Thursday, March 28

Interview of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov to the information and educational lesson “Talking about the important”, dedicated to the topic “Russia and the world”, Moscow, February 12, 2023

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Question: How and how can a young citizen help in his country?

S.V. Lavrov: First you need to get a profession. To do this, you need to study well. Banal words, but in fact, in the modern world, the amount of knowledge is very important. Depending on who a young man or girl wants to become in life, this amount of knowledge can be dosed.

There is a great need for working professions and respect for them. People in professional colleges master this or that specialty. Those who have a humanitarian mindset are interested in learning as much as possible in the humanities. Those who want to develop the most modern technologies should master natural sciences: physics, chemistry, mathematics, electronics. Now there are many subjects that are crucial for the development of countries in key sectors of the economy.

In any case, everyone who wants to find a particular profession is united by one thing – study. It’s never too late to learn. There is never enough study. Especially now, when there is a rapid development of all areas of social life, science and production. Even after entering a job (whether in a bank or in the IT industry – anywhere), you must always keep in mind the rapid, rapid “running” of time, constantly master emerging new achievements and apply them to your workplace.

All this takes on additional meaning, gives new strength when you do all this not only for self-development, but also understand that it is important for your country, you see how the results of your work help to make the life of a city, village, or certain groups of the population better. This, I assure you, gives additional strength and incentives to work and develop as a person.

Question: Why do you think public consent is important for our multinational country? And what is patriotism for you?

S.V. Lavrov: Public consent is important for any country that wants to develop normally. A lot has been done for this in Russia over the past 20 years.

After the Soviet Union broke up into several independent, independent states, there were already tendencies in the Russian Federation to further isolate territories in the Urals, the Far East and the European part. It was the result of a chain reaction. When something begins to disintegrate, it is important to prevent complete and final disintegration. A huge role was played by the leadership of Russia after the election of President Vladimir Putin in 2000. This made it possible to stop these processes. Moreover, not through imposing common residence in one state on all republics and regions, but through finding generally acceptable, mutually beneficial foundations for the further development of the Russian Federation.

This is the key to our unity and our strength, including in the international arena, as well as reaching agreement on the development of the country from the point of view of economy, culture and from the point of view of state-building. At that time, an optimal balance was found between the functions of the federal center (central authorities) and the powers that, in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, were transferred to the level of its subjects – regions, territories, republics, autonomous districts.

Life is not a frozen process. She’s changing. With each historical period, new trends arise. They must be reflected in legislation, in the state structure that ensures the unity of the nation. This process is underway. Almost three years ago, amendments to the Constitution of Russia were adopted, which fixed a new stage in the development of our society.

National accord is, of course, urgently needed in my profession – in diplomacy. When you promote foreign policy, some initiatives and you know that the overwhelming majority of citizens support them, then you work with much more enthusiasm and with much more dedication. The foreign policy of our country, which, in accordance with the Constitution, is determined by the President, constantly measures its actions with our public opinion.

To do this, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a number of mechanisms and tools for communicating with civil society. This is a Business Council, in which about 30 heads of large public and some private companies and corporations are represented. There is a Public council. It represents about 50 non-governmental organizations that regularly work with us.

Every year I hold a meeting with the heads of these non-profit structures, and during the year my deputies (each in their own direction) and the relevant departments meet with these NGOs and listen to their advice. For our part, we help them “enter” the international arena. For this purpose, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, by the decision of the President of the country, the A.M. Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Support Fund was established. This is an effective structure that gives grants to those who are engaged in people’s diplomacy, so that the relevant organizations with their colleagues abroad hold events and receive their experience, which can be used in our activities.

Public consent is of great importance for foreign policy. I say this with all responsibility. I am grateful to my employees, diplomats, all those who provide our work, and, of course, to our citizens for their high appreciation. This underlines the broad support for the course chosen by Russian President Vladimir Putin and promoted by us.

Those of you who decide to choose the humanitarian direction of adult life will not be bored if you are interested in international affairs within its framework.

If such an opportunity presents itself, our Ministry will try to help you find this profession and become effective in it.

Question: What common idea could unite all people on the planet?

S.V. Lavrov: A lot of positive associations come to mind. I think it’s friendship. That would be perfect. Friendship is a phenomenon that knows no boundaries.

When I participated in the first after a long break At the World Festival of Youth and Students in Sochi in 2017, I felt the state I experienced in my youth – a state of good enthusiasm and satisfaction that I want to share with everyone. Great atmosphere. The same as it was during the Olympic Games in Sochi. The atmosphere was fantastic during the World Cup. No one thought about any “underhand”, hidden things. Everyone just came together to participate in a big celebration.

I understand that championships, festivals, and Olympiads don’t happen every day. And not every day is a holiday. But if friendship is real, then it helps not on holidays, but on weekdays, in difficult times. If we take our entire planet, the entire globe, as a criterion, I would define friendship as a means to avoid any problems, difficulties, and even more so the descent of relations between certain countries to a violent phase, to wars.

Large, influential powers that control world processes have a special responsibility. Our country, both during the Soviet Union and after it became the modern Russian Federation, has always tried to be friends, to look for friends on the foreign policy front. We did this in the era of the struggle against colonialism, when we developed close friendly ties with countries and peoples in Asia and Africa. And now this friendship persists. On trips to Africa (I have been there twice in the last six months), I am convinced of how deeply and well not only the older generations, but their children and grandchildren (they were brought up correctly) remember the friendship that gave their countries the opportunity to “throw off” the yoke of colonialism, to become independent. Our friendship has helped these countries to create a national economy, statehood and armed forces.

It happens badly when one of those who can influence world processes decides not to help friendship relations, but to undermine its prospects and plant enmity.

Now we are all thinking about what is happening around Ukraine. Decades ago, American political scientists and politicians, in particular, the former national Security adviser to the US President (in 1977-1981) Z. Brzezinski explicitly declared the task of preventing friendship between Russia and Ukraine in any circumstances. He literally said the following: Russia with Ukraine is a great power, Russia without Ukraine is not a very noticeable regional player. Cynically, brazenly, frankly.

We see how much the political goal set by the United States is directed against the development of friendship. She didn’t disappear anywhere. Americans have never been sincere. Even when, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it seemed that relations between the United States and our country were acquiring new qualities. Since that time, they have been pursuing a course to, if not to allow, then to weaken as much as possible the friendly ties between the Russian Federation and other former Soviet Union republics.

Ukraine was made an enemy instead of encouraging friendship, which has always been the basis of relations between the Ukrainian and Russian peoples, since the 17th century, when the Pereyaslav Rada witnessed the reunification of our countries and peoples. The West was not satisfied with this.

Now there are statements by Western colleagues that the only power capable of leading the world is America. They say they need to eliminate the threat to Russia, then take up the threat posed by China. A threat to what? They honestly say it – “a threat to our American dominance.”

The opposite line, aimed at not being friends, but subjugating and suppressing, is the “trademark” of American politics. Even with allies in Europe, the United States has no friendship. This is “suppression” and submission. The European Union tried to say some time ago that it wants to be an independent player, to have sovereignty, sovereign strategic autonomy. They were told – “don’t.” And no one talks about strategic autonomy anymore.

The United States is throwing the European Union on the full support of Ukraine. The entire burden of this support (economic, financial) fell on the shoulders of the European Union. It’s hard to talk about any kind of friendship. This is the relationship of the hegemon and vassals. America is in a state where materially, financially, more than others (maybe only it) benefits from what it has planned and implements as unleashing a war against Russia through the Ukrainian regime.

I’m for friendship. Not all countries and peoples of the world, at least the elites in some countries, have a tradition of friendship. They have the opposite tradition – making a profit from everything that happens. They are characterized by logic – “friendship is friendship, and money (not even apart) is for me.”

I’m for friendship. This is not a trivial goal, but an important tool to cherish.

Question: What, in your opinion, is the peculiarity of Russia? And what is its main uniqueness?

S.V. Lavrov: I think that any country is unique. Let’s respect the love of each people for their country and proceed from the fact that we should be respected in our love for a huge, beautiful, multi-faceted country like the Russian Federation.

Russia is the largest country in the world. There are several climatic zones in it – from glaciers to permafrost, from ocean expanses to subtropics. In our country, people live feeling like one family. It is very important.

I have already touched on the topic of consent in society, answering the previous question. I will not repeat myself, I will just say that people who love their country and devote all their talents to improving the conditions not only of their lives, but also of everyone living on the territory of the Russian Federation are of great importance for any state, especially for ours. Our history is of particular importance. You need to know her and cherish her.

The United States was formed as a country of immigrants. They did not treat the indigenous peoples – Indian tribes very kindly. Surely you know how it all happened. They still live on reservations there. There is some external appearance that their rights are preserved.

There were Indians in Canada, too. Immigrants quickly pushed them into the background. There is still an investigation into cases where hundreds of Indians were killed on Indian reservations. This happened at the end of the last century, and it was discovered only now.

The USA was formed as a country of immigrants who were “grinding”. They even have the expression “melting pot”. Everyone was thrown at him. From there, everyone came out, as it seemed to them, the same.

We see that the United States is populated by far from like-minded people. Largely due to the ideological struggle, the country is far from united. This can be observed by the results of the elections and the processes taking place in American politics. When forming, they wanted everyone to be the same – “all under one comb.” It didn’t work out to the end. But that was the concept.

Our country, starting with Kievan Rus, then during the Moscow Principality, then the kingdom, the Russian Empire, constantly expanded its possessions.

After the revolution, the Soviet Union (it was a continuation of the statehood created by the Russian Empire) never threw the joined or annexed peoples into the common “melting pot”. Our country has always preserved their languages, traditions, culture, religion, their ethnic and historical identity. It is important to cherish this treasure.

Americans have “unity in diversity” written on the dollar. I believe that there is immeasurably more diversity in our country than in the United States. The unity of our diversity is much stronger against the background of serious confrontational processes taking place in the United States between the Republican and Democratic parties. This does not benefit national accord and the development of their State as a single society.

Diversity of cultures, languages, religions, traditions is one of the important dimensions of democracy. They are trying to explain democracy to us exclusively “in the Western way”: every 4-5 years it is necessary to vote so that Western experts on democracy can see that everything, from their point of view, is correct.

But as soon as the conversation about democracy in the international arena begins, Westerners immediately “go into the bushes.” The UN Charter states that the world Organization is based on the principle of sovereign equality of states. Neither the United States nor its Western allies have any respect for him. They consider themselves above all else.

Let’s take (it’s easy to find on the Internet) the statements of Presidents Barack Obama, D. Trump, J. Biden and their employees. Every time their president speaks to a mass audience, the idea always sounds that America is the one and only, that it is an exceptional power and only it can keep the world in good shape, normal, that if it were not for America, then world chaos would come. The philosophy of a dictator, a monopolist. It is not at all the philosophy of a state relying on cooperation, democracy, the search for a balance of interests, the formation of a stable world system that will be based on several foundations.

Diversity is the key to the unity of our country compared to American philosophy. The current National Security Adviser to the President of the United States, J.Sullivan, back in 2019, while in another position, wrote in one of the articles that American exceptionalism should proceed from avoiding emphasis on the historical and ethnic identity of other peoples, and American exceptionalism should promote a common understanding of democracy for all peoples around the world. A rather serious frank recognition of what benefits America wants to bring to everyone else. And she wants to bring everyone into a state that will be understandable to the Americans themselves, and will shape other peoples in their own image and likeness, suppressing, as it was directly said, their historical and ethnic identity.

It is necessary to ensure agreement by democratic methods, but not necessarily by the methods of the democracy that the West considers the only true one.

Question: The following words belong to P.A. Stolypin: “Give the state twenty years of peace, internal and external, and you will not recognize the current Russia.” What do you think is inner and outer peace for Russia?

S.V. Lavrov: The answer to your question is contained in further statements by P.A. Stolypin. Arguing with his opponents, he said: “You, gentlemen, need great upheavals, we need a great Russia.” Twenty years were needed in order to have a great Russia. As soon as it was left alone, not dragged into various wars, Russia immediately showed rapid, positive economic results for ten to twenty years. So it was before the First World War.

As soon as historical twists on the Eurasian continent did Russia and Germany are allies, they all turned out and their influence increases dramatically. Many people did not like the Russian-German rapprochement both on the eve of the First World War and between the First and Second World Wars. Western countries openly prepared Germany for war against the USSR by signing non-aggression pacts with it in 1938-1939. And when we were forced to sign such a pact in 1939, they said that this was the reason for the Second World War.

The meanness of Western politicians is well known. Now the idea is implemented through the “pitting” of Ukraine on Russia and maintenance through Ukraine war of the West against Russia, to a large extent involves preventing new rapprochement of Germany and Russia.

The United States has decided that we have been cooperating too well with Germany over the past twenty or thirty years. Or rather, she cooperates with us too well. That a powerful alliance based on our energy resources and German technologies has emerged. He began to threaten the monopoly position of many American corporations. Therefore, it was necessary to destroy it somehow, and literally. In fact, American officials admit that the explosions that occurred on the Nord Stream-1 and Nord Stream-2 were their handiwork. Now they even talk about it with pleasure. There is a point here connected with the fact that friendship between countries, national reconciliation between them, as it happened between the Russians and the Germans, has become a “bone in the throat” for those who do not want someone to appear somewhere on this planet, who will compete with the main hegemon, which they declared themselves to be USA.

We are for justice. We are not going to invent anything new. After the Second World War, the victorious powers wrote the UN Charter. This document remains the most important foundation for building a new world. If we all have to respect the words written in the UN Charter about the need to ensure the sovereign equality of states. Just as in any country all citizens should be equal, so on the planet all states should have equal rights and be equally respected.

Question: Who is a diplomat?

S.V. Lavrov: It’s me. Here we must return to the first question: what shapes a person, and how to educate yourself.

For a diplomat, first of all, knowledge, knowledge and once again knowledge are important. Erudition without any restrictions, in any spheres. Not only in history, not only knowledge of languages. Diplomacy is now such that the erudition of a diplomat should cover the areas of modern technology, cybersecurity, because all this is discussed at diplomatic forums.

Cybersecurity is the subject of many Russian initiatives that have received support and are being implemented at the UN. In particular, a Committee has been established, which includes all Members of the United Nations, which is engaged in developing principles for ensuring international information security so that advances in information technology are not used for military purposes.

In parallel, work is underway on our initiative to prepare a draft convention on combating crime in the cybersphere. The work also includes all UN States within the Ad Hoc Committee.

Climate change. Of course, this requires special knowledge. A diplomat cannot replace an environmental specialist, but he must have an understanding of what is being discussed. It is the diplomats who are negotiating, designed to develop steps aimed at preventing an increase in the temperature of the Earth by more than one and a half degrees. This issue was actively discussed at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (Egypt, November 6-20, 2022). The next session will be held soon. Of course, the delegations also include narrow experts. But diplomats, as direct participants in these processes, should see the generalizing picture.

About the problems of disarmament. How can one engage in diplomacy to promote the issues of non-proliferation of weapons, limiting the arms race, without thoroughly knowing the problems associated with modern weapons systems, including nuclear ones. Nuclear nonproliferation is one of our key priorities.

By and large, any sphere of human life cannot be separated from the activities of international organizations. The development of the world has become global, universal means of communication have appeared, the consequences of human activity have become a comprehensive dimension, in particular, in the context of climate change and not only. Energy issues have a worldwide reach. Food security affects everyone. If it gets bad somewhere, the refugees will run to you. Therefore, you must own all these issues to the extent that you want and are obliged to participate in their solution.

Therefore, study, study and study.

Question: You are a successful diplomat, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. What would you really wish for yourself from the past – Seryozha Lavrov, a student of an ordinary school?

S.V. Lavrov: I’ve never thought about the fact that I want to go back to the past and live my life over again. I am happy with everything that has shaped me as a person. Of course, there were not only blissful periods of life. I studied well, but I never denied myself the joy of communicating with friends. We were still at school, then at the institute engaged in all sorts of mischievous initiatives, wrote “cabbage rolls”, put them on evenings both at school and at the institute. After they graduated from the institute and went to work, they continued to meet and arrange “skits”.

I will definitely note sports activities. I love football, skiing. This forms a person and a personality. Helps to maintain himself as a functioning diplomat.

Chat with friends. I talked a lot about friendship today. I’m still dating people I went to high school with. MGIMO graduates from our course hold annual meetings. The last one was just before the New Year.

Nature. My favorite rafts, Altai Krai, Krasnoyarsk Krai, stormy rivers. I wouldn’t change anything.

Everything that makes you better in the eyes of yourself, you need to cherish. Love every day that is given to us. Make this day as useful as possible for yourself, your friends and loved ones.

Question: In the 1980s, Samantha Smith and Katya Lycheva became ambassadors of the world, who advocated the rapprochement of our countries. Do you think modern children can become peacemakers? Will the adults hear us?

S.V. Lavrov: Modern children are already becoming peacemakers. Let’s take a video with a little kid playing the role of a traffic controller and directing our equipment to the fronts of a special military operation.

Recently I watched another video. My father, as I understand it, plays guitar, and a guy of about ten sings the famous, penetrating song “Don’t fight with the Russians.”

Drawings that children send to the front. We see in the reports of war correspondents how important it is for soldiers, how warmly they react. Some children, teenagers, together with artists visit the locations of our fighters and arrange mini-concerts.

There was a touching exhibition of drawings “Children of Donbass draw” on Novy Arbat. This is an important manifestation of the very harmony and unity in society that we talked about today. Children brought up in these traditions, who understand that there are holy things in life, will grow up to be real patriots.

We talked about patriotism, but the idea was not developed. For me, patriotism is pride in my country. Probably, many people will have different dimensions of this feeling.

When the special military operation began, there were many voices (in the West – I won’t even comment on it, and we had a lot of them) saying: “why?” “now we will be deprived of the factors of life that provided comfort and confidence in the future”; “why did we do it all for”.

Comfort meant Western goods that everyone was used to. IKEA, McDonald’s were mentioned. We had in mind the opportunity to go abroad, study there. And there many of our students were “asked” to leave. This is a manifestation of Russophobia, racism, by and large.

They began to say that for the sake of “some territories” they “started” a situation that disturbed the life and peace of many people and families. This logic also applies to some of our citizens. Almost all of them have left now and are trying to find the same lost comfort in new spaces.

In our society, I observe a completely different trend. By society, I mean those who live here, work here, solve issues, see problems (the President and the Government see them and openly talk about them), feel a sense of belonging to our history.

I quoted to you the American figure J.Sullivan, who said that American exceptionalism implies actions that do not allow emphasis on ethnic and historical identity. The exclusivity of the United States presupposes the desire to make everyone without an identity, “for themselves”, convenient to be led in various conflicts started by Washington around the world, and in other situations, in the economy, etc.

A normal, well-educated person who attended school and heard the right words of teachers cannot decide that the ethnic (Russian or any other) identity of the peoples of our country is secondary for him. He cannot realize that he is historically ready to be Ivan, who does not remember kinship. For me, these are related components: origin, family, ethnic component, language. Along with Russian, we support more than a hundred languages of our country, including the smallest peoples.

For the unity of Russia, it is important that the Russian language unites everyone. So it is. This year, within the framework of the CIS, The Year of the Russian language as the language of international communication. In order for consent to be natural, it is important what we do in relation to the languages of small nations, their traditions and cultures. National cultural festivals are held in Yakutia, Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Chechnya. It’s all part of Russian culture. She has never tried to “push” in the direction of the culture of her peoples, who are united with the Russian state.

For me, there is no country without a sense of belonging to the ancestors and continuing the traditions of both my small homeland and my huge Homeland – Russia. A sense of national pride is one of the reasons why we protect the Russian world. Therefore, as Russian President Vladimir Putin explained, a special military operation is taking place.

In Ukraine, it was not only NATO members who created threats by placing weapons there that pose a problem for the Russian Federation. They encouraged the Kiev regime, which openly, legislatively, consistently destroyed all the rights of Ukrainian citizens who felt themselves part of Russian culture. Russian russians wanted to be citizens of Ukraine, but at the same time have the right to speak Russian, read Russian-language newspapers, use Russian-language television and mass media, and teach children at school in Russian. All this was forbidden.

The Commissioner for the Protection of the state language of Ukraine proposed to ban interpersonal communication in Russian. What does it mean? Two people in Ukraine – for example, a husband and wife, wherever they are (in their kitchen or in the park) – would not have the right to speak Russian. If it’s not Nazism, then I don’t know what to call it. The West is trying to justify all this.

V.A. Zelensky told everyone who considers himself a Russian in Ukraine to “fuck off” to the Russian Federation. These Russian people are trying to drive out of the lands where they have lived for centuries, including the lion’s share of this time as part of our common country. If we had left them there and not stood up for their rights – not invented, but enshrined in dozens of international conventions of which Ukraine is a member – Russia would have been “worthless” as a great power, which it was, is and will be.

Question: 2023 has been declared the year of mentor and teacher. Did you have a mentor?

S.V. Lavrov: I’ve had a lot of mentors. In elementary school, our homeroom teacher. Then a class teacher in high school (a physics teacher), thanks to whom I wanted to enroll in MEPhI or MIPT. But fate decreed otherwise.

There were mentors in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Immediately after graduation, he worked in Moscow for two months and left for the USSR Embassy in Sri Lanka. There, my first great, real teacher was the Ambassador of the Soviet Union, R.N. Nishanov. Prior to that, he was the second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan. He taught me a lot, being an experienced politician.

Then there are the managers for whom he worked after returning to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I will single out E.M. Primakov. He was appointed minister when I worked as Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN. By that time I had already gained experience. We communicated with him before that, in his previous positions. When he became a minister, we began to work very closely with him. This is a great school for any diplomat and politician. E.M. Primakov is more than a diplomat. He is a statesman: Prime Minister, head of the foreign intelligence service, academician, director of the Institute.  For all of us, he is the main teacher.

Take care of your teachers!

Source: Russian Foreign Ministry

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