THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
official site

On October 31 - November 1, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will make a working visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he will attend the first ministerial meeting of the Russia – Gulf Cooperation Council (Russia-GCC) Strategic Dialogue.

Russia has consistently advocated for improving many-sided relations with the GCC member countries. Multifaceted cooperation with the Council in bilateral and multilateral formats meets Russian long-term interests, and helps strengthen the position of our country in the Arab Muslim world.

Work with the Council is at the same time an integral part of Russian activity in the Islamic sector. The development of the Russia-GCC dialogue mechanism will facilitate advancing our own, including business interests in the Islamic world, and attracting its funds into the Russian economy from the viewpoint of the tasks of modernization.

Russia has with GCC member countries a rich political dialogue that involves the most complex processes occurring in the world and the Middle East. Special attention at the upcoming meetings in Abu Dhabi will be devoted to discussing the issues of political and diplomatic settlement of the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa and of creating the conditions for the region’s transition from a prolonged crisis stage to peace, stability, sustained development and security in the Persian Gulf zone.

Contacts with the GCC are designed to promote greater coordination between our countries in combating transnational terrorism and religious extremism, fostering a dialogue among civilizations, and elaborating joint steps to neutralize the new threats and challenges in the region.

One of the priority topics of conversations will be the development of economic, commercial and investment cooperation. Recently, Russian economic operators have shown a growing interest to participate in major projects in the Persian Gulf; trade is picking up. The main objective of this phase is to ensure a rapid and sustainable expansion of mutually beneficial ties, particularly in those areas in which Russia and the GCC member countries are able to make maximum use of the existing potential for interaction and to complement each other’s capabilities. Among the most promising areas of cooperation are oil and gas, energy, transport infrastructure, the introduction of advanced Russian technologies, including in the field of peaceful nuclear energy, outer space, tourism, cultural and humanitarian spheres.

A Memorandum of Understanding for strategic dialogue and cooperation between Russia and the GCC member states is expected to be signed at the end of the meeting.

During his visit to the United Arab Emirates, Lavrov is scheduled to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed Al Nahyan and other UAE political leaders, to discuss topical issues of the regional and international agenda, as well as the state of and ways to develop bilateral relations.

On October 28, at the Foreign Ministry Mansion – following the International Specialized High-level Conference on combating the spread of counterfeit medical products being held these days under Council of Europe auspices – there will be opened for signature the new Council of Europe Convention on Counterfeiting of Medical Products and Similar Crimes involving Threats to Public Health (unofficial name – the Council Europe “MediCrime Convention”).

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the event.

In this connection I will say that PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu is in Moscow on a working visit for participation in the Conference and meetings with senior officials of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. It is expected that the Convention will be signed at the ceremony by authorized representatives of a number of countries, including Austria, Germany, Cyprus, Portugal, Finland, France, Ukraine and Switzerland.

The new criminal law Convention was developed by government experts, and representatives of civil society, science and the pharmaceutical sector at the initiative of several Council of Europe member states, including Russia. The decision to this effect was adopted at a ministerial conference in Moscow during Russia's chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2006.

The main task of the Convention is to coordinate the efforts of manufacturers and associations of consumers of medical products to fight medical counterfeits in order to ensure patient access to essential medicines of assured quality.

On October 25-26, in furtherance of the detailed conversation of Mikhail Bogdanov, our Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, with Head of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas in Amman (Jordan), the Minister’s special envoy for the Middle East peace process, the director of the Middle East and North Africa Department, Sergey Vershinin held extensive contacts with the Palestinians and Israelis on a broad agenda, including the regional situation and the development of bilateral relations. The main subject at the meetings was the task of restarting Palestinian-Israeli talks on the generally recognized international legal basis, confirmed, as we know, at the ministerial meeting of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators in New York on 23 September. The Russian side devoted particular attention to the need to avoid provocative actions, especially in the area of settlement activity in accordance with the obligations of the parties under the Roadmap.

On October 26 in Jerusalem, Vershinin participated in separate meetings with the sides of the special representatives of the Quartet involving Tony Blair to begin the implementation of the provisions of the Quartet statement of September 23, 2011.

The representatives of both sides expressed their willingness to interact with the Quartet on the basis of the statement in order to overcome existing obstacles and resume bilateral negotiations without delay or preconditions.

The representatives of the sides agreed with the Quartet to submit detailed proposals on territory and security issues in the coming three months in the context of an overall commitment to the resumption of direct talks leading to a settlement before the end of 2012. The special representatives reiterated the Quartet 23 September appeal to refrain from provocative actions so that the negotiations can have the desired effect.

The special representatives agreed to hold regular contacts with the sides in the coming 90 days to assess the state of affairs.

We presume that the lifting of the Libya no-fly zone should be implemented by a decision of the UN Security Council. The Russian Federation has put forward in New York an appropriate draft Security Council resolution.

Any unilateral action in this area is unacceptable and in contradiction with Resolution 1973 of the UN Security Council, which established the no-fly zone. Since the ban on the use of the Libyan airspace has long since become an anachronism (many countries orient their national carriers toward free flights between Tripoli and Benghazi and several other cities), that resolution must be passed quickly. We hope that the review of the document in the Security Council today, October 27, will be fruitful.

Pursuant to the Russian Government order of October 1, 2011, Russia will provide humanitarian assistance to Libya through international organizations worth a total of US$ 7 million. Of this amount:

$2 million - as a lump sum earmarked contribution to the World Food Program (WFP) Fund for food aid;

$2 million - as a lump sum earmarked contribution to the World Health Organization (WHO) Fund to assist in ensuring the health of the population;

1$ million - as a lump sum earmarked contribution to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) budget;

2$ million - as a lump sum earmarked contribution to the fund of the International Civil Defense Organization (ICDO) for providing the population of Libya with essential humanitarian supplies, the list of which is currently being clarified.

In northern Kosovo the situation remains tense. There are continued attempts to use the international presences deployed in Kosovo – the Kosovo Force and EU Rule of Law Mission – to extend Pristina’s control to the Serb-populated areas.

We are closely monitoring the situation, which requires carefully designed, balanced steps. It is important to prevent aggravation of the situation, a new surge in violence fraught with civilian casualties.

We presume that the basis for the settlement of emerging issues should be a dialogue with the participation of the stakeholders, based on fundamental international legal instruments, especially Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council.

Due to the deteriorating situation in northern Kosovo a series of meetings has been held in recent days between mayors of municipalities of the Serb-populated part of the province and the leaders of the Kosovo Force and the EU Rule of Law Mission. So far, unfortunately, according to incoming reports, no agreements have been reached to defuse the situation. The stumbling block is still the question of presence of Kosovo Albanian police and customs officers at the crossing points of the administrative line between Kosovo and Serbia.

We presume that the negotiation process should be continued with the participation of the UN Mission in Kosovo, whose authority in accordance with UNSC Resolution 1244 has not been canceled. At the same time the international presences should act within their mandates in the status neutral manner.

We received a request from Radio Romania to comment on the contacts of Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Gubarev in Bucharest on Transnistrian issues.

Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi had expressed a wish to intensify such bilateral contacts as he met with Sergey Lavrov in New York. So the consultations were held in line with their agreement on closer dialogue with the Romanian colleagues.

On October 19 Gubarev met with Bogdan Aurescu, Romanian MFA State Secretary for European Affairs. Before the meeting he had a conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs Baconschi.

The consultations focused on the situation in the Transnistrian settlement, taking into account the positive changes in the process due first of all to the decision made in Moscow on September 22, 2011 by the “5 plus 2” participants to resume the official work of the “Permanent conference on political issues within the negotiation process towards a Transnistrian settlement.”

Such inter-foreign ministry consultations are a normal process that provides a good opportunity for their participants to learn each other’s positions on issues of interest.

In mid-October severe tropical storms hit Central American countries that caused heavy flooding and landslides. Worst affected is Guatemala (where on October 18 a state of emergency was declared for a period of 30 days), along with El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. According to regional authorities’ reports, the total number of victims has exceeded 100; more than 100,000 people are left without shelter.

Although at present the meteorological situation has somewhat stabilized, the arrival of a new storm front is anticipated.

We recommend that Russian citizens consider these circumstances when planning trips to Central America.

According to data of the Russian Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand’s situation remains extremely tense. To date, flooding has already affected northern districts of Bangkok; under the threat of flooding are a number of the central streets of the capital, including the royal palace, popular among foreign tourists, and the adjoining temple complexes. On October 25, the Don Muang airport, which is used mainly for domestic flights, suspended operation. There are reports of a possible partial flooding of the city’s business center, which houses the Russian diplomatic mission.

The situation is evolving rapidly and in a very alarming manner.

To date, the Embassy has received no information about any Russians hurt as a result of the floods. Russian citizens’ calls are mainly for reference, inquiring about the situation in the main resorts on the coast of the Kingdom - in the city of Pattaya, on the islands of Phuket and Samui. The situation in these towns remains calm.

The Russian diplomatic mission is in constant touch with the Centre for Disaster Management in Thailand, local authorities and police to get timely information on developments.

The Russian MFA strongly advises all Russian citizens to refrain from visiting Bangkok for the time being, tourists wishing to rest at the island resorts to plan their arrival routes bypassing the Thai capital.

I want to again draw attention to another event forthcoming today, October 27. The Mansion of the Foreign Ministry will host as part of the International Music Project "Russian Muses to the World” a concert of Russian performers of classical music dedicated to the summit of the Group of Twenty in Cannes. More detailed information was posted on the Ministry’s website a few days ago.

From the answers to media questions:

Q: Could you comment on the reports of upcoming consultations at the Russian Foreign Ministry concerning the resumption of six-party talks on Korean Peninsula nuclear issue?

Answer: In accordance with previous agreements, scheduled consultations took place on October 27 between Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin and Lim Sung-nam, Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea, the head of the ROK delegation to the Six-Party Talks to resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear problem.

Tomorrow, 28 October, talks will be held at the Ministry between First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Denisov and Deputy Foreign Minister Borodavkin, and DPRK First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan. In the course of the contacts it is planned to discuss the problem of resuming six-party talks to resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Such preparatory consultations and talks are currently being held in different formats. I want to emphasize that the holding of tripartite meetings is not planned.

Q: During Serzh Sargsyan’s recent state visit to Moscow the Russian and Armenian Presidents held a joint telephone conversation with the President of Turkey in connection with the earthquake there. Can this be interpreted as an attempt by Russia to act in the role of mediator in the matter of normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations?

Answer: As far as I know, in the telephone conversation Medvedev and Sargsyan expressed their condolences over the grave natural disaster that befell Turkey and support for the Turkish people at the current difficult period. I would not interpret it as something along the lines of mediation attempt aimed at normalizing relations between Armenia and Turkey.

Perhaps the Presidential Press Office could provide you with more information.

Q: Russian President Medvedev has repeatedly talked about the support of compatriots, inter alia legal aid to those who have found themselves in difficult situations abroad, including Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko. Is there any information regarding the situation of Vladimir Sadovnichy arrested in Tajikistan?

Answer: Due to the large number of questions on this topic, yesterday on the Ministry website we placed information concerning the assessment of the incident and the actions being taken by the Russian Foreign Ministry jointly with the Embassy and Consulate General in Tajikistan to clarify all the circumstances of what happened. We will give our citizen the necessary advice and support. As the events surrounding the arrested Sadovnichy evolve, we will inform members of the media.

Q: What are the expectations of the Russian side in the upcoming presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan?

Answer: Good luck to the Kyrgyz people and the leadership of Kyrgyzstan, with whom we have longstanding ties of friendship and close cooperation, allied understanding in various formats. I am sure that the Kyrgyz people will choose worthy leaders for themselves, and we will respect any expression of their will. By the way, Russian observers will watch the elections, including within the framework of the monitoring mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.