🇷🇺🇿🇦 South Africa warmly welcomes Russian Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov.

#RussiaSouthAfrica

📹 Maria Zakharova

🎥 President Putin's video address on National Flag Day (August 22, 2023)

💬 Vladimir Putin: Compatriots!

Today we celebrate our National Flag Day.

Our state banners, like our country, have a thousand-year history. Old Russian armies raised flags with the image of Christ Not Made by Hand over their regiments. In the 19th century, the black, yellow and white flag of the Russian Empire was flown on the country’s official buildings. In the 20th century, our country lived with the red flag for over 70 years, and it was under this flag that the Great Patriotic War was won.

All of Russia’s historical flags and symbols warrant respect from its citizens, public activists, and representatives of the authorities because they reflect the continuity of the development of our nation and statehood.

But we certainly have special feelings for the white, blue and red flag; it is our official national flag, which was instituted as such by Peter the Great.

🇷🇺 The tricolour was hoisted over our country again on August 22, 1991. We have overcome many hardships and ordeals with this flag flying overhead, but in essence we have restored the sovereignty of our country.

Russia is a one thousand year old country and civilization. Our national flag is a symbol of our unity. I believe that the national flag will always inspire us to move forward, to victory, and to assert the glory of Russia.

Happy National Flag Day, friends!

#FamilyPhoto

📸 Heads of delegations of the #BRICS member states 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦

📍 Johannesburg, August 22, 2023

🎙 President Vladimir Putin took part, via videoconference, in the XV BRICS Summit (August 23, 2023)

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💬 I would like to begin by thanking our South African friends for everything they have done as part of their #BRICS chairmanship this year.

Those of my colleagues who took the floor before me praised BRICS for its efforts, and overall we share this assessment. This association of five nations has established itself on the international stage as a respected entity and has been consistently strengthening its standing in international affairs.

BRICS has been following a forward-looking strategic course which meets the aspirations of a significant portion of the international community, the so-called global majority. By acting in a coordinated manner and based on the principles of equality, supporting each other as partners and taking each other’s interests into account, we tackle the most urgent issues on the global and regional agendas.

🌍 Importantly, we are all united in our commitment to shaping a multipolar world order with genuine justice, based on the international law and in keeping with the key principles set forth in the UN Charter, including sovereignty and respecting the right of every nation to follow its own development model. We oppose hegemonies of any kind and the exceptional status that some countries aspire to, as well as the new policy it entails, a policy of continued neo-colonialism.

Let me point out that it was the attempts by some countries to preserve their global hegemony that paved the way to the deep crisis in Ukraine. <...>

☝️ Russia decided to side with people who are fighting for their culture, their traditions, language and future. Stopping the war unleashed by the West and its satellites in Ukraine against the people of Donbass is the only thing that defines our actions in Ukraine.

🇷🇺🇿🇦 On August 23, Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov met with South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.

The Ministers discussed various aspects of the Russia-South Africa strategic partnership, including strengthening political, trade and economic, and humanitarian links. They emphasised the ambition of the two countries to coordinate their actions more closely within the UN, BRICS and other prominent platforms regarding current issues of the international and regional agendas.

☝️ Sergey Lavrov highly praised the South African BRICS Chairmanship under the motto “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive mutilateralism.” He expressed hope that the top-level meeting in Johannesburg will be an important step towards deepening cooperation within the BRICS-Africa format.

🔴 #LIVE: Joint news conference on the outcomes of the XV #BRICS Summit in South Africa

🔗 https://www.ruptly.tv/en/events/202308241000-LIVE15301-15th-BRICS-Summit-in-South-Africa-International-programme-day-3

🔗 https://mid.ru/en/press_service/video

🎙 Remarks by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin at the BRICS Summit expanded format meeting (August 23, 2023)

💬 Importantly, we are all united in our commitment to shaping a multipolar world order with genuine justice, based on the international law.

From year to year, the #BRICS countries are increasing their potential. As was already mentioned, the five partner states, with a total population exceeding 3 billion, account for a greater share in global GDP than the so-called Group of Seven in terms of purchasing power parity.

The partner countries are successfully implementing their Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2025. In particular, they are strengthening five-sided cooperation in such areas as:

✅ diversification of supply chains;
✅ de-dollarisation and the transition to national currencies in mutual transactions;
✅ digital economy;
✅ support for small and medium-sized businesses;
✅ fair technology transfer.

An important priority of BRICS cooperation is the creation of new sustainable and safe transport routes. <...> We believe that the time has come to establish a permanent BRICS transport commission, which would deal not only with the North-South project, but also on a broader scale with the development of logistics and transport corridors, interregional and global.

Of course, we welcome closer ties between the five BRICS countries in promoting innovation around the world. We expect cooperation as part of the BRICS initiative to establish an international infrastructure network with a dedicated fund, which could be used to support and develop it.

Read in full

📄 XV BRICS Summit Johannesburg II Declaration (Sandton, Gauteng, South Africa, August 23, 2023)

Read in full (Telegraph: part I, part II)

✍️ We, the Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met in Sandton, South Africa, from 22 to 24 August 2023 for the XV BRICS Summit held under the theme: "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism".

We reaffirm our commitment to the #BRICS spirit of mutual respect and understanding, sovereign equality, solidarity, democracy, openness, inclusiveness, strengthened collaboration and consensus. As we build upon 15 years of BRICS Summits, we further commit ourselves to strengthening the framework of mutually beneficial BRICS cooperation under the three pillars:

✅ political and security;
✅ economic and financial;
✅cultural and people-to-people cooperation;

and to enhancing our strategic partnership for the benefit of our people through the promotion of peace, a more representative, fairer international order, a reinvigorated and reformed multilateral system, sustainable development and inclusive growth.

Key points:

🇺🇳 We support a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, with a view to making it more democratic, representative, effective and efficient, and to increase the representation of developing countries in the Council’s memberships.

• We are concerned about ongoing conflicts in many parts of the world. We stress our commitment to the peaceful resolution of differences and disputes through dialogue and inclusive consultations.

• We have decided to invite Argentina 🇦🇷, Egypt 🇪🇬, Ethiopia 🇪🇹, Iran 🇮🇷, Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 and the UAE 🇦🇪 to become full members of BRICS from 1 January 2024.

🇧🇷🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦 Brazil, India, China and South Africa extend their full support to Russia 🇷🇺 for its BRICS Chairship in 2024 and the holding of the XVI BRICS Summit in the city of Kazan, Russia.

🇷🇺🇺🇳 On August 24, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.

During the conversation, the Officials discussed a number of issues pertaining to the activities of the global organisation. Mr Lavrov confirmed Russia’s commitment to developing mutually beneficial cooperation with the UN. He emphasised the need for representatives of the UN Secretariat to strictly follow the principle of impartiality with regard to international officials, as fixed in Article 100 of the UN Charter.

Both Officials noted the importance of further strengthening the UN’s central, coordinating role in global politics.

☝️ When asked by the UN Secretary-General about the prospects for resuming the #BlackSeaInitiative, Mr Lavrov again described Moscow’s position that had been stated by the President of Russia. He said Moscow would be ready to resume participation in this agreement only if the commitments to Russia were fulfilled.

#Opinion by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

💬 The tombstone of Western values deserves a worthy inscription. A good contender cropped up yesterday: “Norwegian authorities killed 40 reindeer fearing they would again graze in Russia.” I am not at all surprised that Radio Liberty reported this with certain pride.

The drama unfolded gradually. According to the Norwegian authorities, in 2023, 42 deer went AWOL (without permission from official Oslo), crossed the border into Russia and grazed in a nature reserve in the Murmansk Region, causing significant damage to the recreation area. Back in July, Russia tried to resolve the matter peacefully and proposed that Norway pay some compensation for the damage caused to the nature in the reserve. The Norwegian authorities responded that they had not yet formed an opinion on this matter.

Now that most of the deer came back, the opinion has been formed. The offending animals were promptly executed, probably as a warning to other hoofed animals. As the Norwegian Agricultural Agency noted, they are eagerly awaiting the return of two more deer. To the slaughter.

In fact, Norway uses veterinary supervision to disguise what amounts to a real zoocide. Any animals that are considered dangerous or brought to the country illegally are simply... killed. In 2020, we barely got back a Chihuahua belonging to our compatriot who had Bulgarian veterinary documents. Back then, even Jean-Claude Van Damme participated in the campaign to save the poor puppy. Last August, the veterinary supervision killed a walrus named Freya, which often swam to Norwegian cities, even Oslo, and became a real darling of all of Norway. But this did not stop the Norwegian animal killers.

It did not prevent their colleagues at the Copenhagen Zoo, who killed Marius the giraffe with a bolt gun in 2014, in front of children stunned by the zoo staff’s cruelty. Let me remind you that later the carcass of the giraffe calf was butchered, also in the presence of little children, and given to the lions.

Where were their famous animal rights activists? Where are they now? Greenpeace? WWF? Anyone?

At the same time, what happened is blasphemy and a sacrilege for Norway’s indigenous people, the small northern Sami nation. Reindeer husbandry has a central place in the Sami culture, and sacrifices were offered to the totem Myanndash, a man-deer, who, according to legend, is an ancestor of the Sami. Offending a deer means bringing trouble to the entire nomad camp. It must never be done, because spirits would not forgive this.

But the Norwegian neoliberals and animal haters from veterinary control don’t care about the feelings of the Sami, their mythology, or even European humanism, unbelievable as this sounds.

So, if anyone sees the two surviving deer, please tell them not to return to the Norwegian flayers. There is nothing good waiting for them there.

#HistoryOfDiplomacy

📆 #OTD in 1845, Fyodor Martens, a Russian diplomat and famous expert on the history and theory of international law, was born. In Russia he is known above all as the author of Contemporary International Law of Civilised Peoples, a fundamental work that became the first Russian manual on international law.

The future international lawyer was born in Pärnu, Livonia Governorate of the Russian Empire. Having lost his parents when he was a child, he ended up in a St Petersburg orphanage. When he grew up, he was accepted to the law faculty of St Petersburg University thanks to his brilliant academic success.

Later he taught at his alma mater, as well as a number of other leading educational institutions of the Russian Empire. In 1869, he joined the Russian Foreign Ministry, and in 1881 became a permanent member of the Ministry Board. He participated in the Brussels Conference on the Codification of Laws and Customs of War on Land and represented Russia at international conferences of the Red Cross, the Brussels Conference on African Affairs, and many other important international venues.

Holding the Hague Peace Conferences in 1899 and 1907 at Russia’s initiative was among Martens’ most important achievements. At the first conference, the Russian expert developed the principles for peaceful resolution of international disputes, and at the second, he led a commission on maritime law, which made a significant contribution to the development of this area of international law.

A provision formulated by Martens was first recorded in the preamble to the Hague Convention of 1899, under which the parties to an armed conflict must first of all be guided by the principles of humanity and the requirements of public conscience (the so-called Martens clause). The theoretical innovations of the Russian diplomat also laid the foundation of the Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land.

🎙 FM Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to questions at the news conference following the BRICS Summit (Johannesburg, August 24, 2023)

💬 The BRICS Summit is over. President Vladimir Putin took part in the summit via videocall. I was instructed to represent our country here on site.

<...> Six countries [Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, and Egypt] will be able to fully contribute to our efforts within BRICS effective January 1, 2024.

BRICS Plus is already underway. We have invited over 60 countries that are interested in developing relations with our association in the BRICS Plus/Outreach format and partner countries. This is a new format that was endorsed at the summit.

On explosive expansion of BRICS

💬 I believe that it stems from the fact that countries willing to forge closer ties with the five BRICS nations have a keen understanding of the deep-running international processes. They exposed the West in its relentless efforts to preserve its hegemony at any cost.

The difference between BRICS and the G7 or other West-centric associations is that in those associations, everybody looks up to the US. Our association takes a completely different approach: every participant is equal to the others.

On #RussiaSouthAfrica relations

Our relations are excellent. <...> All the leading politicians in the Republic of South Africa remember the role that the Soviet Union played in their fight against apartheid as well as in the decolonisation of Africa; we appreciate that. <...> There is no doubt that we have good prospects.

On situation in Niger

💬 We must see the true causes of these government coups. What did Africa get from working with the West? The African continent does not get any added value. All the West wants are its resources.

We have had a different approach ever since the Soviet era. We sought to lay the foundation for industrial development, promote education and healthcare.

Read in full

🗓 On August 22-24, 2023 the XV BRICS Summit was held in Johannesburg, South Africa. President Vladimir Putin took part in the Summit via videocall. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was instructed to represent Russia on site.

👉 On August 22, Vladimir Putin made a video address to guests and participants in the BRICS Business Forum as well as took part in an informal meeting of the leaders of the BRICS nations via videoconference.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took part in the BRICS Ministerial meeting.

👉 On August 23, President Vladimir Putin took part at the BRICS Summit expanded format meeting.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took part in the BRICS Summit as well as held bilateral meetings with:

• Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa Dr. Naledi Pandor and former President of South Africa (1999-2008) Thabo Mbeki 🇿🇦;
• Minister of External Affairs of India Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar 🇮🇳;
• First Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) Nomvula Paula Mokonyane, and representatives of the leadership of the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).

👉 On August 24, President Vladimir Putin took part, via videoconference, in the BRICS Plus/Outreach format meeting as well as made statement for the media.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also took part in the first session of the «BRICS – Africa Outreach» and «BRICS Plus Dialogue»

On the sidelines of the Summit Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with President of Bolivia Luis Arce Catacora, President of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadérav, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Following the BRICS Summit Foreign Minister Sergey held a news conference.

📃 The Second Johannesburg Declaration has been adopted following the XV BRICS Summit.