🎙 FM Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to questions following the G20 Ministerial Meeting

📍 Rio de Janeiro, February 22, 2024

• Some of our Western colleagues’ attempts during the #G20 Ministerial Meetings to divert the discussion from this key issue to the topic of supporting the Kiev regime, focusing on groundless accusations against Russia and Ukrainising the agenda are not supported by developing countries and most of the Global South countries.

🌐 Our remarks also focused on the fact that, apart from the Bretton Woods institutions, the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO, there are also new centres and unions of the Global Majority developing in different regions of the world. In the Eurasian space, these are the #SCO, #ASEAN, and #EAEU.

🇺🇳 Today, six members of the UNSC out of 15 are allies of the US, with nearly all of them doing Washington’s bidding. When we address the problem of expanding the UNSC in practical terms, we will support solely representatives of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said they should not by any means divide the world into isolated blocs which seems like a sound idea, but immediately, without missing a beat, he went on to say that they will, of course, cooperate primarily with democracies. To use his words, there are different “blocs.” The best part, though, is him saying that all countries have a choice, “If you are not at the table in the international system, you’re going to be on the menu.” That’s the kind of approach the top US diplomat has towards those who disagree with them.

• Many of our colleagues from the Global Majority share with us in confidence how the Americans demand that they join their sanctions against Russia and what threats they use. That prompts an interesting conclusion about US diplomacy and what it now amounts to.

🌎 Latin America is one of our major partners. Our trade is growing substantially and investment activities are also gaining momentum.

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#Opinion by Maria Zakharova

💬 Regarding Emmanuel Macron’s statements on the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine, I would like to remind everyone that a month ago the Foreign Minister of France denied the involvement of Paris in the recruitment of mercenaries for the Kiev regime and denounced the direct evidence of this fact as “gross Russian propaganda.”

One tends to think that the President of France is unaware of what his subordinates are saying, or of what he himself is saying.

I would like to remind Mr Macron of France’s history, which has seen widely different periods.

In April 1945, SS Division Charlemagne (Charles the Great) and several other units defended Berlin, including the Fuehrerbunker (Hitler’s bunker). These units were among the last to be awarded the order of the Knight’s Cross of Nazi Germany. The French soldiers from SS Charlemagne were the last defenders of the Reichstag and the Reich Chancellery.

Emmanuel, are you planning to form Charlemagne Deux for the defence of Zelensky’s bunker?

🇷🇺🇦🇿 President Vladimir Putin sent greetings to the participants, organisers and guests of the 12th Russia-Azerbaijan Interregional Forum.

💬 Vladimir Putin: Interregional cooperation is an essential part of Russia-Azerbaijan relations of strategic partnership and alliance. It is making a large contribution to the strengthening of trust and mutual understanding between our nations, expanding opportunities for promoting mutually beneficial trade, investment and humanitarian ties, and creating conditions for improving the wellbeing of people in both countries.

Your regular meetings, which have become a good tradition, provide a platform for direct and engaged dialogue on current issues of interregional interaction between representatives of our government bodies and our public, scientific and business communities.

This year, the forum’s agenda is large and substantive, as it usually is. It is focused on various aspects of industrial and agricultural cooperation development, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and joint environmental projects.

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#RussiaAzerbaijan

🇷🇺🇲🇱 FM Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions during a joint news conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Mali Abdoulaye Diop following their talks (Moscow, February 28, 2024)

💬 We discussed our efforts to develop bilateral ties in various spheres based on the agreements between the leaders of Russia and Mali.

• We agreed to take additional practical steps to expand our trade and economic cooperation. So far, it has been falling short compared to what we have achieved in terms of trust-based political dialogue.

• We took note of the positive momentum in developing our military cooperation and military-technical ties.

On an equally positive note, we discussed our cooperation in humanitarian affairs, including the fact that Russian educational institutions have been training Malian specialists.

• Our Malian friends briefed us on the current situation in Mali and what its government is doing to promote a peace process <...> Our friend, Minister Diop, emphasised Russia’s special role in combatting terrorism and improving the combat capabilities of the Malian army and law enforcement agencies.

#RussiaHelps: 🌾 We discussed Mali’s requirements for humanitarian assistance. Our friends thanked us for sending 50,000 tonnes of wheat to them in 2023, 25,000 tonnes of fertilisers in December 2023 and 17,000 tonnes of diesel fuel in January 2024. We will certainly continue to give this assistance to them.

🌍 We also exchanged views on Africa’s main problems. We agree that international relations must be made really democratic, above all on the basis of strict compliance by all countries with the provisions and principles of the UN Charter as an interrelated whole.

🇺🇳 We are grateful to our Malian friends for supporting our initiative at the UN and other multifaceted platforms.

• I reiterated Russia’s praise of the responsible and balanced approach Mali has taken to the Ukraine crisis.

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#RussiaMali #RussiaAfrica

EU lead spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy Peter Stano on 29 February 2024:

Russia started early voting for Presidential elections in parts of Ukraine it temporarily occupies. Clear violation of international law. The EU will never recognise them. Crimea,Kherson, Zaporizhzhia,Donetsk & Luhansk are all Ukraine! All those involved will be held to account.

❗️We call on the European Union to calm down and stop deciding for Russians how they should exercise their electoral rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

We’ve already pointed out to the EU officials and deem it necessary to remind again that, following the freely expressed will of their inhabitants, the Donetsk People's Republic, Lugansk People's Republic, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions are at present constituent entities of the Russian Federation governed by Russian law. As for Crimea and Sevastopol, they reunited with Russia pursuant to the referendum held there back in 2014.

⚡️ President Vladimir Putin delivered his Address to the Federal Assembly (February 29, 2024)

Key talking points:

• Our Motherland is defending its sovereignty and security, defending the lives of our compatriots in Donbass and Novorossiya.

• The so-called West, with its colonial practices and penchant for inciting ethnic conflicts around the world, not only seeks to impede our progress but also envisions a Russia that is a dependent, declining, and dying space where they can do as they please.

• They [the West] want to replicate in Russia what they have done in numerous other countries, including Ukraine: sowing discord in our home and weakening us from within.

• We were not the ones who started the war in Donbass, but <...> we will do everything to put an end to it, eradicate Nazism and fulfil all the objectives of the special military operation, as well as defend sovereignty and ensure that our people are safe.

• They [the West] have recently made unfounded allegations, in particular, against Russia, regarding plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space. Such fake narratives, and this story is unequivocally false, are designed to involve us in negotiations on their conditions, which will only benefit the US. At the same time, they have blocked our proposal which has been on the table for over 15 years. I am referring to the agreement on preventing the deployment of weapons in outer space, which we drafted back in 2008.

• The West has provoked conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, and other regions around the world while consistently propagating falsehoods. Now they have the audacity to say that Russia harbours intentions of attacking Europe. Can you believe it? We all know that their claims are utterly baseless. And at the same time, they are selecting targets to strike on our territory and contemplating the most efficient means of destruction. Now they have started talking about the possibility of deploying NATO military contingents to Ukraine.

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⚡️ From President Vladimir Putin's Address to the Federal Assembly (February 29, 2024)

Key talking points:

• Just like any other ideology promoting racism, national superiority or exceptionalism, Russophobia is blinding and stupefying. The US and its satellites have, in fact, dismantled the European security system which has created risks for everyone.

• We need to shore up the forces in the western strategic theatre in order to counteract the threats posed by NATO’s further eastward expansion, with Sweden and Finland joining the alliance.

• A new equal and indivisible security framework must be created in Eurasia in the foreseeable future. We are ready for a substantive discussion on this subject with all countries and associations that may be interested in it. At the same time, I would like to reiterate (I think this is important for everyone) that no enduring international order is possible without a strong and sovereign Russia.

• We strive to unite the global majority’s efforts to respond to international challenges, such as turbulent transformation of the world economy, trade, finance, and technology markets, when former monopolies and stereotypes associated with them are collapsing.

• The principles of equality and respect for each other’s interests guide us in our interactions with our partners. This is why more and more countries have been proactive in seeking to be part of the activities of the #EAEU, the #SCO, #BRICS and other associations involving Russia.

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