve the ecology of the northern latitudes, and conduct scientific studies of the Arctic. Some 20 events will take place in the coming months, including: the International Conference on Biodiversity in the Arctic and the International Forum on Specially Protected Natural Areas in the Arctic during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2023, the ‘Arctic. Breaking the Ice’ Second Russian Forum and Festival of Volunteers, the Teriberka Arctic Festival, the Bering Strait Festival, and the International Maritime Arctic Educational and Scientific Expeditions ‘Training-through-Research’ on Research Vessels. The chairmanship events are managed by the Roscongress Foundation.

Поздравляем норвежцев с национальным праздником - Днём Конституции!

Vi gratulerer nordmenn med deres Nasjonaldag - Grunnlovsdagen!

🇷🇺🇺🇳 Permament Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN:

🎙Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing on deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine and their consequences (18 May 2023)

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💬 Western states insist that they do not take part in the conflict, but rather “help Ukraine defend itself”. But in reality, it is the exact opposite. The West is fighting a proxy-war on Russia in Ukraine.

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Deliveries of ever more powerful weapons systems to Kiev, combined with data sharing and the training of Ukrainian soldiers on their territories make these states not only parties to the armed conflict with Russia under the 1907 Hague Conventions on the rights and obligations of neutral powers in naval and land warfare, but also accomplices to the war crimes of the Ukrainian armed forces and nationalist battalions.

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❗️ The goals of the collective West are obvious to all, Western politicians do not conceal them. And this is not the principles of morality and highest humanistic values, far from that. By using Ukraine as a testing site, they want to drag out this conflict, “until the last Ukrainian”, hoping to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia. This is based on an obvious desire to impose their will and their so-called rules on everyone.

<...>

Attacks of the Kiev regime against civilian infrastructure and peaceful population of the Donbas happen daily.

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☝️ The West knew exactly who they were bringing to power after the coup d'état in 2014 and who they had carefully nurtured before that in the interests of transforming Ukraine into an "anti-Russia”. <...> Western countries not only failed to prevent it, but as their leaders admit today, they sabotaged the implementation of the Minsk Agreements in order to keep using the Kiev authorities in their own interests.

🌐 On May 18, 1899, the Hague hosted a first ever international peace and disarmament conference. The initiative and idea for the event was that of the then Russian Empire.

The meeting resulted in the signing of 3 conventions:

• Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes
• Convention with respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land
• Convention for the Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of the Principles of the Geneva Convention of August 22, 1864.

However, Russia's idea on the true reduction of armaments and constraining military budgets failed to be enshrined in the form written guarantees. Issues of vital importance for the whole of Europe were reflected in the conference proceedings only in the form of declarations and “desiderata.” A mere 15 years later, #WWI would begin to re-carve the political map of Europe beyond recognition.

❗️And yet, the conference was not held in vain. It became an important step towards containing a global arms race and laid down the foundation, formed the bedrock of international law.

❗️ On renewing the Black Sea Initiative

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• In connection with expiration of the 60-day deadline for renewing the Black Sea Initiative to export Ukrainian grain on May 18 and in response to requests primarily from our Turkish partners as a party to the agreement, we confirmed the renewal of the agreement for another two months through July 17 without any changes.

• Our principled assessments of the implementation of the interrelated Istanbul agreements have remain unchanged, and so far only the Black Sea Initiative has been implemented with the exception of ammonia exports.

• There’s no measurable progress under the Russia-UN Memorandum.

• There are obvious issues with the declared humanitarian component of the deal where Ukrainian grain is being exported through this sea corridor mostly to high and above-average income countries, including “well-stocked” European markets.

• Countries that need it most have received hardly anything, 722,000 tonnes (or 2.5 percent) of the total amount of 30 million tonnes that had been moved from Ukrainian ports over nine months.

• The export of Russian products, even donations of fertilisers to the neediest countries, continues to be blocked by various aspects of the illegal and unilateral sanctions.

• There is no progress either in resuming ammonia shipments mentioned in both Istanbul documents.

• Given the circumstances, we are compelled to issue a reminder that there are five systemically important issues that must be resolved as part of implementing the Russia-UN Memorandum and which have seen no progress whatsoever so far:
- reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT system
- supplying spare parts
- unblocking transport logistics and insurance
- reestablishing the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline
- unfreezing the Russian companies’ assets

• There can be no talk of expanding the Black Sea Initiative in principle without these requirements first being met. The agreement will be terminated after July 17.

REPORT: The Human Rights Situation in Ukraine
by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/humanitarian_cooperation/1448658/?lang=en

🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Moscow, May 17, 2023)

🔹 FM Sergey #Lavrov’s schedule
🔹 #UkraineCrisis
🔹 #Gagauzia #Moldova
🔹 #Azerbaijan #Armenia
🔹 Armed attack on humanitarian relief convoy in #Myanmar
🔹 #RussiaFinland
🔹 #UNESCO
🔹 Report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the events in #Mali
🔹 Ongoing discrimination against Russian athletes
🔹 Desecration of monuments to Soviet soldiers in #Bulgaria

And much more...

📚 Read in full

Talking points:

#Ukraine

The West has made its role in the conflict abundantly clear: Ukraine serves merely as a tool and Ukrainians as pawns it is ready to sacrifice in its standoff with Russia. The West has sacrificed literally everything on the altar of its morbid geopolitical ambitions. They are “exceptional”. Only they can govern everyone. Nobody has the right to take independent decisions, be it domestic affairs or foreign policy. The previous times of colonialism and imperialism have not receded into the past but rather are being converted to a modern format.

#UNESCO

In its commitment to confrontation, the collective West continues intentionally undermining mechanisms underpinning interstate relations and ignoring the diplomatic norms by using all kinds of dirty tricks. Paris followed in the footsteps of Washington by adopting bad visa practices. As a country hosting the UNESCO Headquarters, France failed to issue visas on time to several Russian representatives, preventing them from attending the 216th Session of the UNESCO Executive Board. Visa-related incidents of this kind with their obvious political bias are becoming a regular occurrence. By doing this, Paris has intentionally failed to honour its obligations as a host country.

Комментарий Посольства информагентству "НТБ" о заходе в Осло американского авианосца

На севере нет ни одного вопроса, который требует военного решения, ни одной темы, которая требует внешнего вмешательства.

При том, что в Осло признают, что Россия не представляет прямой военной угрозы для Норвегии, подобные демонстрации силы выглядят нелогичными и вредными.

Ambassadens kommentar til NTB angående anløp av amerikansk hangarskip til Oslo

Det finnes ingen spørsmål i nord som krever en militær løsning, heller ikke temaer der det trenges innblanding utenfra.

Tatt i betraktning at det innrømmes i Oslo at Russland utgjør ingen direkte militær trussel for Norge, ser ut slike maktdemonstrasjoner som ulogiske og skadelige.

🎙 Excerpts from President Vladimir Putin's remarks at the meeting of the Council for Interethnic Relations:

💬 We are aware of the aggressive external pressure being put on Russia and our society. We have to deal with nearly all instruments in the enemies’ arsenals, including economic, military, political and information tools, as well as formidable anti-Russia propaganda.

The attacks on our history, culture and spiritual values never ease up, just as the attempts to undermine the unity and fraternal relations among our peoples.

Our adversaries have decided that Russia’s multi-ethnicity is a tender spot, and they are making every effort to divide us.

<...>

❗️ The people behind these kinds of concepts are accustomed to following Western ideological blueprints steeped in racist neo-colonial approaches and assertions of some kind of exceptionalism of some nations and inferiority of the others and the habitual division of nations into the first, second and third grades.

<...>

Our state was built around values of multiethnic harmony. This is the bedrock foundation underlying our consolidation, which is only getting stronger in the face of external aggressions and threats. Our adversaries, that I mentioned earlier, people with neo-colonial mindsets – halfwits, in fact – are unable to realise that diversity makes us stronger.

☝️ The stronger the sanctions, the nastier the slander, the higher this manifestation of general consolidation.

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#Announcement

🎙 Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova will hold a briefing on current foreign policy issues at approximately 11 am MSK (2 pm GMT) on May 24.

☝️ In light of measures taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and WHO recommendations on holding public events via teleconferencing, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson will answer media questions received by the call centre. Accredited journalists will be sent detailed information concerning the technical aspects of submitting questions.

❗️ Accreditation is open until 10 am on May 23.

🇨🇦🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇹🇯🇵🇬🇧🇺🇸 The summit of the so-called Group of Seven aka the #G7 ended in Hiroshima, Japan. Its main result is a set of statements saturated with questionable passages of an anti-Russia and anti-China nature.

Thus, the G7 summit has once again produced politicised decisions aimed at drawing diving lines in international relations.

The Group of Seven used to be an association whose members coordinated their positions on various issues on the global agenda. However, it has now irreversibly deteriorated, becoming an “incubator” which, under Anglo-Saxon leadership, hatches destructive initiatives and subverts global stability. The initiatives are subsequently imposed on pro-US minions made up of NATO, the EU and other satellites of Washington.

The implausibility of G7 nations’ claims to be the global guarantor of financial and economic stability became conclusively evident to everyone during the 2008-2009 crisis. The international events of the past few years indicate that G7 is unable to offer anything productive in either politics or diplomacy.

❗️ Panic over the objective process of the emergence of multipolarity and the destruction of the US-centred hegemony that used to allow the West to plunder the world, makes the Group’s members put every effort into fanning Russophobic and Sinophobic hysteria.

<...>

Against such an unattractive backdrop, the G7 countries are not shy about flirting with non-Western states so as to bring them to their side and not allow them to develop ties with Russia and China. At the same time, it is obvious that the G7 is the main factor in exacerbating global problems. It cannot reflect the interests of other centres of development, especially those of the Asia-Pacific region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

☝️ We believe that our assessments of the G7 and its destructive actions are shared by the majority of the world community.

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The Soviet Union – an advocate of African decolonization

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🤝 The Soviet Union provided multifaceted assistance to African countries, including support for the national liberation movements on the continent.

🤝 The first treaty establishing diplomatic relations with an African state was signed in 1958 with Ghana, the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence.

🤝 At the initiative of the USSR, the UN General Assembly adopted the historic Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in 1960. It proclaimed on behalf of UN member states the need for an immediate and unconditional end to colonialism in all its forms and manifestations.

🤝 Soviet representatives actively sought the liberation of the last colonies. At the initiative of the USSR together with Guinea, the UN GA in 1973 adopted the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.

#RussiaAfrica #RussiaHelps

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the 31st Assembly of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy (Moscow, May 20, 2023)

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Key points:

• The Western “track” in our foreign policy as it was developed until recently is no longer viable.

• We are now at the point of fierce confrontation with an aggressive bloc composed of the United States, the EU, and NATO, which has stated loudly and openly that its goal is to “defeat Russia on the battlefield.”

• The Western expert community is openly discussing an “order” for Russian partition scenarios they have received. It is not being hidden that Russia’s existence as an independent centre is incompatible with the goal of attaining the West’s global domination.

• If we take the global trends, the developments around Ukraine are accelerating the transition to a multipolar system of international relations.

• Washington made use of the Ukraine crisis to consolidate its camp. We see this. But this is more reminiscent of total submission to a centre that dictates its will. But consolidation has taken place despite this. Simultaneously, however, a fault line has emerged between the collective West and the global majority, the countries of the Global South and East.

• The EU, to our immense regret, had lost its independence and become fully dependent on the United States.

• The current era is one of transition to multipolarity, where nations refuse to obey the hegemon. This historical era may be of a long duration. We have many allies in this work and struggle. All of you see and describe our relations with the People’s Republic of China, India, the ASEAN countries, the Gulf states, Iran, Türkiye, the African Union, and the resuscitated Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. This one is getting a second wind after the elections in Brazil. There are many other countries and associations. In the post-Soviet space, these include the CIS, CSTO, and EAEU.

🎙 Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov’s answers to media questions regarding statements issued following G7 meetings

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❓ Question: A document approved following the recent G7 meetings claims that unlike other nuclear powers (that is, Russia and China), the United States, the UK, and France display a responsible and transparent approach in the nuclear sphere, providing “data on their nuclear forces and the objective size of their nuclear arsenal.” What is your comment?

💬 Sergey Ryabkov: These statements are wide of the mark. They reflect the general anti-Russia and anti-China sentiment that became one of the main themes of the summit held by the so-called Group of Seven.

Russia is invariably responsible in nuclear affairs and displays all possible “transparency” within the limits determined by the considerations for political and military expediency. Over the past decade, Russia has markedly raised the level of transparency with regard to its doctrinal precepts in the nuclear sphere and the modernisation programmes embracing its nuclear deterrent. The Russian military regularly informs the public at home and the international community about the specific weapons systems guarding Russia’s sovereignty and ensuring its security, as well as about the essence and purpose of relevant exercises and drills.

<…>

The data on US strategic offensive arms, which the US Department of State published not long ago, are delusive in their non-conformity with the New START counting rules that Washington stubbornly attempts to circumvent by using underhanded manipulation. As a result, they leave out considerable capabilities – more than 100 units of strategic offensive arms – which should fall within the purview of the treaty, whose fate US officials ostensibly hold so close to their heart.

As for data on the size of the UK and French arsenals, they are totally unverifiable and declarative. You can publish whatever you want.

<…>

We note that the G7’s appeal for resuming the New START and for other steps in the nuclear sphere does not evince even the slightest willingness for NATO’s combined capabilities being taken into account in this context.

❓ Question: The G7 summit’s final communique says that the parties remain committed to the “universalisation, effective implementation, and strengthening of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.” How does this relate to the United States deploying its biological laboratories all over the world, including in the post-Soviet space?

💬 Sergey Ryabkov: The entire international community should focus on the uncontrolled and extremely dangerous military biological activities that the United States and its allies pursue outside their national territory. We regard these Western activities, including in the post-Soviet space, as a real threat to the national security of the Russian Federation and other states, primarily those where these activities are taking place.

<…>

A clear example of these US activities is the recently revealed facts of the Pentagon and its affiliated entities, including the private companies, implementing military biological programmes in Ukraine in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). An analysis of the programmes that were being carried out at Ukrainian laboratories allows us to conclude that they were developing components of biological weapons in the direct vicinity of Russian territory.

<…>

The best confirmation of the Western countries’ commitment to consolidating the BWC regime would be some real steps to cut short the world-wide destructive military biological activity in combination with creating specific tools for BWC implementation, rather than the inflated and empty statements adopted in the wake of the G7 summit.

🌍 On May 25, the world celebrates #AfricaDay.

On this day in 1963, exactly 60 years ago, African governments convened in Addis Ababa for the first conference which laid the foundation for the creation of the Organisation of African Unity.

🇷🇺 Russia and Africa are united by traditional bonds of friendship, and it is symbolic that this anniversary year we are holding the second #RussiaAfrica Summit.

🤝 The Soviet Union supported the African countries in their fight for independence and played an important role in the development of the young countries on the continent. Soviet military advisers worked in Africa and military specialists have served in Angola, Ethiopia, Egypt, Mozambique and other African countries at various times.

🤝 Under pressure from the Soviet Union, the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples was adopted, which declared the need to end colonialism and any other form of discrimination.

❌ The Western powers are not just continuing to exploit the African nations, pumping out resources while counting corporate profits, but they have also been cleaning up their own ugly past.

The falsification of history is also about the cynical unpublished campaign to hush up the horrors of the colonial era. The West is trying to pretend that the suffering that many generations of Africans have gone through, as well as racism, the slave trade, murders and punitive operations, had nothing to do with them

A quickly made-up story about “events” aimed to highlight white people of the West’s concern for people of colour has been planted, but in fact, this is nothing more than a flashmob with no deep realisation of the harm. On the contrary, the ideology of a “beautiful garden” and a “wild jungle” is being promoted.

There is the pretence that everything that took place back then, in the colonial era, seemed to have happened and at the same time not to have happened at all.

☝️ Yet Africa remembers.

#AfricaDay