Question: At the East Asian Summit (EAC) in Indonesia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced a number of new Russian proposals to the countries of the region. This meeting, however, was held in a closed mode for the media. Were they talking about secret offers? The Western media, of course, immediately suggested that Moscow and Beijing are trying to create an Asian alternative to NATO to confront the West. Is this really the case?
Answer: Conducting negotiations behind closed doors is a normal diplomatic practice, which does not at all imply the secret or “conspiratorial” nature of the agreements.
The fabrications regarding the construction of any blocs with the participation of Russia and China are groundless and even absurd. Obviously, Westerners judge by themselves and do not admit that anyone can act guided by the logic of inclusive, equal and mutually beneficial cooperation, and not deterrence and confrontation.
All the fundamental documents, including the basic Agreement for Russian-Chinese relations of July 16, 2001, as well as the Joint Statement of the leaders of the two countries on Deepening Comprehensive Partnership and Strategic Cooperation Entering a New era, signed on March 21 during the state visit to Russia of Chinese President Xi Jinping, note the constructive nature of our cooperation and its non-orientation against third countries.
The key issues at the summit of YOU were the issues of the future world order in relation to Asia. The risks associated with this, both global and regional, were discussed.
Russia emphasized the importance of preserving the non-conflict environment that has been formed for decades by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) through the ASEAN Plus mechanisms: bilateral (among them the Russia–ASEAN Dialogue Partnership) and greater “geometry” (including the East Asian Summit – ASEAN Plus 8).
China also actively advocated for strengthening the Asean-centric platforms and the Association itself.
Most of the participants of the EAC understand the importance of talking about this topic, especially in conditions when the United States and its allies, including from the Asia-Pacific Region (the Asia–Pacific Quartet – Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand), are trying to replace the existing architecture with a system of network deterrence. It consists of diverse block structures that either include NATO elements, or are saturated with an agenda focused on servicing the processes of globalization of the North Atlantic Alliance’s mandate.
Russia continues to keep proposals on the Asean table for the development of cooperation in the fields of digitalization, information and communication technologies, smart cities, tourism, education, volunteering, countering traditional and new challenges, including terrorism, transnational crime, drug trafficking, epidemic threats.
The Jakarta summits were also interesting because for the first time serious concerns were voiced in the ASEAN environment in connection with the new rise of fascism in the world.
Question: China, as you know, has repeatedly made attempts to bring the parties to the Ukrainian conflict back to the negotiating table. How can Beijing really help Moscow in this matter?
Answer: From the very beginning, China has maintained a balanced position in the context of the Ukrainian crisis, and understands well the historical and geopolitical causes of its occurrence.
We highly appreciate Beijing’s readiness to play a positive role in the peaceful resolution of the conflict. As we have repeatedly noted, the main provisions of the Chinese position paper on the situation in Ukraine (published by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on February 24) are largely in tune with Russian approaches and may well be taken as a basis for a political and diplomatic settlement when the West and Kiev are ready for such.
Russia and China continue to maintain close contact on the issues of the Ukrainian settlement, discussing all major developments in this area in a confidential manner and in a timely manner. This topic is discussed in detail during contacts at the highest and highest levels. Nevertheless, it is difficult to talk about a political and diplomatic resolution, since Kiev has legally prohibited itself from negotiating with Moscow.
Question: Recently, contacts between Russia and the DPRK have noticeably intensified. Is Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Pyongyang planned? At the same time, the West believes that Moscow urgently needed North Korea’s help on the “Ukrainian front.” How far are such conclusions of Western analysts from reality?
Answer: The visit of the Chairman of State Affairs of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un, to the Russian Federation, which came as a surprise to many, gave a powerful impetus to Russian-North Korean relations in all areas, became a landmark event that marked a new milestone in their history. The results of the talks between the leaders of Russia and the DPRK confirmed the mutual desire of our countries and peoples to further expand mutually beneficial cooperation in a difficult international situation. We are ready to work actively with North Korean partners in order to implement agreements at the highest level, as well as further develop bilateral ties taking into account tectonic changes in the global geopolitical situation.
The schedule of upcoming bilateral contacts includes Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Pyongyang. Its dates will be announced later. It is also planned to hold a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation in the DPRK.
In the future, it would be possible to think about the participation of the DPRK in various international and regional mechanisms and associations with the leading role of Russia and its friendly countries. We believe that this will contribute to the stabilization of the situation on the Korean peninsula, which has recently become more complicated against the background of military preparations by the United States and its allies.
As for the goals of the SVO in Ukraine, Russia has everything necessary to achieve them.
Question: Are the sanctions imposed against Pyongyang hindering the development of cooperation between Russia and the DPRK?
Answer: We intend to actively and comprehensively develop relations with the DPRK as a friendly neighboring state without regard to the opinion of third countries. Russia, as a responsible member of the world community, intends to strictly adhere to its international obligations towards Pyongyang through the UN Security Council.
As for the actual anti-North Korean sanctions, they were adopted in a completely different geopolitical situation. During the UN Security Council’s elaboration of relevant decisions, there were serious problems with the start of the negotiation process on the Korean settlement, which caused fierce debates in the Security Council. However, since the adoption of the last resolution on North Korea in 2017, Russia has firmly decided to abandon additional anti-Pyongyang restrictions.
The reason for such a “U-turn” was the duplicitous policy of the “collective West”, which, in parallel with the sanctions measures of the UN Security Council, promised to move along the political track, solve acute humanitarian issues in the North, which turned out to be another lie.
Question: You recently took part in the Eastern Economic Forum (WEF). What recommendations would you give to those Russian companies that are now looking for ways to enter Asian markets? In other words, in which countries of this rapidly developing region, in your opinion, can Russian products be in maximum demand?
Answer: First of all, taking into account the beginning of the season of the increase in the incidence of influenza, I would recommend strengthening your health and getting vaccinated against this virus with a domestic vaccine. So, at the Eastern Economic Forum (WEF), Rospotrebnadzor has been organizing a specially equipped medical office for several years, where everyone can get such a vaccination. I took advantage of this opportunity in September of this year.
Seriously speaking, the Asian market remains open to Russia. The question of finding ways to get to it is not worth it. As an example, I will cite the ASEAN states. Our constant dialogue with them shows the steady interest of this association in attracting Russian products to its markets. This attitude is also confirmed by statistics – Russia’s trade turnover with the countries of the Asean “ten” after a slight decline in 2022 (– 4% to 19.1 billion US dollars) more than “played back” this decline in January-July this year (+11% to 11.6 billion US dollars).
The tasks of expanding trade and economic ties with the Association, among other things, were discussed at the WEF during the relevant business dialogue, traditionally organized by the Russia-ASEAN Business Council.
By the way, this time the WEF gathered more than 7 thousand people from 62 countries of the world. Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines sent the largest delegations among the ASEAN States.
In terms of the prospects for the development of mutually beneficial investment cooperation, I would like to note the large business forum held in September this year in conjunction with the ASEAN summit in Jakarta, which resulted in the formation of a list of priority projects developed by the Association, open to the public and private sectors of the dialogue partner countries, including Russia. We are talking about such areas as the creation of “green” infrastructure, increasing the sustainability of supply chains, ensuring energy security, the introduction of innovative technologies in the financial sector and the development of creative industrial clusters. We distributed this list among representatives of the domestic business community and sent it to the relevant federal executive authorities.
We see the interest of Asian partners in developing cooperation with Russia on a wide range of topics. This includes food and energy security, maritime cooperation, and the use of biological resources. Russia has always had and has something to offer the region in the fields of digitalization and innovation, ecology and tourism, biotechnology and sustainable development of the agro-industrial complex.
As for high technologies, 2022 was declared the Year of Scientific and Technical Cooperation within the framework of the Russia-ASEAN dialogue partnership. More than 50 conferences, seminars, and round tables were held in such areas as education, economics, and energy. The business segment was not forgotten either – promising projects in the fields of nuclear energy, nuclear medicine, space, etc. were discussed.
Thus, although today they are trying to complicate our interaction with Asian partners, we do not see insurmountable obstacles to its development.
Question: What are the real chances of Russia reaching a qualitatively new level of relations with Asian countries, given that wherever you look, almost everywhere is now “made in China”?
Answer: The level of relations with a particular country or region, in my opinion, is not determined by labels and labels. Russia does not face the task of “catching up and overtaking”. This approach is rather from our common past, if we recall the history of the USSR.
We have entered a qualitatively new stage of relations with Asia for a long time. Therefore, the question of “turning to the East”, which so often pops up in the public and media space, is irrelevant for Russia. Those who are deeply interested in this topic can estimate in numbers the dynamics of our cooperation with the leading countries and associations of the region.
Our relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation with China are developing rapidly, including in the economic sphere.
The locomotive of increasing bilateral trade with India is the energy industry: both in terms of the export of hydrocarbons and peaceful atom. Supplies of Russian mineral fertilizers are growing.
Cooperation with ASEAN has been going on for more than 30 years and, in the understanding of the Association’s members, has the character of a mutually beneficial strategic partnership. We are working on expanding the range of Russian products in the markets of Southeast Asia. Halal goods are among the promising ones now. Negotiations on the conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement between the EAEU and Indonesia have been launched this year.
Asian countries are showing increasing interest in multilateral mechanisms and expanding the external circuit of relations. For example, the space of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is increasing, which today extends to all the subregions of Asia.
