📆 On September 15, Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov took part in a roundtable on “The Ukrainian Crisis: The West’s Legal Aggression”, organised by the Diplomatic Academy of MGIMO University of the Russian MFA.

The event brought together 100 heads of diplomatic missions of #GlobalMajority countries and international organisations accredited in Moscow.

In his remarks, Minister Lavrov presented facts on the blatant abuse of existing judicial and quasi-judicial mechanisms by Western countries for political purposes, as well as their distorted interpretation of universally recognised norms of international law.

☝️ He stressed that the numerous cases brought against Russia before international courts and arbitration tribunals have no factual or legal basis. Their primary purpose is to damage Russia’s reputation and legitimise flagrant breaches of international obligations by Western countries.

Russia has already secured decisive victories in a number of these proceedings.

Addressing the so-called International Criminal Court, Sergey Lavrov emphasised that this institution has thoroughly discredited itself through its double standards and unjust rulings. He called on countries to follow the example of those that have recently announced their withdrawal from this “kangaroo court”.

He also noted that other quasi-legal initiatives pursued without consensus, with the declared aim of “holding Russia accountable”, are legally null and void and doomed to fail.

Sergey Lavrov stressed that although Russia did not launch this “legal war”, it has no intention of remaining solely on the defensive and will bring its own substantiated claims against states that flagrantly violate their obligations under international law.

❗️ Russia reaffirmed its principled position that resolving the conflict around Ukraine requires addressing its root causes.

Participants of the event held an extensive exchange of views on the Ukrainian crisis and other pressing international issues.

At the close of the discussion, participants confirmed their readiness to continue substantive engagement through the ambassadorial roundtables on Ukraine.