Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at a meeting of the United Russia General Council’s Commission on International Cooperation and Support for Compatriots Abroad, Moscow, February 3, 2023
Colleagues,
We are holding the fifth meeting of the United Russia General Council’s Commission on International Cooperation and Support for Compatriots Abroad. I see this as evidence of our stable and systemic work. We can see that it brings good results and is helping us at the party and official diplomatic levels.
Today we will discuss a package of issues related to the growth of our cooperation with Asian, African and Latin American countries, including in the interests of resisting the modern practices and manifestations of neocolonialism.
It is no secret that the consequences of colonialism and the misguided policy of its modern manifestations are among the main reasons for the deep development inequalities in the world. There is no statute of limitations for the colonisers’ crimes, which forever deprives the Western elites of the right to moral leadership, especially considering that the coloniser instincts have not gone away.
Today, the “collective West,” which achieved its prosperity mostly after centuries of plunder and exploitation of developing countries, is trying to preserve its global domination so as to continue to deal with its development problems and to support its economy at the expense of other countries. The West continues to hinder the development of democratic international relations. With this aim in view, it has been aggressively trying to force a neocolonial, US-centric “rules-based order” onto the international majority, with rules they themselves invent and apply at will.
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At the same time, they have been doing their utmost to falsify history and to erase the historical memory of the colonisers’ horrible crimes, notably genocide, ethnic cleansing, slave trade, racism, and the plunder and destruction of the natural and cultural heritage of ancient civilisations.
Our county had worked for decades to assist the world’s nations in their struggle for liberation from the colonial yoke. We provided substantial and largely free assistance to develop their statehoods, create economic foundations, strengthen defences, and train skilled personnel. It was on our initiative that in December 1960 the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
We support the developing countries’ demand to finish the decolonisation process in full compliance with the decision of the UN General Assembly. However, France, for example, still maintains sovereignty and control over the island of Mayotte, in the Comoros, despite the numerous UN General Assembly resolutions urging Paris to return it to the Union of the Comoros. Likewise, London controls the Chagos Archipelago it seized from Mauritius, and there are other examples. We will continue to support our African colleagues’ justified demands.
Russia has always been on the side of the truth. Today we are at the forefront of international efforts to uphold the basic principles of the UN Charter, including the fundamental principle of respect for the sovereign equality of states.
In this context, it is logical that about three fourths of the world’s countries, which have kept their dignity and independence, refuse to live in the Western system of coordinates and know about the manners of their former parent states from their own experience, have not joined the anti-Russia sanctions. They have taken a balanced stand on the conflict in Ukraine, which stems from a years-long security crisis in Europe.
We are working actively to explain the factors that have led to the current situation. Our regular contacts with African, Asian and Latin American countries show that they understand our position. This is why we are actively developing relations with them in all spheres. We are steadily strengthening our strategic partnership with China. Relations between Moscow and Beijing are the best ever. We are steadily and intensively developing relations of privileged strategic partnership with India. Despite Western pressure, we are promoting close and multifaceted cooperation with Southeast Asian countries, especially ASEAN nations. Our relations with the majority of Asian countries, namely Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and North Korea, are on the rise.
As part of efforts to overcome the consequences of colonialism, we are giving special attention to cooperation with Africa, which is gaining new momentum. We are working with African countries on the agenda of the second Russia-Africa Summit, which is scheduled to take place in St Petersburg in late July. We expect the International Parliamentary Forum, which will convene in Moscow in March and will be attended by our African partners, to contribute to these preparations and to help strengthen ties between our countries. The programme of the summit in St Petersburg will include a second Russia-Africa Economic Forum. Our efforts include the regular coordination of our foreign policy stands between our foreign ministries. I have recently returned from yet another tour of Africa. We will be delighted to welcome our colleagues from the African countries’ foreign ministries in Russia. We are planning such contacts.
We see that African countries are playing a growing role in global politics and the economy. Their collective voice increasingly sounds in harmony on the international stage. We welcome the ongoing comprehensive emancipation of African counties. We can see this in the continuing contraction of the sphere of France’s neocolonial influence in Central and West Arica. This has caused a nervous reaction in Paris, which is demonstrating resolve never to give up what it used to regard as its own. We continue to act on the principle of sovereign equality of states, according to which all countries are free to choose their partners.
Our ties with Middle East states and the Arab part of Africa are going into high gear. We are planning to develop interaction as part of the strategic dialogue between Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council and between Russia and the Arab League. We have an active ministerial forum with the latter. We are discussing preparations for its next meeting later this year.
Latin America is playing an increasingly prominent role in the emerging polycentric world system. It is a friendly region for us. A versatile dialogue has been established with the overwhelming majority of Latin American states. It is ongoing and deepening. Promising joint initiatives are in the offing, despite the unprecedented pressure brought to bear on the Latin Americans by the United States and other countries of the “collective West.” Relations with Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia have been developing in the spirit of true strategic partnership. We set a high value on cooperation with all Latin American partners, including such leading countries as Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. Recently, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko attended the inauguration of President Lula da Silva in Brazil. She had an opportunity to hold detailed and substantive talks both with the new national leader and heads of other delegations present at the ceremony.
We continue interacting with developing countries – the world’s majority –both bilaterally and at various multilateral organisations. Let me note in particular the dialogue within the framework of SCO and BRICS. There is no heavy-handed discipline there (like at NATO and EU), nor are there leaders and followers, with decisions taken based on a true balance of interests. Owing to this, they live up in full to the UN Charter’s demand to respect the sovereign equality of all states. This is one of the chief factors encouraging an increasing number of countries to promote relations with, and eventually join, these associations of a new type.
We are promoting relations with the League of Arab States, the African Union, and many sub-regional associations in Africa. Contacts with Latin American organisations are making good progress. I am referring, among others, to ALBA, MERCOSUR (which cooperates with the EAEU), and CELAC, with which ministerial dialogue is maintained. Many processes have been suspended on account of Covid-related restrictions. All of this will be resumed now.
The West, which, in President Vladimir Putin’s apt words, is an “empire of lies,” has not been seen as a “beacon of democracy” for a long time. The United States and its NATO satellites have undermined whatever was left of their reputation as reliable international partners that can be negotiated with. There is a growing awareness around the world that no country can be safe from expropriation, from “state-level banditry” on the part of former colonial powers. Not only Russia, but also other states (and their number is growing) are consistently reducing their dependence on the US dollar. We are reaching agreements with our partners, who think the same way, to shift national currencies in international transactions, to develop alternative payment and logistics systems so as not to depend on the whims or dictates of a country that has declared itself a hegemon, and in a broader sense, to establish a fairer global monetary, financial, trade and economic architecture. These efforts objectively contribute to the fight against new manifestations of neocolonialism. Brazilian President Lula da Silva recently proposed an initiative to create a common currency in international transactions with Argentina, as part of CELAC. He proposed thinking about this at the next BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa, at the end of August.
We see that parliamentary and party diplomacy is already making its valuable input into the common effort. We are pleased that Russian political institutions have established close and constructive contacts with their colleagues from foreign parties and associations. This was once again confirmed in November 2022, during the Russian delegation’s participation in the General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Turkey and in the ICAPP Special Conference “Security and Cooperation: The Role of Political Parties” in Azerbaijan.
United Russia has proposed a promising initiative to hold an international forum of supporters of the fight against modern neocolonial practices in Moscow. It was supported by President Vladimir Putin. The Russian Foreign Ministry is ready to contribute in every possible way to the implementation of this initiative.
We support the proposal to create the Friends of Russia Club, a project that will include a broad online discussion platform aimed at maintaining friendship and trust with our partners and colleagues abroad, promoting traditional values, and popularising works of Russian culture.
We highly value the youth projects of the United Russia party. One of them is the People of Artek international outreach to the children of our compatriots to strengthen their ties with their historical Motherland. It is an important initiative, especially in modern conditions, when the Russian world is threatened with fragmentation, and the devaluation of its contribution to the development of humankind.
I am confident that the implementation of these and other initiatives will help promote our country’s consolidated foreign policy. President Vladimir Putin is currently considering an updated Foreign Policy Concept, which incorporates all the new elements and related goals. I hope that after approval, we will look at the issues that may require additional attention from our Commission.