Ladies and gentlemen,

Mr Al Nahyan,

Friends,

We have finished the fourth ministerial meeting of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum in Abu Dhabi.

The forum has become an effective mechanism for strengthening Russia’s multifaceted cooperation with the countries of the Middle East and North Africa and the League of Arab States. It is a highly useful venue for productive dialogue on burning regional and international issues. Today we have reaffirmed the importance of this mechanism.

We discussed the situation in the region and stressed the importance of enhancing the effectiveness of the fight against terrorism. We are grateful to our Arab colleagues for supporting the initiative of President of Russia Vladimir Putin on creating a truly universal counterterrorism front. Acting on this premise, we discussed the tasks facing the parties in the context of defeating ISIS, settling the conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya and stabilising the situation in Iraq. We discussed developments in Sudan and Somalia and the situation in the Middle East settlement. We support the efforts taken in the framework of these conflicts to bring about a political dialogue and national accord and facilitate the settlement of these conflicts without foreign interference and based on respect for the interests of all groups without exception, including ethnic, religious and political groups, in each of the above countries.   

I would like to express gratitude to our friends for their high opinion of Russia’s position on the Middle East settlement, which was set out in the document we have adopted, including President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to use a Russian venue for a direct dialogue between the leadership of Palestine and Israel and the recent intra-Palestinian meeting held in Moscow in the interests of restoring Palestinian unity.

We also discussed the implementation of agreements that were incorporated in the 2016−2018 Action Plan for the implementation of the principles and objectives of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum a year ago. We pointed to the importance of regularly monitoring our joint efforts, including economic, humanitarian, cultural, education and other forms of cooperation.

We are extremely grateful to the United Arab Emirates, their leaders and all those who helped us hold an effective and useful meeting today. We have proposed holding the fifth meeting of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum in Russia next year.

Question: What does the UAE think about the meeting on the Syrian settlement held in Astana?

Sergey Lavrov (speaking after Abdullah Al Nahyan): As our distinguished Chairman has said, the meeting in Astana was designed as a starting point for direct talks and to create the most favourable environment, which is a cease-fire. The document on the ceasefire is open to all those armed groups willing to sign it, except, of course, ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, no matter what name it may go by. I can once again say that, several days before the meeting in Astana, two Southern Front units joined the agreements on a ceasefire and to start the talks, credit for which goes to our friends from Jordan who provided substantial help in this regard. Not only Russia, Turkey and Iran, as the monitoring mechanism organisers, but also Jordan help to expand the number of participants of the ceasefire and the negotiations process. We expect the number of groups that will join these agreements to grow. We have already mentioned that the mere fact of announcing the upcoming meeting in Astana caused our friends from the UN to recall that they, too, must be part of the negotiations. They have set a date, which, however, has already been put off from February 8 to the end of the month, but I hope that there will not be too many such postponements.

Question: How can Russia and the Arab world step up their efforts to resolve the Syrian issue? Is it possible to improve cooperation in that area?

Sergey Lavrov: As to whether it’s possible to improve the efficiency of our cooperation and enhance coordination between Russia and the Arab countries in their efforts to address the region's problems or to assist in resolving them, the sky’s the limit, and you can always pose increasingly ambitious goals for yourself. But I believe that our track record of recent years in our relations with the Arab countries is quite impressive. Let me remind you that in addition to the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum, which gathered today for its fourth session, there’s a ministerial forum between Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which also serves as a framework for productive dialogue to share assessments of particular situations and to bring our positions closer together. In most cases, our strategic goals are in alignment. In a number of areas, we have slight tactical differences regarding the best ways to achieve our goals. However, I believe that both in a multilateral format, and the format of bilateral relations between Russia and all the countries of the Arab world, we are working fairly effectively, including at the highest level.

You mentioned Syria specifically. We discussed this issue at length and agreed on many things. There are ISSG decisions, the UN Security Council resolution, now we have Astana agreements, and we look forward to resuming talks under the auspices of the UN. The Astana forum will assist in this process. I’d be remiss not to mention the fact that the Syrian government, a legitimate UN member, cannot participate in the Arab League discussions. It certainly does not help our common cause. I’m aware that there are other forms of contact, and we very much welcome them, but I believe the Arab League could play a more important and effective role here if the Syrian government were part of this organisation.

Question: Let's return to the question about Syria. Could you comment on the new US administration’s stance regarding the possibility of creating safe zones in Syria? How realistic is that? Do you think it’s a good idea?

Sergey Lavrov: I can comment on these statements. We understand that President Trump’s administration has yet to specify their approaches. As you know, the idea of safe zones was discussed early on during the Syrian crisis. Back then, they wanted to reproduce a very sad Libyan experience, when the creation of this kind of zone was announced in the Benghazi area, held by the anti-government forces, and something like an alternative government was created there. The international community, in the form of NATO, “rushed to help” this “government” and, in flagrant violation of a UN Security Council resolution, overthrew the Gaddafi government.

I do not see in today’s ideas that we are hearing from Washington any attempts to go down that same path. Again, that path was very unfortunate. Everyone realised it after Libya had been destroyed. To this day, we are trying to help the Libyans to restore their territorial integrity, their own state. As I understand it, when the Americans talk about safe zones, they are primarily interested in reducing the number of migrants coming to the West from that region, including Syria. I repeat, we are ready for discussions and debates, and we are ready to listen to the evaluation of the new US administration’s ideas. As soon as the leadership of the US State Department takes its final shape, I’m convinced that we will establish contacts with them and embark on a full-fledged regular dialogue. I’m confident that it will be aimed at achieving pragmatic results, calming the situation and promoting settlement in Syria, Libya, Yemen and elsewhere in the region. I’m also certain that this dialogue will not come under a dictate of profoundly ideological motives when it comes to “democratisation” and the like.

Question: Russia is now under EU and US sanctions. While in the UAE, have you talked about the potential of the Russian economy and trade?

Sergey Lavrov: We discuss prospects for mutually beneficial trade, expansion of mutually beneficial investments in each other’s economies and cooperation in various fields with all the countries of the region, including the UAE. This has nothing to do with the sanctions, which were imposed unilaterally in an illegitimate manner and in circumvention of the UN Security Council. We do not discuss these sanctions with our Western partners, although they occasionally bring up this issue, saying something to the effect that they are willing to lift them, but Russia has to do something more with regard to Ukraine. This situation persists even though everyone is aware of who is keeping the situation in Ukraine in a deadlock, and the most recent provocations by the Kiev regime are further proof of this. Even the deeply biased German media – I believe it was Suddeutsche Zeitung – admitted that President of Ukraine Petr Poroshenko is behind it all. For him, it is crucial to aggravate the situation in order to keep Ukraine high on the agenda. But let it be on his conscience. He signed the Minsk Agreements and must comply with them.

Thus, the sanctions imposed on us have nothing to do with our cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and all the other countries in the region, including Egypt. We are interested in these relations as something that has intrinsic value and remains unaffected by political fluctuations. These countries are our strategic partners. It’s a region that we want to see stable so that we can continue to cooperate without having to look back at security issues.

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Responding to a proposal by the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, to hold the next forum in St Petersburg, I would like to say that we will be pleased to do so. But let’s not wait until next year. Come to Moscow and St Petersburg any time you like. I invite you, regardless of when the next forum will be.

Our distinguished Chairman mentioned the St Petersburg Hermitage, and I know from yesterday's discussion of our bilateral relations, that a branch of the Louvre is being built here in Abu Dhabi. A branch of the Guggenheim Museum is already open. I believe it’s time to have a branch of the Hermitage built in Abu Dhabi as well. I think our relations will only benefit from that.