I welcome everyone who continues to show interest in Russian foreign policy and our work at the United Nations. We wanted to go straight to the questions and answers, but I have to start with another fact of the Kiev regime using terrorist methods.
On the morning of January 24, at 11:15 (Moscow time), a terrorist act was committed, as a result of which a Russian Il-76 transport plane was shot down in the Belgorod region, carrying out a flight transporting 65 AFU servicemen from the Moscow region to Belgorod. They were accompanied by three Russian officers and a crew of six people. Everyone died. Ukrainian prisoners of war were being taken to the Belgorod region to carry out an exchange agreed upon between Moscow and Kiev. Instead of it taking place, the Ukrainian side launched an anti-aircraft missile attack on this aircraft from the Kharkiv region. It became fatal.
We have already requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council at 15:00 New York time. We hope that the French Presidency will faithfully fulfill its duties and schedule a meeting as soon as possible. I would not like to repeat the history of April 2022: after the staging in the locality of Bucha, where the bodies of people (whose names we still cannot get) were shown, the British presidency, which was then in charge of the UN Security Council, refused to convene a meeting for three days. I hope that our French colleagues will not follow this path and will convene an urgent meeting of the Security Council today at 15:00.
Question (translated from English): The majority of the world community agrees that a two–State solution is the only way to achieve peace between Israel and Palestine. During the meetings in New York, did you get the impression that there is a chance for concerted action by all parties, including Tel Aviv, regarding a two-state solution? What time parameters are possible to start such a discussion? What are the options if the Prime Minister Does Israel’s B. Netanyahu continue to object to this?
Sergey V. Lavrov: We discussed this in detail at the meeting The UN Security Council, where more than 70 delegations have spoken (and continue to speak). There is no other way but to implement the decisions of the Security Council and the General Assembly on the establishment of a Palestinian State on the principles approved by all at the time: the 1967 borders, the capital in East Jerusalem and ensuring the viability of a Palestinian State that will live in peace and security side by side with Israel and with all other countries in the region.
This task was first set back in the late 1940s. For many decades, the obligation to create a Palestinian state was “blurted out” and they tried in every possible way to “dissolve” it in some “half-hearted” initiatives. If the same “story” repeats now, then we will again “sow the grapes” of another conflict and there will be outbreaks of violence.
Most UN members understand this. I have met with many Arab countries. We have just had a big meeting with all the ambassadors representing the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Everyone is determined that a formal decision should be made on the establishment of a Palestinian State, as well as the start of negotiations, which should be accompanied by neutral, effective mediators.
There is no longer a “quartet” of international intermediaries. The United States did everything to undermine his work, announcing that it would mediate on its own. We all know well what this has led to. We will firmly advocate that the initiative to create a mediation mechanism that will prepare (ideally) an international conference on the Palestinian issue should be taken by the countries of the region, primarily the member States of the League of Arab States.
But the first step (I talked about this yesterday and today with the OIC countries) is absolutely necessary to make efforts to restore Palestinian unity, so that all their existing factions and those who work with them from abroad come together and declare the restoration of the unity of the Palestinian people as a solid foundation for a future state. Without this, all the schemes floating in backstage conversations are not viable. They are aimed only at creating the appearance of change in Gaza without its unification with the West Bank within the framework of a single state, again to keep the Palestinian side split, not united and to gain time. We are concerned about the statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there is no question of creating a Palestinian State.
In any case, a settlement is possible only through a negotiation process. We expect that those who have influence on the Israeli side (more than, for example, ours) will fulfill their function and ensure Tel Aviv’s conscientious participation in the negotiation process. We will achieve this.
Question: Returning to the monstrous situation with the Il-76. Do you think Kiev did this intentionally? What goals does Ukraine pursue by committing such actions and terrorist attacks?
How could it be (and could it be) that the US did not know about the impending Hamas attack? Moreover, it was prepared for a year using heavy weapons. What are your thoughts on this? How does the overall situation in the Middle East project onto the domestic political situation in the United States and the upcoming elections?
Sergey V. Lavrov: As for the issue of the downed Il-76 military transport aircraft and the reasons why the Ukrainian side committed this criminal act, we are now establishing the facts. The first reports that appeared were that after the plane crashed after shelling from anti-aircraft guns, the Ukrainian side declared another victory for the “valiant” armed forces of Ukraine. But as soon as it became known that it was a flight transporting prisoners of war for exchange (and officials of their military department could not help but know that this was being prepared), Ukrainian propaganda immediately began to “sweep under the carpet” bravura messages about their victories and try to come up with other explanations.
I’ll repeat it again. We just received this information. It is being checked. In particular, for this purpose, we insist on convening a meeting of the Security Council today, where the Ukrainian side could tell how everything happened.
As for the events in the Gaza Strip and the crisis trends there. We talked a lot with all my interlocutors, in particular in Moscow, when the joint delegation of the Arab League and the OIC arrived, about how it “exploded”. Remember how two weeks before October 7, 2023 The National Security Adviser to the President of the United States, J.Sullivan said in an interview that the situation in the Middle East has never been so calm in the last 20 years. It was spoken. This is about whether the American side knew or had any signals.
Many conspiracy theories are presented. Immediately after the terrorist attack (which we condemned), there was talk inside Israel that the Israeli special services and security agencies could not have been unaware of this. It was said that the United States, watching every point of the globe through its satellites, and the Middle East especially closely, could not help but notice the movement of a large number of people, equipment, and drones that were preparing to carry out a terrorist act.
I hear the same thing as you. Such arguments appear in the public sphere. No one has seen any evidence. I would not like to speculate about whether this is true or not.
Question (translated from English): How does Russia assess the case in the International Court of Justice of the United Nations initiated by South Africa regarding the Israeli genocide in Gaza?
Sergey V. Lavrov: The International Court of Justice will carry out its functions. As you know, Ukraine accuses Russia of violating The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and also appealed to the International Court of Justice. About 40 Western countries, in violation of all precedents, “signed up” on the Ukrainian side. Therefore, there is no doubt that this process will be extremely politicized.
We know that all judges must be impartial. Except for the ICC judges, who have their own “rules”. The International Court of Justice has always had a high reputation. Let’s hope that he will be guided by the letter of international law, including international humanitarian law and the judicial system. We would not like to interfere.
In this regard, I recalled that recently US Secretary of State E. Blinken was in the Middle East. He was asked the same question, and he said that South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel in the International Court of Justice for actions in the Gaza Strip diverts the attention of the world community from the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Allegedly, attention is paid, but it is “distracted”.
We do not see any attention from Washington, except for attempts to “talk up” the situation and in any way prevent the UN Security Council from making a direct, unambiguous decision on the cessation of hostilities. They are trying to use language that essentially gives carte blanche to continue the collective punishment of the Palestinians.
We’ll see. The Court has its own duties and a statute in which its powers are recorded.
Question (translated from English): Russia has sent tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. Do you intend to use these weapons on the territory of Ukraine?
Sergey V. Lavrov: It takes a long time for information to reach you. It happened six months ago. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko explained everything from the very beginning.
The United States and its allies are taking measures to modernize nuclear weapons located in five NATO countries in violation of The Non-Proliferation Treaty. The military personnel of these five States are trained in the use of tactical nuclear weapons. When the Americans wanted to put the topic of tactical nuclear weapons almost at the center of our discussion about strategic stability, we tried for many years to ensure that all their tactical nuclear weapons returned to the United States. At least because its location in Europe is strategic for us – it is very close to our borders. They categorically refused.
Then we said that since we cannot fully understand why they are modernizing their arsenals of tactical nuclear weapons (again, given that Washington refuses to “withdraw” these weapons to its territory), Russia, at the request of the President of Belarus A.G. Lukashenko, will transfer part of its tactical nuclear weapons to be deployed on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. Everyone knew about it.
The West tried to raise hysteria, saying that it is allowed, but we are not allowed. All opportunities to avoid escalation have been consistently missed by the Americans. They destroyed almost all the contracts. They refuse to bring their tactical nuclear weapons into line The Non-Proliferation Treaty, which they have not yet violated.
Question (translated from English): There is no evidence that the United States has deployed tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Ukraine or Belarus. Only Russia does this because it wants to defend its territory.
Sergey V. Lavrov: I did not say that the Americans are deploying nuclear weapons in Ukraine. They have been keeping their nuclear weapons on the territory of five NATO member countries for a long time, for many decades. Citizens of these States are trained in the use of nuclear weapons. That’s what I said.
I have already mentioned the mentality of our American, Anglo-Saxon and other Western colleagues who believe that they can do anything. They say, why should Russia and Belarus agree on something – they are not “democratic” countries. It’s a sad mentality. Soon it will interfere with the development of mankind. You can’t live on a neocolonial approach all the time and use neocolonial practices in the spirit of “I can do anything, but you can’t.”
To be continued…
