Transcript of Remarks and Response to Media Questions by Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov at Press Conference Following Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC), Yekaterinburg, May 16, 2008

Foreign Minister Lavrov: Esteemed Gentlemen Ministers, Esteemed Colleagues,

Before starting our press conference, I would like to especially note the following. Over the course of the last few days we in different formats met not only among ourselves, but also with the Sverdlovsk Region leadership. In this context we would like to once again thank the leadership of the region and Governor Rossel personally for the hospitality, for the magnificent organization of our work. A great deal has been said about the contribution Eduard Ergartovich [Rossel] has made to the development of this region and about the tasks in its further development which have already been devised and are being implemented in practice. I would today like to present Eduard Ergartovich with the badge which has been established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is our highest badge of distinction. It is the Badge for Contribution to International Cooperation. I would ask you, Eduard Ergartovich, to agree to accept this award of our Foreign Ministry.

Now allow me to begin the press conference with the following statement. The third meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the BRIC nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China – is being held in Yekaterinburg today. Two previous meetings in this format were held on the fringes of annual UN General Assembly sessions. A feature of this one is that it is the first stand alone meeting, without being tied to any international fora. We regard this as evidence of the new quality of our cooperation.

Russia attaches great significance to its development in the BRIC format. This is a format which is not far fetched, but derives from real life. It derives from the fact that the high rates of economic growth exhibited by our countries largely ensure the steady development of the world economy. Now that there is much talk about reforming the prevailing global financial-economic architecture, we have something to discuss, especially the protection of our common interests, including responsibility for the state of affairs in the present-day world.

We are grateful to the partners that they had responded favorably to our suggestion to visit the hospitable soil of Yekaterinburg. In the course of our meeting today we discussed a broad spectrum of international issues of mutual concern. They are, first of all, such themes as ensuring the rule of law in international relations, countering the threats and challenges to global security and coping with topical world economic trends. All four ministers expressed interest in continuing the BRIC dialogue and further broadening its agenda. The common approaches of our countries to the main issues in international politics are formulated in the joint communiqué agreed by us today. We also discussed matters relating to concrete forms of the four-sided interaction. We arranged to maintain a regular dialogue at the level of the Foreign Ministers. Our next contact is scheduled to be held during the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York. The Indian Foreign Minister kindly invited us to visit his country in 2009 and hold a second stand alone meeting there unrelated to any international fora. We accepted this invitation with pleasure.

Other ideas were also advanced today for promoting quadripartite interaction under the auspices of public organizations and regional authorities. We informed the partners of our support of the first conference to be held by the St. Petersburg government at the year's end involving representatives of the municipalities and leading universities of Rio de Janeiro, Mumbai and Qingdao.

We also arranged for a meeting to be prepared among the ministers responsible for finances and the economy. That was the proposal of Brazil. We all backed it up. The meeting will be prepared under the auspices of the appropriate ministries of our states. Overall, I want to note that we are deeply satisfied with the level of mutual trust and frankness of our discussions. It is important that we must all share the understanding that the BRIC countries in which more than half the world's population lives and which are becoming major centers of economic growth and political influence are simply duty bound to closely cooperate and build common approaches in the world arena in the interest of maintaining international stability and ensuring the sustainability and manageability of world development.

Question (two questions for all the ministers): Do you think that the BRIC format will help the improvement of relations among the four countries?

The second question concerns the food crisis. Developing countries are being viewed as bearing the main responsibility for food shortages. Do you agree with this? What strategy should nations follow in order to solve this problem?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: The answer is very simple. Of course, our interaction in the BRIC framework supplements the rich bilateral relations between Russia and India, between Russia and Brazil and between Russia and China. The same is also true of any other pair from among our four countries. And this certainly helps the development of cooperation and partnership.

Where the problem of the food crisis is concerned, this is a serious problem. It was touched on by us today. It has, of course, to be discussed on a universal basis, with regard for many aspects, be it energy problems or those of climate change. That comprehensive discussion is being planned, among other events at a special FAO conference to be convened at the start of June. Countries have yet to analyze a great deal here, to understand the real causes of the present situation and to work out on the basis of a scientific analysis effective measures for its rectification.

Question: Do you think that in the long haul the BRIC can be enlarged by the inclusion of other countries in the format of the dialogue with the Group of Eight? And do you admit that the Four can merge with the Troika over time?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: You know this question is somewhat artificial. I want to draw your attention to the fact that both the Troika – Russia, India and China – and the BRIC Four, also involving Brazil, have been formed naturally, by life itself. Russia, India and China live in one region, and participate in the work of a whole array of international organizations which exist in the Asia-Pacific region. We are also partners in the SCO framework. It is only natural that this format of the three major powers of the region has become established as a dialogue mechanism. The BRIC group has taken shape as naturally. We have already mentioned this during the press conference today. It is the countries that possess the fastest growing economies. Naturally in a globalizing world we have many coinciding interests which reflect the development goals of each of our countries and our common responsibility for the stability of the world financial-economic system. This is aptly supplemented by a broad coincidence of our approaches to the problems of a world arrangement and of the further development of the system of international relations, bearing in mind that it should become more democratic, equitable and sustainable. I wouldn't guess how the natural process will go further. I dare assure you that our contacts yesterday and today allow us to speak with confidence that the natural course of things will find reflection in organizational forms.

Question: Yesterday you spoke of the formation of anti-drug security belts around Afghanistan. Can you tell us in greater detail about this?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: Yesterday with the participation of my colleagues from China and India we agreed in the framework of our outcome statement a formulation in support of the formation of anti-drug security belts around Afghanistan. We explained that the efforts the international community has undertaken inside Afghanistan in support of the actions being carried out by the Afghan leadership have not produced the desired result as yet. Proceeding from the importance of a further, serious buildup of work on the eradication of narcotics production and the liquidation of the laboratories for heroin production on the territory of Afghanistan, it is extremely important to prevent an expansion of drug flows from Afghanistan into neighboring countries, into Central Asia, and from there into Russia, Europe and other destinations of this evil.

The task of a comprehensive approach to the Afghan narco-threat has been discussed for several years now, at the conferences held in Paris and then in Moscow. Undoubtedly, control from the external borders of Afghanistan with the aim of intercepting drug caravans which regularly cross Afghanistan's border with its neighbors acquires enormous significance. Russia is a member of the CSTO, which, in particular, includes the Central Asian states. In the framework of this Treaty, Operation Channel has regularly been conducted to intercept illegal drug flows from Afghanistan. We are convinced that it would meet common interests to forge cooperation between the CSTO and NATO, which is responsible for the efforts of the international force for ensuring security inside Afghanistan. The establishment of such cooperation would ensure that very same comprehensive approach in combating the Afghan narco-threat. We regret that NATO has so far avoided such interaction, even though individual NATO countries are already taking part in Operation Channel led by us as observers.

Question: The situation that has evolved around the statements of Mayor Yuri Luzhkov regarding Sevastopol and the reaction of Ukraine: In your opinion, what will be subsequent events?

When will the question of the extradition n of the Russian criminals from the UAE be solved and when shall we be able to bring to justice those who have inflicted harm upon the Russian economy and are now working in the Emirates?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: You know, I guess, yesterday or the day before yesterday Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, commenting on the present situation, called for avoiding emotions and noted that creating a problem is easy, but it will take years to get out of it. I agree with this and want to draw your attention to the fact that the current emotions around Sevastopol and around Russian-Ukrainian relations as a whole probably would not be there if they had not been preceded by a whole array of statements and actions which I think bear a provocative character.

You remember that a while ago some figures in Ukraine altogether demanded that the Black Sea Fleet be expelled from Sevastopol. Later, only recently, we received an official proposal that determining the rules and conditions for the Black Sea Fleet's withdrawal should begin right now, although the agreement with Ukraine is operative until 2017. Many issues relating to the normal functioning of the Black Sea Fleet on Ukrainian territory have not been solved to this day. After this we had such an episode as the attempt by Ukrainian authorities to ban a parade dedicated to a sacred date – the 225th anniversary of the creation of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. And well, quite recently, as I've heard, the Ukrainian deputy minister of defense said that he was shooting a film which is designed, in his words, to debunk the myth that Sevastopol is a city of Russian glory.

That whipping up of emotions probably should have been noted by all those who have been attentively following the situation. In my opinion, it is very indicative that this is taking place against the background of the sharply intensified efforts to artificially draw Ukraine into NATO, contrary to the opinion of the majority of its population. Those trying to accelerate solving this problem I think bear a serious, if not the main share of responsibility for what is happening.

We have more than once honestly, without any ambiguity warned of the destructive consequences which this artificial, not based on the people's will, dragging of Ukraine into NATO will have. We have honestly warned that we do not want such a development of events and that we will do everything to avoid it; first and foremost, proceeding from the basic interests of our peoples, from a sincere and deep interest in preserving and developing Russian-Ukrainian friendship.

Now that's apparently all I can say to you today. I will only add that the decision of the Ukrainian authorities to declare the Moscow mayor persona non grata is seen by us as absolutely unjustified. Some time ago the previous Ukrainian foreign minister and I had reached agreement to close the so called "black lists," which barred some or other figures from entering the territory of each other. That decision was adopted. Now, by all indications, the Ukrainian side has decided to return to a prohibitive practice.

As to the second question, it is not only in the UAE that our citizens may be and are that face charges under some or other articles of our criminal code. Between Russia and many foreign countries there exist the appropriate treaties on legal assistance in criminal and civil matters. With some countries such treaties already exist, with others they are still being elaborated. This is a question concerning interaction between law enforcement bodies and we are going to tackle it precisely in this framework.

Question: How do you assess the prospects for the Russian-Georgian talks today in Moscow, where a delegation led by State Minister for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili has arrived? In particular, the proposal to hold an international conference on settlement in Abkhazia involving the EU and US and the actual ultimatum cited by a number of media, including Russian, from the spokesman for the Georgian ministry of reintegration that unless that conference is held in Moscow, it will be held on the territory of EU countries or the US respectively.

Foreign Minister Lavrov: I think the answer to this question is not new. The answer to the question of how to deal with the situations connected with the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia lies in the necessity, which concerns each party, to conscientiously fulfill its obligations and conscientiously participate in the work of the created negotiation and peacekeeping mechanisms, which are endorsed in the decisions of the UN and OSCE.

These mechanisms are being criticized by Tbilisi, although the accusations of their ineffectiveness are accompanied by the Georgian authorities' consistent blocking of the work of the created structures for the settlement of the South Ossetian and Abkhaz conflicts. You probably know that the Georgian authorities have created parallel administrative structures in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Tbilisi has been utterly unable to establish a respectful dialogue with the parties to the conflict in Sukhumi and Tskhinvali. Instead of, as I've said, working in the mechanisms created by common consent and fulfilling its own obligations reached through the negotiation process, attempts are being made to internationalize the South Ossetian and Abkhaz conflicts. These attempts, in my opinion, indicate that Tbilisi is not interested in their real solution which would rest on a balance and mutual consideration of interests and on respect for the small peoples of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The aim of internationalizing these problems I think is unambiguously propaganda, as it was customary to say previously. The same aim also stood behind the recent moves of Tbilisi to submit for consideration by the UN General Assembly a resolution on the problem of refugees and displaced persons from Abkhazia. The resolution was put to a vote, and of the 190 plus UN members only 14 votes were in favor. That's a good example of what price the various ideas have that are prompted solely by a desire to internationalize something for the sake of internationalization itself. It is necessary to work honestly. One's obligations need to be fulfilled honestly within the framework of the structures which were created, I repeat, by common consent.