Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the celebration of Dmitry Shakhovskoy’s 90th birthday, Moscow, March 12, 2024

Mr Shakhovskoy,

Dear friends,

Viktor Moskvin has already spoken at length. We can talk endlessly expressing our admiration for this man, his loyalty to the Motherland and the loyalty of his entire family, most of whom are here with him today.

Viktor Moskvin cited the words written by Mr Shakhovskoy in 2014, when everything was just beginning. But in reality, everything started much earlier. President Vladimir Putin spoke about this long before the bloody coup d’etat in Ukraine. But when this coup took place, all elites (I am referring primarily to the West) that had orchestrated this coup instantly began blaming Russia. They threw a tantrum, accusing us of all sins, of violating international law.

Mr Shakhovskoy’s voice in the document he wrote, inviting all descendants of the Russian emigration to be his co-authors, was one of the first in the West to emphasise the importance of studying history and never betraying it. If you forget your roots, the same fate will befall you.

Yes, the number of signatures on this document is under 1,000. But every signature carries immense weight, considering that it represents generations of our compatriots, the tsarist empire, the nobility who were respected by the people and were true patriots.

Mr Shakhovskoy, I was delighted to fulfil President Vladimir Putin’s instruction to present you with the Order of Friendship. There is only one thing in Mr Moskvin’s opening remarks that I disagree with. He said you are a friend of Russia. A mother’s son cannot be her friend. He is her son.

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Dmitry Shakhovskoy: Thank you for taking the helm.

Sergey Lavrov: No, the helm belongs to someone else. We are just helping the helmsman together with you, in different areas, from different places and from different positions. But above all, we are helping Russia steer in the direction where our people want to go, where history is calling us.