Interview with Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, given to Andrey Kondrashov, Director General of the TASS News Agency, Moscow, 29 July 2026
Question:Sergey Viktorovich, you are the kind of person that our citizens certainly do not need to be introduced to. But I know how to surprise them. With your Sinhala language. Say hello in Sinhala.
S.V. Lavrov: (speaks in Sinhala).
Question:This is the second time you’ve been included in the federal “top five” of United Russia’s pre-election list. What does this mean to you? It’s clear that this is a collective effort. Someone must be responsible for it. You probably know who it is. Is this a sign of trust, an assessment, or an additional burden? Or is it a reward?
S.V. Lavrov: Trust is definitely involved. There’s no need to elaborate on this. But the most important thing for me is the decision of the leadership to recommend me to this top five, which was approved at the United Russia Congress.
I have good relations with the leaders of all the parliamentary parties, without exception. Having relations with all the factions and parties represented in the State Duma, we are certainly interested in their help in making decisions and approving laws that will strengthen our foreign policy course, so that it is as effective as possible and has broad support.
My presence in the top five reflects the fact that the country is currently going through a very difficult period, which is largely dependent on how we conduct our special military operation against those who have started a war against Russia. I am referring to both our frontline soldiers and our rear in all its aspects.
On the other hand, of course, foreign policy and diplomacy are also meant to play a big supporting role, given how all our Western interlocutors are trying to “trick” us: they promise one thing and do another. But we’ve already gotten used to it. We should have gotten used to it. But every time, you know, the Russian soul wants to believe in the best.
But patience eventually runs out. It’s no coincidence that shortly after the start of the special military operationRussian President Vladimir Putin, commenting on our relations with the West and Europe at a recent event, said, “Things will never be the same as they were before February 2022.”
Question:The West has simply gone mad. No one is going to follow any of the old agreements that have been in place for decades. Of course, everything is being dismantled. We know this and feel it. In this situation, do we have anything to offer the world as an alternative?
S.V. Lavrov: First of all, we need to defend our legitimate interests. In order to offer something to the world, we must win. The world is watching with great attention, some with bated breath, how this war, imposed on us by the West, will end, in response to which President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin announced the start of a special military operation. It’s not like we’re surrounded by unscrupulous people on this planet, but it’s life. Everyone wants to understand, to paraphrase S.S. Bodrov: “what is the power, brother” and “where is the power, brother”?
You are absolutely right when you say that they are not even trying to hide or disguise anything now. At first, they openly declared that Russia should be defeated strategically. However, as they observed the situation on the front lines, they shifted their rhetoric.
Now that V.A. Zelensky, who has been constantly retreating in Donbas and on other fronts, has moved from despair to outright terrorist activities, and they see how many of his long-range weapons are achieving their goals, they are promoting this phase of the situation as a “turning point.” They are claiming that “the Ukrainian character can still defeat Russia,” which they are calling an “aggressor” and a country that wanted to conquer all of Europe after Ukraine. Once again, the goal is to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia. The slogan of “decolonization” of Russia has appeared, which once again openly implies the “dismemberment” of our country. This is a revival of the hopes that the West also had at the time of the collapse of the USSR, when separatist movements emerged in the Far East, the Urals, and even in the Caucasus. They harbored the hope that everything would fall apart and they could pick up the pieces. In my opinion, they were already planning who would get what.
Question:One step before that. We had “Ural francs” from the “Ural Republic”.
S.V. Lavrov:Yes. Everything was on the brink.
The fact that Boris Yeltsin had the courage to hand over power early, and that he handed it over to the only person who could save Russia at that time, is a historic turning point that shows that Russia is still marked by God. When things get really tough, we are helped from above.
Now that they are talking about a “strategic defeat” again, they are actively supporting our relocators, who are organizing all sorts of anti-Russian communities in Europe, raising funds to continue some kind of “underground struggle” for the split of the Russian Federation. They don’t hide it at all anymore.
Our central channels show everything that the West is planning. It’s probably important for everyone to see this in order to understand that the situation is serious. Russian President Vladimir Putin does not hide this. The entire “civilized” world, as they call themselves, has turned against us.
Question:Before 2007, before V.V. Putin’s Munich speech, they “loved” us, embracing us. Now, at least, they are being honest.
Sergey Lavrov:They thought that we were “in their pocket.”
When Russian President Vladimir Putin came to power, he was absolutely open to an equal strategic partnership with the West. However, our former allies, namely the Anglo-Saxons, are now fighting against us through Ukraine with varying degrees of ferocity (London is more aggressive, while the United States is slightly less so), supplying Ukraine with the most advanced weapons and announcing that they will produce new, deadly, and high-tech missile defense systems specifically for Ukraine.
We launched a special military operation when society was calm, comfortable, and generally satisfied with its standard of living.
It is a fact that this did not suit the West either. They did not want society to be calm; they wanted to stir up society against the government and prepare provocations. They cannot compete fairly. They are afraid of fair competition in everything.
This is why they impose sanctions to maintain their position, which is slipping away after five hundred years of Western dominance.
So, once again, about the state of our society. This is important for me as a citizen, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is carrying out the foreign policy of the President of Russia, which should reflect the mood of the people. Of course, they want to create unrest here. Recently, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, mentioned this. We are making progress on the front lines every day, not as quickly as we would like, but we are saving lives. They are making up for their failures on the very line of combat contact, trying to undermine the way of life that people are used to with terrorist acts. Unmanned attacks are already being felt in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and in the border regions and provinces of the Russian Federation, people are experiencing all the hardships of wartime. To be honest, I am very proud that the people are taking this the right way, as history and those who defeated Nazism have taught us. Especially since we are now fighting against the direct descendants of those Nazis. The same team. German Chancellor F. Merz openly says that they will be in charge of Europe again. If you’re so open, be prepared.
Question:You said that before we can offer the world an alternative world order, we must ensure our national interests, and for that we must win. What are our national interests in the foreign arena?
S.V. Lavrov:In order for us to be an independent power, an independent civilization. In order for our borders to be securely protected. In order for no one to even think about advising us on how to organize our lives within Russia. And in order for all the peoples of the Russian Federation to continue to have the rights guaranteed by the Constitution: the right to education, the right to preserve their culture, traditions, and religious beliefs.
In this capacity, Russia will be interested in cooperating on an equal footing with other major centers that are emerging, such as China andIndia. These major players will, of course, stand up for justice together with us, in the hope that the West, and Europe in particular, will eventually come to its senses and be ready to integrate into new systems of relations on an equal footing. However, they are not yet ready for this. The United States is also completely unprepared.
As this wait continues, new centers of power are forming their own network structures. One of them is BRICS, where the leading economies of the Global Majority are gathering and solving issues in a different way than they do in NATO, where America is in charge and everyone else is trying to please the hegemon. And this is certainly not the European Union, where the Brussels bureaucracy has usurped the rights of national governments.
Neither in BRICS, nor in the SCO, nor in the EAEU, nor in the CIS, nor in the CSTO, can anyone give a single example of Russia, China (if we’re talking about the SCO and BRICS), or anyone else demanding anything. It’s always open, respectful negotiations aimed at compromise.
Question: 35,000 sanctions. This is probably a historical record for humanity and the state. How do we manage to survive? Thanks to what?
S.V.Lavrov: Of course, first of all, thanks to our ancestors, who created such a country. The richest, the largest country in the world, with access to the seas and oceans, which allows us to develop trade and ensure our security, including through the use of the navy. Of course, industrialization, which began in the Russian Empire. There is a lot of talk about this now. The railways that connected the entire country were laid back then, as were many of the foundations of the steel industry. Industrialization began during the Soviet Union, when tremendous progress was made in a short period of time, just a decade or 15 years before the start of the Great Patriotic War. This helped to prevent a catastrophe.
However, our main national quality is something that the West lacks. In our civilization, we have a deep respect for those who created it, built cities, and defeated our enemies.
We also had a time with A.M. Gorchakov, who, after we were defeated in the Crimean War for reasons that make no sense to talk about now, said: “Russia is not angry, Russia is concentrating.” We don’t need to be angry now either. Getting angry and wasting your nerves is the worst thing. I need to focus. But healthy anger is quite appropriate. Not to get angry, but to find a healthy anger.
Anger, including from the point of view of the need for usk
Sergey Lavrov:I grew up, in fact, in a village, in the city of Noginsk, formerly Bogorodsk. Now I am actively working with the Moscow region, with my friend, the Governor of the Moscow region A.Yu.Vorobyov, for the restoration of the name Bogorodsk. There are already some toponymic changes, but the city itself is still Noginsk. And the part where I lived was a pure village. From the railway station, to the left is the city, and to the right are two rows of wooden village houses with all the amenities as they are equipped in villages. And we, to tell the truth, when we were boys, would run around where the freight train was parked and see what was in the wagons. If there were watermelons, we would get into trouble.
Question:We know a lot about you. But we’ve never asked about your grandparents. Who were they? Whose genes are in your blood, and what are your abilities and talents?
S.V. Lavrov: My parents divorced when I was just a few months old. They both graduated from the Institute of Foreign Trade, which is now part of MGIMO. In fact, my mother lobbied for my admission to MGIMO, and she was quite successful in doing so. After the distribution, my parents went to work at our customs office in Brest.
As fate would have it, I ended up living with my mother alone. My grandmother was in Noginsk. She was a senior nurse there. My grandfather was the head of the Noginsk railway station. He was responsible for sending trains to the front during the war. Two of his brothers were at the front, and both returned.
My grandfather died early, when he was still young. He was 67 years old. And my grandmother lived longer. She moved to Moscow later. And I loved them very much. They were my true friends. They stood up for me when they felt that I had done something that my mother might not like. It’s like that with family.
Roots play an invisible role. You don’t think about having so many generations. That’s not the point. The point is that you’re already living for them. Just as we are now fighting for those who defeated the Germans and all of Europe with them.
Question:You go rafting. It’s true? Are you still doing it?
S.V.Lavrov: Probably, somewhere around 1984-1985, our company decided to have a “wild” vacation. One of our friends, who was a year older at MGIMO, was from Ufa. He invited me and another friend to go to Ufa for a week during the summer, to go to the river and fish. We went to the river, and there are also lakes there. We took a boat, went for a ride, and fished on the Belaya River. It doesn’t flow at all. It’s flat and calm. We decided to come back next year and gathered a team of five people. We chose the Biya River in Altai. It flows out of Lake Teletskoye. However, before we went there, we learned that several rivers flow into Lake Teletskoye, including the very turbulent Chulyshman River.
We started exploring options. Eventually, we agreed on a plan. We went twenty kilometers up a very difficult river from Lake Teletskoye. We were “thrown” into this lake. Miraculously, we all stayed on the rafts and didn’t overturn. We were taken by boat across Lake Teletskoye and then rafted down the Biya River. After that, we reached the Katun River for the first time. We explored it from top to bottom.
First, we went to the middle section, where the World Cup in rafting is held. The rapids are somewhere between 4 and 4.5, and there are elements of the fifth category. Once, we rafted from Mount Belukha itself. It’s a very interesting route. The first day should be spent on the plateau. Everything is moving slowly. Then, the river drops sharply. There are five incredibly challenging rapids in this section. The adrenaline rush is instantaneous.
Question:Have you ever capsized?
S.V.Lavrov:My raft has not. We sailed on two rafts. Colleagues capsized a couple of times. But pulled out.
On Katun we spent almost 20 years. In the sense not winters, but years. We have a lot of friends there. Fantastic edge.
Question:In the evening, you come ashore, get out the raft, build a fire, and set up a tent. And then, a guitar and a song?
S.V. Lavrov: A guitar and a song, yes.
Question:How many songs do you play on the guitar? I know you haven’t counted, probably.
S.V. Lavrov: I really like V.S. Vysotsky and B.Sh. Okudzhava.
Question:Do you play and sing?
S.V. Lavrov:Yes.
Question:Will we hear about it sometime? We definitely should.
S.V. Lavrov: I will take advantage of your opportunities in our media space. Without any fees, if anyone is interested. I accept your opportunities.
Question:Interesting. I really want to hear it.
We’re all interested. Because journalists like to not only spy on you, but also eavesdrop. Especially when you think the microphone is turned off.
If you registered the trademark “idiots, with one word,” you would probably become a wealthy person. Because almost all of my colleagues, including myself, wore this T-shirt. It sold in thousands of copies. Is this your character? Or does it pop up just based on a situation?
S.V. Lavrov: It pops up. We are all living people.
Question:But your colleagues say that you don’t use such words at work.
S.V.Lavrov:Liars. I’ll get back to them. This is, of course, a hypocritical statement. When something doesn’t upset you, but someone suddenly does something wrong, you might say something hot. I’ve never thought about a trademark.
By the way, after Alaska, where I appeared in an “USSR” sweater, my assistants received calls thanking them. They said they were willing to sell these sweaters to my friends.
You see, when people are drawn to it… Nowadays, there are many examples. They have never gone away. There is a special wave of nostalgia for the USSR.
The Soviet Union is, in essence, everything we started with. People don’t just want a good, comfortable life. It’s a sense of belonging to what your ancestors did in the most difficult conditions. We raised this country. They pulled her out of poverty. We created conditions for hundreds of languages to coexist.
And people, when they put on these sweaters, they feel that… Even those who did not live in the Soviet Union were told by their parents, grandfathers, and grandmothers. Therefore, as V.V. Putin said, I think that those who do not regret the Soviet Union do not have a heart, and those who want to return it do not have a head. As for the heart, it remains the same. As for the head, thank God, in the current situation in Russia, we have a head, and it is sober.
Question:You have already mentioned that our country, our Motherland, is God-kissed and God-protected. Are you a religious person yourself?
S.V. Lavrov: I am a religious person. My grandmother baptized me secretly from my mother. My mother was a communist. She herself was baptized at a much older age, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
My grandmother took me to be baptized in Noginsk. There is still a church on the banks of the Moskva River. God willing, he’ll continue to work there. I still have the cross they gave me back then. It was a good time.
Question:Have there been any events in your life that can only be explained by a miracle or by God?
S.V. Lavrov: I suppose there have been some. There are some stories I would rather not remember.
There have been some. We once went rafting on the Katun River. We stopped, got horses, and went to the mountains. I had some experience in horseback riding from my time at the institute. Not all of the guys had the same skills. Suddenly, the horses took off when we were already going down. There’s a mountain on the right, and a really decent chasm on the left. One of my friends got carried away. He could almost have knocked me down. By some miracle, he managed to stop.
If we take political dramas, then, probably, during the coup. I’m going back to what we started with. Then we thought: “Well, Russia is herbivorous and obedient, but we need it to just follow everything that we will designate.” When it became clear that Russia was disobedient, that it had its own pride, but this began to manifest itself even before The Munich speech of 2007, which you recalled, when Vladimir Putin simply put everything very frankly and honestly in the context of a discussion that was riddled with hypocrisy. There were moments before that, too, but we did not lose hope that the West would come to its senses, that all these were just temporary relapses that it had to suppress.
Here is the Baltic region. When I first took office as Minister in 2004, they began to draw the Baltic region into another wave of NATO expansion. Russian President Vladimir Putin asked them why they were doing this, as we had agreed. They told us that, you know, they still feel like they were occupied and subjugated during their time in the Soviet Union, and they’re still afraid, but if we accept them into NATO and the European Union, they’ll feel better.
So, have they felt better? They’re now the main “warheads” being used against us, and we know how hot-tempered these Estonian guys can be.Lithuania and Latvia have now announced that they are lifting the ban on the deployment of nuclear weapons on their territory.
So we have to rely on ourselves, as our President has repeatedly emphasized. There are serious consequences of what is happening now. But I want to say once again: we are completing the work of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, who destroyed Nazism, but our former allies saved it. We know about the fate of the Wehrmacht generals, who found a home and shelter in the West. And now, no one could have imagined that this would happen, but Nazism is resurfacing in the open. No one is hiding it. Therefore, we have no other option if we want to remain our Russian civilization.
Question:Final question. What do you mean by the words “Motherland”, “Russia”, and “life”? What is the most important thing for you?
S.V. Lavrov: Russia is life, and life is Russia.
Russian Foreign Ministry
