Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s participation in the ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter

On September 22, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took part in the 4th Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter in New York, on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly. Established in July 2021, the group brought together twenty states around their shared commitment to the goals and principles of the UN founding document.

Sergey Lavrov’s remarks focused on the importance of the international legal norms stipulated in the UN Charter, including the principles of sovereign equality of states and non-interference in their internal affairs, for successful progress towards building a just and polycentric world order. He criticised the Western countries’ policies for using neo-colonial practices, including unilateral restrictive measures against countries pursuing an independent foreign policy. He pointed out the correlation between the sanctions and the aggravation of the food crisis in the world and the rollback in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Following the meeting, the ministers adopted a general political declaration as well as documents concerning neo-colonial practices, unilateral coercive measures and food security.