⚡️ Foreign Ministry statement on the situation in and around Nagorno-Karabakh

Considering the drastic escalation in the armed confrontation in Nagorno-Karabakh, we urge the parties to the conflict to immediately stop bloodshed, cease hostilities, and do all they can to avoid civilian casualties.

A move that had a dramatic impact on the prospects for Nagorno-Karabakh settlement was Yerevan’s recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the territory of Azerbaijan at the summits in October 2022 and May 2023, held under the EU aegis. This changed the fundamental conditions under which the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed their Statement of November 9, 2020, as well as the status of the Russian Peacekeeping Contingent (RPC).

☝️ As of the moment of its deployment in the region, the RPC has performed in good faith its mission to maintain the ceasefire and support contacts between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Russian peacekeepers coordinated the effort to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground and facilitated the launch of a direct dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert. Even during these hours, the RPC is helping civilians, including by providing medical assistance. They are also evacuating local residents.

❗️The most important thing right now is to return without delay to implementing the package of trilateral agreements reached at the highest level in 2020-2022, which map out the steps needed to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, stop the armed confrontation, and do whatever is possible to ensure the rights and safety of the population in Nagorno-Karabakh.

#ICYMI

⚡️ We've been sharing Russia's comprehensive position at the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly

A refresher 👇

• Regarding situation around Ukraine
• Middle East settlement
• Africa
• Situation in Kosovo
• Situation in Yemen
• Iraq
• Libya
• Afghanistan
• Settlement in Colombia
• DPRK
• Myanmar
• Cyprus issue
• Bosnia and Herzegovina

***

• Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
• Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
• START Treaty
• Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention
• Arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation
• Development of important multilateral arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation arrangements

***

• Climate Change
• International anti-corruption cooperation
• Rights of the child
• International information security
• Combating maritime crime
• Drug problem
• Sport
• Fight against terrorism
• Law of the sea

#UNGA78

🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦 Media Statement following the Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations on the margins of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (20 September 2023)

Key points:

📄 The BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations held their annual meeting on the margins of the #UNGA78 on 20 September 2023, chaired by the Russian Federation in its capacity as the incoming BRICS Chair for 2024.

• The Ministers exchanged views on major global and regional issues on the United Nations agenda in the political, security, economic, financial, and sustainable development spheres, as well as on intra-BRICS activities.

• The Ministers reiterated their commitment to strengthening multilateralism and upholding international law, including the Purposes and Principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations as its indispensable cornerstone, and the central role of the UN in an international system.

• The Ministers supported a comprehensive reform of the United Nations, 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.

• The Ministers underscored the importance of sustained efforts aimed at making the United Nations more effective and efficient in implementing its mandates.

• The Ministers were briefed on the preparations for Russia's upcoming BRICS Chairship in 2024. Brazil, India, China and South Africa extended their full support to Russia for its BRICS Chairship in 2024 under the theme “Strengthening of multilateralism for the purposes of just global development and security” and the holding of the XVI BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. The Ministers also look forward to the Standalone Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations in Russia in 2024.

Read in full

Off we go! 🇺🇳

Day 1 📹 #UNGA78

🇷🇺🇺🇳 On September 20, the Russian delegation led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived at the UN Headquarters in New York to participate in the High-Level week of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.

The first working day was a success 👇

• Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan Ayman Safadi.
• Meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Honduras Eduardo Enrique Reina.
• Conversation with Foreign Minister of Venezuela Yvan Gil.
• Working meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the CSTO member countries.
• Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations.
• FM Lavrov's remarks at the UN Security Council meeting.
• Ad hoc meeting of the SCO Foreign Ministers Council.
• Meeting with Director General of IAEA Rafael Grossi.
• Meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

#ICYMI

🎙 FM Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the UNSC meeting “Upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter through effective multilateralism: maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine” (New York, September 20, 2023)

Key talking points:

• When the Cold War came to an end, the US-led so-called collective West appropriated the right to rule the destinies of the entire humankind and, driven by its exceptionalism complex, started ignoring the legacy of the UN founding fathers more often and on an increasingly greater scale.

• The West makes selective use of the Charter’s norms and principles, on a case-by-case basis, and only when they serve its vested geopolitical needs. This inevitably throws global stability off-balance, exacerbating the existing hotbeds of tension and creating new ones.

• As for talks, we do not refuse to talk now either. President of Russia Vladimir Putin said this on numerous occasions, including recently. <...> President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky has signed an executive order prohibiting talks with the government of Vladimir Putin. If the US is interested in such talks, I think it only needs to give the signal for Zelensky’s order to be cancelled.

• Today, the rhetoric of our opponents is full of slogans such as “invasion,” “aggression” and “annexation.” They do not say a word about the inner reasons for the problem, or the fact that for many years they nurtured a downright Nazi regime, which is openly rewriting the results of World War II and the history of their own people.

• While chanting their mantras about the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the former colonial powers keep silent about the UN decisions inviting France to return the island of Mayotte to the Comoros and Britain to withdraw from the Chagos Islands and to resume negotiations with Argentina to resolve the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) issue.

• Facts point to a deep crisis in international relations and the absence of the Western countries’ desire and will to overcome this crisis.

Read in full

#UNGA78

🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦 On September 20, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chaired a traditional meeting of the BRICS Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. According to the established practice, the meeting was organised by the Russian Side as the next BRICS Chair.

The Ministers exchanged views on a wide range of current international issues, including those on the agenda of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. They considered ways of promoting peace and security, global economic stability and sustainable development.

The Parties reaffirmed their intention to enhance the coordination of the #BRICS format at international platforms, relying on the members’ commitment to multilateralism and the vision of a more equitable world order with the central role of the United Nations and governed by international law.

The participants reviewed certain aspects of interaction within the BRICS framework in the context of the decisions made at the XV BRICS Summit, held on August 22-24 in South Africa. Sergey Lavrov informed his colleagues about Russia’s plans for chairing BRICS in 2024.

Following the meeting, the Ministers approved a joint communiqué.

#UNGA78

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s address at the Preparatory Ministerial Meeting for the Summit of the Future

📍 New York, September 21, 2023

💬 The talks focusing on the scope of the summit and its final documents have revealed deep differences in a number of key areas. The reason for this lies in the West’s relentless pursuit of hegemony and its attempts to counteract the development of a fairer international order and to impose the infamous rules-based order which undermines international law and runs counter to the interests of the Global Majority countriest.

Such self-centred politics has already triggered a profound crisis in European security and is now creating extremely dangerous tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, where bloc-based approaches are being aggressively promoted.

👉 The goals of the Summit of the Future include reaffirming the commitment of all UN Member States to the principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interdependence, giving a boost to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and reforming the global monetary system to reflect the actual weight and legitimate interests of the Global South. <...>

We join in calling on the Secretary-General to draft a report about the repercussions of unilateral sanctions. <...>

☝️ Russia will continue to increase its contribution to achieving the sustainable development goals, seeking balanced and acceptable solutions during the preparations for the Summit of the Future. The success of the summit is firmly grounded in the UN Charter principles, above all, the respect for sovereign equality of states and the preservation and strengthening of the intergovernmental nature of our organisation.

We caution against turning the Summit of the Future into an arena for pitting “democracies” against “autocracies.” We are concerned about signs of the UN Secretariat’s susceptibility to this confrontational concept.

Read in full

Day 2 📹 #UNGA78

🇷🇺🇺🇳 On September 21, the Russian delegation led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov continued to participate in the High-Level week of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly.

13 meetings in 1 day!👇

• Meeting with President of the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen Rashad al-Alimihad
• Talks with Foreign Minister of Egypt Sameh Shoukry
• Talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand Panpree Phahitthanukorn
• Remarks at the preparatory Ministerial dedicated to the Summit of the Future in 2024
• Informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the countries that are parties to the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (#CICA)
• Talks with Foreign Minister of Cuba Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla
• Meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Mali Abdoulaye Diop
• Talks with Foreign Minister of Brazil Mauro Vieira
• Talks with Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud
• Meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabe Abroad of the Interim Government of Burkina Faso Olivia Rouamba
• Talks with Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan
• Talks with Foreign Minister of Pakistan Jalil Abbas Jilani
• Meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

#ICYMI

Day 3 📹 #UNGA78

🇺🇳 On the Day 3, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's schedule remained tight: 12 bilaterals, frank and constructive discussions within the Friends in Defense of the UN Charter group, positive exchange of opinions in the Astana format as well... handshakes and smiles galore!

• 4th Ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends in Defence of the Charter of the UN Charter
• Meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua Denis Moncada
• Talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Péter Szijjártó
• Meeting with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves
• Talks with Foreign Minister of Bolivia Rogelio Mayta Mayta
• Meeting with Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov
• Talks with First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Ivica Dačić
• Meeting with President of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly Dennis Francis
• Astana format meeting with FMs of Iran and Türkiye, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Hakan Fidan
• Talks with Foreign Minister of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian
• Meeting with Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Мexico Alicia Bárcena Ibarra
• Talks with ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric
• Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Iraq Fuad Hussein
• Talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Guyana Hugh Todd

Stay tuned and follow our updates from the UN HQ!

👩‍🚒 Russia's EMERCOM (Ministry of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief) rescuers are working 24/7 in the disaster zone in Libya.

At the request of the Libyan authorities, the Russian Emergencies Ministry specialists are working in the most challenging and dangerous sections that have already been searched by other international teams.

The following relief efforts are being conducted on the ground and in the sea:
✅ dismantling overhanging and unstable structures of damaged buildings;
✅ lifting sunken boats and vehicles.

In the past 24 hours, the rescuers:
• searched more than 20,000 square metres of land, 10 kilometres of coastline, 33,000 square metres of water area;
• examined 46 facilities;
• made 12 dives from the coastline;
• evacuated 23 bodies from a hard-to-reach area, pulled 2 bodies from under rubble of collapsed buildings in an urban area.

Since the start of relief efforts, the rescuers:
• searched more than 530,000 square metres on land, 80km of coastline, 33,000 square metres of water area;
• cleared 116 cubic metres of building structures and rubble;
• extracted and evacuated 137 bodies;
• made 35 dives, lifted 2 cars to the surface;
• rendered medical aid to 522 victims, including 54 children.

#UNGA78

🇺🇳 The High-Level Week of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly has concluded!

The Russian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, took part in 35+ bilateral and multilateral meetings, voicing Russia's principled positions on important issues regarding the international and regional agenda.

📹 #ICYMI

👉 Day 1
👉 Day 2
👉 Day 3

FM Sergey Lavrov's remarks at the UN Security Council meeting.
FM Sergey Lavrov's remarks at the General Debate of 78th Session of the UN General Assembly.
FM Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions.

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions during a news conference following the High-Level Week of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly

📍 New York, September 23, 2023

Key talking points:

🔹 We can see the firm position of the Global South and the World Majority on upholding their national interests. From this standpoint, they are unwilling to join anti-Russian sanctions and engage in various West-initiated campaigns.

🔹 We will continue cooperating within BRICS. There have also been separate meetings of BRICS, SCO, CSTO and CICA foreign ministers. We expect that all these regional associations will proactively support the UN reform process, giving it more sustainability and legitimacy.

🔹 The President of Ukraine and everyone who governs him in Washington, London, and Brussels firmly say that there is no other basis for peace other than the "Zelensky format." This "format" can be described in different ways, but it is unfeasible. Everyone is aware of this.

🔹 The main reason for us to withdraw from the grain deal and it ceasing to exist was that everything that had been promised to us turned out to be deception.

🔹 As for Nord Stream pipelines, this is yet another example (and I simply cannot list them all) of sweeping the most essential facts under the rug and plotting another lie for building their further geopolitical schemes.

🔹 We work with those who have respect for themselves and will never betray their national interests just because someone from Washington told them to do so. We know how American diplomats travel across the globe and prohibit meetings with our diplomats and Russian representatives in general.

Read in full

#UNGA78

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement at the General Debate at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly

📍 New York, September 23, 2023

Key talking points:

🌐 Right in front of our eyes, there is a new world order being born.

❌ In 2021, our proposals to conclude agreements on mutual security guarantees in Europe without changing Ukraine's non-aligned status were rudely rejected. The West continued its ongoing militarisation of the Russophobic Kiev regime, which had been brought to power as a result of a bloody coup, and to use it to wage a hybrid war against our country.

• An attempt to extend the bloc's area of responsibility to the entire Eastern Hemisphere under the pernicious slogan of “indivisible security of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific region” has become a new dangerous manifestation of NATO expansionism.

• The logic of the historical progress is undeniable, the main trend of which being that states constituting the global majority are strengthening their sovereignty and defending their national interests, traditions, culture, and ways of life. They no longer want to live under anybody’s yoke; they want to be friends and trade with each other, but also with the rest of the world – only on an equal footing and for mutual benefit. Associations such as #BRICS and the #SCO are on the rise.

❗️ Perhaps for the first time since 1945, when the UN was established, there is now a chance for genuine democratisation of global affairs.

• It is time to reform the existing global governance architecture, which has long been failing to meet the needs of our time. <...> The US & its allies should abandon their artificial restraints on the redistribution of voting quotas in the IMF & the World Bank.

🇺🇳 It is time to look at fairer methods of making up the UN Secretariat. The criteria that have been in place for many years do not reflect the actual influence of states in global affairs & artificially ensure the excessive dominance of citizens of NATO & EU countries.

Read in full

⚡️Уважаемые соотечественники!

Сообщаем, что согласно пресс-релизу МИД Норвегии, с 3 октября 2023 г. въезд в страну автомобилей, зарегистрированных в России, будет запрещен. Исключение сделано для следующих категорий транспортных средств:

1. с десятью и более посадочными местами;

2. принадлежащих гражданам Норвегии или стран Европейского экономического пространства, постоянно проживающим в России, или членам их семей;

3. въезд по гуманитарным причинам, например, в случае острого заболевания, смерти или похорон;

4. дипломатических, принадлежащих международным организациям или государственным курьерским службам.

‼️Уважаемые посетители!
⏰Генеральное консульство России в Киркенесе закрыто 13, 16 и 18 октября 2023 г. в связи с проведением выездного консульского обслуживания в г.Тромсё.
‼️Dear visitors,
⏰The Russian Consulate General in Kirkenes is closed on October, 13, 16 and 18 due to the consular session in Tromsø.

Ambassadekommentar i forbindelse med uvennlige uttalelser fra den norske ledelse

Representantene av Norges Regjering tillot seg i det siste en rekke uakseptable anfall mot Russland på forskjellige fora, inkludert i USA.

De manipulerte grovt med historiske faktumer om Den andre verdenskrig og etterkrigstiden, samt kom med ideologiserte vurderinger av aktuelle internasjonale prosesser. I deres russiskfiendtlige retorikk brukte norske ledere blasfemiske paralleller med nazistene ved å håne dermed minnet over tusener av sovjetiske folk som hadde gitt deres liv under frigjøringen av Nord-Norge.

Representantene fra Oslo utviste dessuten deres arrogante forhold til suverenitet og uavhengighet av utviklingsland ved å betvile deres evnet til å vurdere selvstendig den internasjonale situasjonen og definere deres utenrikspolitiske tilnærminger.

🇷🇺🇳🇴Комментарий Посольства в связи с недружественными высказываниями норвежского руководства

В последнее время представители Правительства Норвегии на различных площадках, в т.ч. в США, позволили себе ряд неприемлемых выпадов в адрес России.

С их стороны имели место грубое манипулирование историческими фактами о Второй мировой войне и послевоенном периоде, а также идеологизированные оценки текущих международных процессов. В своей русофобской риторике норвежские руководители опустились до кощунственных параллелей с нацистами, оскорбив таким образом память тысяч советских людей, отдавших свои жизни при освобождении северной Норвегии.

Кроме того, представители Осло продемонстрировали высокомерное отношению к суверенитету и независимости развивающихся стран, поставив под сомнение их способность самостоятельно оценивать международную обстановку и определять свои внешнеполитические подходы.