I cordially welcome the organisers and participants of the International Scientific and Practical Conference on International Law dedicated to the 80th anniversary of MGIMO.
Today, the entire system of international law is going through a difficult stage of its development, associated with increased geopolitical tension and changes in the structure of international relations. In order to maintain their dominant position, Washington and its satellites are not abandoning their attempts to establish a so-called rules-based world order to replace the monocentric international legal architecture formed after the Second World War. They apply a wide range of coercive instruments to those who do not agree with the role of slaves – from unilateral sanctions to open interference in internal affairs. In this way they are undermining the very basis of modern international law – the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
For its part, Russia has consistently maintained that inter-State relations should be based on universally recognised international legal norms, which should be uniformly interpreted and observed by all participants in international communication.
I am pleased to note that, despite the existing objective difficulties, the domestic academic community is making a significant contribution to improving Russian approaches to international law. Its prominent member is the Department of International Law of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. The results of the work of the International Law Council of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs deserve high praise.
In the context of the ongoing reorientation of Russian foreign policy, it is important to strengthen the contacts of Russian legal scholars with the scientific structures of the neighbouring countries, the Global South and the East as a whole. Your Conference will make a valuable contribution to this task, which I am sure will be held in a constructive manner and will contribute to the elaboration of useful practical recommendations for the development of the Russian science of international law.
I wish you fruitful discussions and all the best.
S. LAVROV
