During a regular briefing by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, M.V.Zakharova, Moscow, March 16, 2023, the Editor-in-Chief of the Online publication “Embassy Life”, Marat Shakirzyanov, was asked a question “About Russia’s interaction with new centers of power in the world”
Question: The success of Russia’s foreign policy and the stability of international relations in the coming years will depend on whether we are able to organize a broad interregional coalition friendly to us with the participation of priority partners. Distancing from the West creates conditions for expanded cooperation with other major civilizational platforms – Chinese, Arab-Muslim, Indo-South Asian, African, Latin American, the geopolitical region of the ASEAN countries. Is there an increased demand for Russia as a unique country-civilization capable of ensuring global balance?
Answer: You have a question for an entire international conference (for a period of two weeks). I will answer briefly.
What you call Russia’s relevance in geopolitics has been tested in 2022. Taking into account the pressure exerted by the West on all countries, they could well refuse this or say that they do not need Russia in international affairs. Could they? Yes. And they had a reason for this. Maybe not so much honest and sincere, but quite suitable as an excuse to use the moment to abandon the “unnecessary” and save “face”, explaining that they did not need Russia for a long time, but out of friendly feelings we were not “told” about it. They have been “pushed” and values that are under threat (economy, finance, stability, security, sovereignty) are at stake and now they can tell us. But exactly the opposite happened. On the contrary, despite the enormous pressure, the national positions of a number of countries and regions of our planet have been strengthened in their desire to pursue a sovereign policy, when they themselves will choose partners to whom to delegate the solution of their problems in the international arena, to take a neutral position (as they say), so that the conflicting parties have the opportunity to independently resolve their issues, or to fulfill the role of peacemakers or mediators.
In any case, they reconfirmed that they are not just sympathetic to the situation emerging from the West as endless provocations that led to an open phase of the crisis. That they respect our country and understand that without its presence the world would have long since fallen into the abyss of world conflicts and problems. This was reconfirmed in 2022. Not a time of well-being and prosperity, but when, it would seem, everyone should be for himself. We have passed this test. When I say “we”, I mean the role of Russia in the global world order.
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