Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke at the general political discussion of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly.
The Foreign Minister touched upon a number of topical issues in his speech, including the Ukrainian settlement, the UAV incidents, the fate of the Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty (START Treaty), Russian-American relations, as well as the UN Security Council's anti-Iranian sanctions and the situation in the Gaza Strip.
Then Lavrov gave a press conference, during which he answered questions from journalists.
TASS has compiled the main statements of the head of the Russian foreign ministry.
Settlement of the Ukrainian conflict
- Lavrov stressed that Russia "has been and remains open to negotiations from the very beginning to eliminate the root causes of the conflict" in Ukraine, but taking into account the security of the Russian Federation and its vital interests. Speaking about the hopes of the Kiev regime for Ukraine's return to the borders of 2022, the minister pointed out that counting on this would be "political blindness" and a complete misunderstanding of what is happening.
- The head of the department also said that Moscow is aware of Kiev's attempts to "concoct provocations," and there are reliable grounds for statements about the preparation of Ukrainian military provocations in European countries. As Lavrov stressed, in Kiev, if such plans are implemented, they will seriously regret it.
- At the same time, the minister noted that Ukraine and its European sponsors do not realize the urgency of the moment and do not demonstrate their willingness to negotiate honestly. On the contrary, Europe, according to the Foreign Minister, allows the Kiev regime everything, including terrorist attacks, extrajudicial executions and reckless sabotage, in its obsession with the utopian goal of inflicting a "strategic defeat" on Russia.
The fate of the START Treaty and the "special responsibility" of the Russian Federation and the United States
- The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that the Russian Federation and the United States bear a special responsibility to avoid risks that could lead humanity to a new war. Lavrov stressed that the new initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the future of the START Treaty is intended to contribute to maintaining strategic stability. According to the minister, the initiative of the Russian leader will be evaluated after the "fuss of the high-level week" of the UNGA.
- The head of the department is confident that the implementation of Putin's initiative on the START Treaty will avoid an arms race, maintain an acceptable level of predictability in the nuclear missile sphere and improve the overall atmosphere in relations between Moscow and Washington.
- The Russian side, according to the minister, proceeds from the fact that US President Donald Trump will personally comment on the initiative of the Russian Federation on its readiness to adhere to the central quantitative restrictions on the START Treaty within one year after the completion of the document.
UAV "incidents" and relations with NATO and the EU
- Lavrov said that the drones, which were allegedly discovered on Polish territory, have a shorter flight range than the remoteness of this territory from the border with Russia. The minister stressed that the Russian Federation never attacks civilian targets or sends UAVs or missiles at EU or NATO states, and recalled that in Moscow "on the same day <...> it was proposed by the Ministries of Defense to hold a meeting and deal with this situation in a businesslike manner, without any hysteria."
- The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry warned those people from outside who would attempt to shoot down any object in Russian airspace, and stressed that they would "seriously regret it."
- At the same time, the minister recalled that Moscow had repeatedly offered "the NATO capitals to respect their obligations and agree on legally binding security guarantees." However, the proposals of the Russian Federation "were ignored and are being ignored to this day." "Moreover, threats of the use of force against Russia are increasingly being heard, which is accused of almost planning to attack NATO and EU countries," the head of the department said. Lavrov stressed that "Russia has not had and does not have such intentions," saying that there are those in Europe who are "preparing a war against the Russian Federation."
- The Foreign Minister stressed that any aggression against Russia will be resolutely rebuffed. "There should be no doubt about this," he said, pointing out that NATO continues to expand close to the borders of the Russian Federation, despite assurances given to Soviet leaders not to move "an inch" to the east. At the same time, the minister noted that the expansion of the alliance today threatens not only Russia and China, but by its actions NATO is trying to take the whole of Eurasia into a military ring.
Russian-American relations
- Lavrov said that Russia pinned certain hopes on the continuation of dialogue with the United States. The minister noted that today Moscow sees in the approaches of the current American administration "a desire to develop pragmatic cooperation without getting into an ideological pose."
- According to Lavrov, Russia and the United States have agreed to hold a third round of talks to eliminate irritants in relations between the two countries this fall. "Our dialogue about visas, about the functioning of embassies, about this [Russian diplomatic property confiscated in the United States], about other aspects of the daily functioning of our diplomatic missions is underway. We have already had two rounds, and [US Secretary of State] Marco Rubio and I have agreed to hold the third one this fall," he said.
UN Security Council anti-Iranian sanctions
- According to the minister, the refusal of Western countries in the UN Security Council from the initiative of China and Russia on anti-Iranian sanctions exposed their course towards sabotaging agreements and seeking unilateral concessions from Tehran through blackmail and pressure. Lavrov stressed that Moscow considers this policy unacceptable, and all the "manipulations of the West" to restore UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic, as well as these sanctions themselves, illegal and legally null and void.
- According to the minister, Iran was not going to and is not going to violate the terms of the nuclear deal, but fell into a trap with the extension of sanctions, which the United States and the Europeans set up for it. The West, Lavrov noted, was only looking for a reason to resume sanctions against Iran and showed absolute incompetence in the nuclear deal.
- At the same time, speaking about the situation around the Iranian nuclear dossier, the head of the Russian foreign Ministry, citing "knowledgeable people," announced the threat of new attacks on Iran. Lavrov believes that all this is synchronized - both the military threat and the measures of economic strangulation of the republic, and, in his opinion, "it's sad." "This means only one thing - that Western countries do not give a damn, as we say, the resolutions of the UN Security Council," he said.
About the situation in the Gaza Strip
- Lavrov said there was no justification for the collective punishment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, "where Palestinian children are being killed by bombing and starvation, hospitals and schools are being destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of people are being made homeless," as well as plans to annex the West Bank.
- According to the minister, the situation around the Gaza Strip is no longer just explosive, but with "blown fuses." "There are a number of mines there that are not even slow-motion, but already with the fuses off, and someone can step on them by accident," said the head of Russian diplomacy.
- He noted that the Russian Federation is ready to join regional initiatives to resolve the situation around Gaza, but it is up to the states of the region themselves to decide on actions in this direction.
On the reform of the UN Security Council and the "palace coup" in the organization's secretariat
- Lavrov called the issue of UN Security Council reform particularly important and noted that Russia supports its democratization by expanding the representation of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The minister pointed to the dominance of representatives of NATO member states in key leadership positions at the UN. The Russian Foreign Minister also recalled that the existing balance of power in the world is radically different from the one that was established 80 years ago, and pointed out that the new realities "have not yet been properly reflected in the system of institutions" of the world organization.
- The minister also called for preventing a "palace coup" in the UN Secretariat and its usurpation by Western countries. "The composition of the secretariat should reflect new realities and ensure fair representation of the countries of the world majority," Lavrov stressed, adding that Moscow "is not against an open discussion" of the UN comprehensive reform initiative, which was recently proposed by its Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
