Briefing by the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexander Lukashevich, 17 October 2013
Meeting between the Russian Foreign Minister and participants of the Young Global Leaders' international summit
On the 21 October the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet participants of the Young Global Leaders' international summit which opened on the 18 October.
The Community of Young Global Leaders is a club uniting more than 700 young businessmen, politicians, scientists and community leaders from 70 countries of the world acting under the aegis of the World Economic Forum (WEF). This event is being held in Russia for the first time, on the side-lines of the annual Moscow WEF session. Participants at the forthcoming meeting will exchange their opinions in the "round table" format on topical problems of the social and economic development of Russia, the role of our country in the modern world, and they will put questions they are interested in to the Minister.
The event on the occasion of 70 years of Moscow Conference between the Foreign Ministers of the USSR, the USA and the UK
On the 23 October, a ceremonial event devoted to 70 years of the Moscow Conference (1943) between the Foreign Ministers of the USSR, the USA and the UK will be held in the Mansion of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One of the principal results of this Conference was the signing of the Declaration on General Security, which became an important step along the way to the creation of the United Nations.
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the heads of several agencies and community organisations, the representatives of scientific circles and veterans of the diplomatic service will participate in the meeting.
The forthcoming meeting between the Russian Foreign Minister and the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization
On the 23 October, a meeting will be held between the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Li Yong, who will make his first official visit to Moscow after his election in June.
It is expected that during their talk the parties will review in detail issues of improvement of the work of UNIDO with the new management, strengthening of positions of this special institution within the UN system, and deepening of its cooperation with Russia, including prospects of the implementation of joint projects in the area of contributing to development in the CIS space.
Meeting between the Russian Foreign Minister and the Vice President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba
On the 23 October, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will conduct a meeting with the Vice President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, who will make a working visit to the Russian Federation.
The parties will discuss priority issues on the agenda of the Russian-Cuban political dialogue, as well as individual international and regional problems.
We assume that Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz's forthcoming contacts with representatives of the Russian government during his stay in our country, as well as the 11th session of the Intergovernmental Russian-Cuban Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation scheduled for 24-25 October in Moscow, will give an additional impulse to working through the practical issues of our bilateral interaction in the area of strategic partnershiprelations which are developing between Russia and Cuba.
Participation of the Russian Foreign Minister in the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers
On the 24 October, on the eve of the CIS summit, a session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of member countriesof the Commonwealth will be held in Minsk. The agenda includes issues related to the key lines of multilateral interaction in the CIS space.
Heads of foreign services will exchange opinions on topical problems on the international agenda, practical aspects of development of multi-faceted cooperation within the CIS.
The Ministers will coordinate draft decisions of the Council of Heads of State about unified anniversary awards, to announce 2015 in the Commonwealth as the Year of Veterans, as well as the Plan of principal events to prepare and celebrate 70 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
The Ministers will discuss issues of next year's implementation of the interstate programme "Cultural Capitals of the Commonwealth", draft Strategies of development of interaction in the area of tourism until 2020 and the Plan of events for 2014-2015 within the framework of the Strategy of interaction and youth cooperation. In the law enforcement area, the plan is to revise the draft Agreement on the establishment of the Interstate Council for counteracting corruption and mid-term programmes of joint actions to combat crimes, terrorism, human trafficking and drug traffic.
The Ministerial session of the Sub-Committee for international cooperation of the Russian-Ukrainian interstate commission
On the 28 October in Rostov-on-Don, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will conduct negotiations with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, as well as the eighth session of the Sub-Committee for International Cooperation of the Russian-Ukrainian interstate commission headed by the heads of the foreign services of the two counties.
Six sub-commissions were created and are working within the Sub-Committee: on issues of interaction in combating new challenges and threats, the settlement of regional conflicts, the Azov-Kerch peace process, the border and consular topic, as well as cooperation on international organisations.
At the session in Rostov, all issues within the competence of these sub-commissions will be reviewed in detail.
Furthermore, the heads of the MFAs intend to discuss other topical issues of bilateral Russian-Ukrainian cooperation, the most important international problems, in particular, the topic of European security. Particular attention will be paid to the Transnistria peace process.
The forthcoming meeting between Sergey Lavrov and Leonid Kozhara is evidence of the active political dialogue between the foreign services of Russia and Ukraine.
The current situation in Syria
The situation in Syria is characterised by the increasing escalation of armed fighting between government troops and forces confronting them. These confrontations did not even calm down during the large Muslim Holiday Eid al-Adha.
The Army pressed the opponents near Damascus and returned the southern suburbs of the capital city under its control. On the 16 October, the mass media reported that the town of Buveyda located not far from the sacred Shiite Sanctity – a tomb of the prophet's granddaughter Zeinab -had been liberated. The blockade of Aleppo was broken through, which allowed suppliesto be restored to regions under governmental control and garrisons of this city with a population of four-million. The armed opposition also has its successes: according to the incoming information it took the central prison of Aleppoby storm.
With reference to sources within the armed opposition, the mass media report that a split between them and confrontations between "laic" units of the Free Syrian Army, as well as different formations of Islamists in their fight for areas of influence, is growing.
In the north-east of the country, Kurd militia continued to fight back attacks by militants from al-Qaeda linked terrorist organisations such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Jabhat al-Nusra, inflicting tangible losses upon them and preventing the plundering of Syria'spetroleum riches.
Anti-governmental groupings used terror methods again – suicide bombers, mined cars, non-selective mortaring of residential quarters of Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, kidnapping of people, including thosewho fulfil a noble humanitarian mission in the country, which is being torn apart by the internal conflict. We reported about the kidnapping of the ICRC's employees, three of whom have not been released yet. The Russian blogger and traveller Konstantin Zhuravlev is still detained by militants. All necessary efforts are being made to learn about his fate and obtain his safe return home.
Taking into account the continuing important work of the OPCW-UN disarmament mission, it has become evident that at least part of armed opposition not only has no intent to contribute to its success, but is attempting to disrupt the efforts to implement UNSC resolution 2118.
The report of the Human Rights Watch published on the 11 October, again acutely raised the issue of the growing number of religious and ethnic crimes during the Syrian conflict. We are learning about new facts of violation and destruction of cult buildings, murders, rapes, persecutions.
At the same time the opposition uses true provocations and public speculations, as it was around the ancient church of Saint Constantine and Helena equal to the apostles in Yabrud, which is being held by Islamists and local Mafiosi. Last week several mass media publicised a message about the alleged hitting of this building by an artillery missile launched from positions of government forces. However, church-goers later found several explosive devices installed by unknown persons in this temple – the head of the Melkite Church Patriarch Gregory III confirmed this. During his visit to the United Kingdom he spoke about the misfortunes of Christians under the power of Islamists, having reminded his audience that the militants levied a Middle Ages tax ("jizya")on Christian families of Jabrud, which was collected from persons adhering to a different faith and amounting to 35 thousand US dollars.
In general, the situation in the battlefield and the aggravation of the humanitarian situation, as well as the need to advance the issue of the chemical demilitarisation of Syria, in our estimation, insistently call for the activation of efforts to launch a political settlement of the Syrian crisis faster on the basis of the agreed international legal basis. Russia will attempt to achieve this, appealing to the Syrian parties, as well as partners in the region and beyond it, to implement the provisions of the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012 and to convene the international conference Geneva-2 this November.
Participation of Syria in the Chemical Weapons Convention
The Russian Federation welcomes the full format participation of the Syrian Arab Republic in the Chemical Weapons Convention (OPCW), which entered into force on the 14 October. The choice made by the Syrian authorities in favour of complete refusal ofchemical weapons was an important and principled event, which allowed the reduction of the level of international tension around this country and the avoidance of the forceful scenario of the development of events.
For more than a month Damascus has been demonstrating its openness and readiness towards close cooperation with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN. Bashar al-Assad's government ensures international inspection activities at announced sites and has already started to destroy key equipment related to the chemical armsprogramme. To that end it is necessary that the opposite party in the internal Syrian conflict (i.e. the opposition) rigorously implement the requirements of UN Security Council resolution 2118 in terms of providing OPCW and UN staff with all possible assistance during the implementation of their joint mission.
Syria was the 190th member of the OPCW which has recently been awarded with a prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for its contribution to chemical disarmament. Credit for this also goes to the Russian Federation, which is an active participant of the OPCW, and has always consistently spoken in favour of the universalisation of this multilateral agreement and continues to appeal to the countries, which have not done this yet, to take this step immediately to help humanity rid itself of the hazard of chemical weapons.
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Pursuant to the decision of the Executive Committee of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on the elimination of the Syrian chemical arsenals of 27 September, the Organisation must approve the plan and schedule of their elimination by 15 November.
The working-out of the possible details of such a plan is currently going on in The Hague within the framework of the informal work group for the planning of the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons composed of representatives of Russia, Syria, the United States and the OPCW Technical Secretariat.
Experts consider different variants and technological means of elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons. Taking into account that this work has not been completed yet, it is too early to talk about any specific details.
At the same time we welcome the establishment of the OPCW-UN mission to Syria to ensure prompt elimination of Syrian chemical weapons under the guidance of the UN Coordinator Sigrid Kaag, which officially took place on the 16 October.
The situation around the attack on the Russian diplomat Dmitry Borodin
After the incident with the Minister-Councillor of the Russian Embassy in The Hague, Dmitry Borodin,on the night of the 5 to 6 October, the Dutch party has conducted an investigation, based on the results of which the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Frans Timmernans offered official apologies to Russia because of the violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. The Russian party was also provided with a report from the police of the Netherlands with statement of facts from the police version of the events.
The apologies offered by the Netherlands cannot be considered the end to these events. Russia is not satisfied with the situation, because there is still no reaction to the earlier highlighted key issues. In particular, with regard to holding liable the persons guilty of the violation of international law, the compensation of material and moral damages to the family of Dmitry Borodin. We expect that exhaustive answers to all the questions asked by the Russian party will be given at today's (17 October) meeting in The Hague between the Ambassador of Russia Roman Kolodkin and the Department of Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
Development of the situation around the Arctic Sunrise
Russian law enforcement agencies continue to investigate the events involving the participation of Greenpeace activists, which took place on the 18 September in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation, including the attack on the Prirazlomnaya platform.
Within the framework of this plot, the Netherlands, acting as the country whose flag the Arctic Sunrise was flying, attempted to free the ship and its crew. On the 4 October the Russian party was sent a notice informing us that the Netherlands had initiated arbitration proceedings to settle our disagreements. Such a possibility is envisaged under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. According to the Convention, until the arbitration is formed, temporary measures may be applied ensuring observation of the interests of the parties during core proceedings.
The Russian party is studying materials of the action brought by the Netherlands for the purposes of determining its position in this case. At the same time, when ratifying the Convention of 1982, the Russian Federation made a reservation about non-acknowledgement of jurisdiction of international bodies in disputes related to the implementation of sovereign rights and jurisdiction.
From answers to questions of the mass media:
Question: Iran's talks with the P5+1 international mediators have ended. Several experts have evaluated the results as not related to the issue of Iran's Nuclear Programme, but rather related to regional problems, in particular Syria. Can positive results of these talks affect the convention of the Geneva-2 international conference? Today the Vice Prime Minister Qadri Jamil defined the 23-24 November as the date of convention of this conference.
Answer: The Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov spoke in detail about the content and the results of the full-format dialogue between Iran and the P5+1 international mediators. You know his assessments.
I would not diminish the meaning of this round of talks. It was not simple, but rather promising from the point of view not only of the dynamics of the talks' process, which have increased lately, but also in terms of discussed problems. The Iranian party made new propositions to resolve key aspects of its nuclear programme. Propositions of Russia, as well as other participants to this process remain on the negotiation table. The next round of negotiations will be held on the 7-8 November in Geneva. Expert consultations on nuclear issues, and sanction activities must take place before this date. Such an approach highlights the interest of the parties not to artificially delay the search for political outcomes.
I would not directly correlate the talks on INP in Geneva and the prospects of political settlement in Syria – these are different degrees of problems. Nevertheless, the awareness is growing that Tehran also has to be invited to the forthcoming conference. Taking into account the role and the influence of this country in the region, it must participate in the future settlement of the Syrian crisis. Russia speaks actively in favour of this.
As to specific dates mentioned by Qadri Jamil, I can neither confirm nor deny them. This issue is within the competence of the UN Secretary-General under the aegis of whom the above mentioned international forum is convened. We will wait for him to announce the date of this conference. I repeat, it is important to substantially prepare for this forum rather than define its dates. The main thing is to make the Syrian opposition come to it as a consolidated entity, capable of acting and agreeing, which we cannot observe for the time being, taking into account the continuing breakdown of the National Coalition and the strengthening of the role of the terrorist organisations forming around al-Qaeda.
Question: Is it realistic to conduct Geneva-2 on the 23-24 November? What specific propositions were made by Tehran in Geneva? Were the P5+1 international mediators satisfied with them?
Answer: As to the date, I have nothing to add to the aforementioned. The UN Secretary-General, rather than the Syrian officials,is in charge of the convention of such events and the definition of specific dates. There is no need to run ahead of the story.
As you know, the Syrian government has confirmed its readiness to participate in the conference many times and has already appointed its authorised delegation. It is not difficult for us to define dates: even tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. We are talking about an important political step, specifically – the position of the Syrian opposition groups. Firstly, they must formulate a unified approach to Geneva-2, because today we hear threatening statements that the format of the conference is not acceptable to the opposition. Secondly, they announce that they are ready to go through to the end – until they overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad. This is directly contrary to the content of the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012 and UNSC resolution 2118 about the convention of the international conference on Syria.
As to the specific propositions of Iran, the logistics of the talks (especially such complicated ones) donot allow us to disclose all the details – diplomats do not share details with the press. If the Iranian party wishes to state its considerations to the mass media at any stage, it will do so. If you studied the joint statement of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, attentively,you must have noted that the P5+1 has perceived these propositions, which, in our opinion, may advance the negotiation process and are proof of the seriousness of intent of the Iranian party,as a search for political solutions.
Question:How will the interaction between Moscow and The Hague be affected by the beating of a Dutch diplomat in Moscow? What can Russia do to avoid further aggravation of its relations with the Netherlands?
Answer: I would not place such a question on such a plane – similar accidents frequently happen between different countries. It is bad that this occurred during the period of conduct of many events within the framework of the Years of culture of the two countries.
In general, the dynamics of our political dialogue with the Netherlands are very high. Despite our temporary difficulties, we expect to keep these rates and to find solutions, which will not allow aggravation of the atmosphere not only in the area of political interaction, but also of cooperation in various areas – humanitarian, economic and others. You know, that the Netherlands are one of our largest European as well as world investors. We are interested in preserving the level tried-and-tested jointly with our Dutch partners.
As to the incidents with Russian and Dutch diplomats, we have defined our position, especially in the last unpleasant incident, in connection with which the Russian party expressed its sincere regrets. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took the initiative and called his colleague Frans Timmernans and told him about the actions undertaken by Russian law enforcement agencies to find the persons who are guilty of attacking the employee of the Dutch diplomatic representation office. Some issues related to the attack on the Minister-Councillor in The Hague still remain open. I hope that these unpleasant incidents on the eve of completion of the bilateral years and conditions of our intensive political dialogue with The Hague, will not leave any negative residue in the general atmosphere of our cooperation. We note a very adequate reaction of the Dutch party to the latest events – there are no attempts to negatively play on this fact. We have felt the interest of our partners to jointly perform all necessary procedures. It is natural that at the same time we maintain our obligations under international agreements to ensure security guarantees to representatives of the diplomatic corps in Moscow. You know that a criminal case was initiated on the basis of this incident, and according to the latest actions of the Russian police, we expect to have operative results.
Question: Today the Vice Prime Minister of Syria for economic issues, Qadri Jamil, expressed uncertainty that the majority of the Syrian society supports the current regime, as well as expressing that "we need to step away from this regime gradually". Did you discuss this issue in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Did you touch upon the fate of Bashar al-Assad?
Answer: Firstly, we never discuss personalities. Secondly, during the meeting between the special representative of the President of Russia on the Middle East, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Bogdanov and Qadri Jamil, there was a sincere conversation about the Syrian conflict and the prospects for its political settlement. They also touched upon issues of our bilateral agenda. The Russian Federation has many cooperation projects and programmes with Syria, despite its bad economic condition. We attempt to provide humanitarian and economic assistance to this country as much as we can.
We will never discuss any issues related to personalities – it is for the Syrians themselves to agree how and in what forms they will govern their country in the future. This is the purpose of the political dialogue between the Government of Syria and the entire spectrum of the Syrian opposition within the framework of the conference in Geneva. We appeal to this, the Russian-American agreements and the main thing, UN Security Council resolution 2118, to guide us towards this.
I would not wish to comment on the statements of Qadri Jamil, because despite his position as Vice Prime Minister, he is also the head of a large opposition group "Popular Front for Change and Liberation". His position is his personal opinion. He has the right to express it, including in public.
Question:What are the prospects of convening the Geneva-2 conference if the coalition of the Syrian opposition insists on its refusal to attend?
Answer: It is not about a visit, but about comprehensive participation. If you followed the statements of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the last few days, you must have noted an important highlight – we should not delay the convening of this forum. The longer we delay the prospects of its convention, the more chance we have that radical Islamic groups in the Syrian Arab Republic take revenge for the lack of political prospects to settle the Syrian conflict. We all need to apply pressure on the Syrian parties, which must convene in Geneva and make their choice in favour of political methods of settling the accumulated problems. I repeat, the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is ready for that.
Today the main problem is that the situation within the Syrian opposition is becoming more complicated, because it is adapting and takes dangerous forms of armed fight inside Syria, rejecting prospects of any political settlement. This trend must be broken as soon as possible. We expect that our American colleagues, who have frequently told us that they will make the opposition join for the purposes of political settlement, will force it to come to Geneva to start a dialogue with the Government. We hope that several regional countries openly sponsoring opposition groups, will influence the Syrian opposition in general to make it comprehensively and widely participate according to available agreements. It is not mandatory to have a unified delegation of the opposition under the "roof" of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, as our Western colleagues want. We see that our latest trends have almost "buried" such a prospect, because the coalition has never been a single core around which the position of all opposition groups has formed. It is a rather topical and an extremely complicated issue. Nevertheless, our negotiation partners and we do not lose sight of the prospect, work actively at all levels for the implementation of the idea of the conference included in the latest solutions, including UNSC resolution 2118.
Question:Could you comment on the interview of Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Moscow, Polad Bülbüloğlu, in connection with the detainment of an Azerbaijani national in Moscow who is suspected of committing a crime in Birulevo. Can you confirm the fact of a note being sent by the Azerbaijani party on this issue to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs?
Answer: We have certainly paid attention to yesterday's (16 October) interview of the highly respected Mr. Polad Bülbüloğlu to Dozhdj TV Channel. Frankly speaking, such statements surprised us.
As you know, messages of the Russian mass media and statements of representatives of state bodies in connection with the events in Western Birulevo did not have any emphasis on national aspects. We base ourselves on the rule of law and the inevitability of punishment of crimes committed. To that end, we note that statements of the Azerbaijani representatives about the (quote) "exaggeration of anti-Azerbaijani hysteria in Russia" are of an artificial nature and without grounds.
I confirm that we have received a note from the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Moscow asking us to provide consular access to the person suspected of the murder. It is natural that all the norms envisaged by international agreements, will be ensured and implemented, including in the area of consular cooperation.
Question:What is the reaction of the Russians to the application by Syrian Christians for Russian citizenship? What will be the answer?
Answer: We published the full text of the application of one of the Christian communities in Syria to the Russian government, to show that ethnic and confessional problems in the Syrian Arab Republic in conditions of the developing conflict, acquire desperate shapes sometimes. A "heart-cry" of this community expressed in the form of an open and direct application to the government of the Russian Federation.
We have been saying for a long time that actions of the Syrian opposition, especially its extremist wing, are dangerous from the point of view of ethnic and religious relations and the planting of ideology by Islamic radicals through the strengthening of armed fighting. It is done regardless of faith and the presence of many different religious communities, including Christians, in Syria. This problem is more likely to be of an ideological nature.
This application gained the affection of the Russian party. Currently, it is hard to say what will be the reaction – such decisions are made by the supreme government of our country. However, moral solidarity with the needs of religious communities in terms of respect for their rights and the observation of ethnic and religious balance in the Syrian Arab Republic is a requirement bordering on the need to observe the principle of territorial integrity and peace in this complicated Arab country.
As you know, attacks by Islamic radicals on different cult structures, which are valuable to Syrian religious communities, a syndrome of the Islamic extremist interference with the life of other religious communities, is very dangerous from the point of view of its proliferation throughout the entire region. UN Security Council resolution 2118 states clearly and unambiguously that the future model of settlement in Syria must be set out in such a way as to preserve the diversity of religious communities in this country, to secure peace and balance. Russia is a multireligious country these appeals are close to us. We are very attentive to similar requests not only from Syrian religious communities.
