🇷🇺 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov takes part in the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting in India.

📍 Panaji (Goa), May 5, 2023

📸 Maria Zakharova

🇷🇺🇻🇪📞 President of Russia Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro.

Nicolas Maduro resolutely condemned the Kiev regime’s attempt to attack the Kremlin with drones, and expressed solidarity and support for Russia on behalf of the people of Venezuela.

During the telephone conversation, the presidents also discussed important issues of further promoting bilateral strategic partnership, including the implementation of joint trade, economic, energy and humanitarian projects.

#RussiaVenezuela

#FamilyPhoto

📸 Heads of delegations take part in the traditional Family Photo ceremony ahead of the #SCO Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting.

📍 Panaji (Goa), May 5, 2023

📰 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s article for Russia in Global Affairs magazine (May 5, 2023)

Read in full

Key talking points:

• The UN-centric system is undergoing a deep crisis, the root cause of which was brought on by the decision of certain UN members to replace international law and the UN Charter with some “rules-based international order”. <...> Its masterminds haughtily reject the key principle underlying the UN Charter, which is the sovereign equality of states.

• Since World War II, Washington has pulled off dozens of reckless criminal military operations without even trying to secure multilateral legitimacy. Why bother when your “rules” are unbeknownst to everyone.

• Everyone is aware of it, even though not everyone is talking about it openly: the real issue is not about Ukraine, but rather about the future of international relations. Will they be forged on a sustainable consensus, one based on the balance of interests? Or will they be reduced to an aggressive and explosive advancement of hegemony? The Ukraine issue cannot be considered outside its geopolitical context.

• There should be no double standards. Multilateralism and democracy should enjoy respect both within the member countries and in their relations with one another.

• At this juncture, genuine multilateralism requires that the UN adapt to objective developments in the process of forming a multipolar architecture of international relations. It is imperative to expedite Security Council reform by expanding the representation of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

• It is our common duty to preserve the United Nations as the hard-won epitome of multilateralism and coordination of international politics. The key to success lies in working together, renouncing claims on exceptionalism and – I reiterate – showing respect for the sovereign equality of states. This is what we all signed up for when we ratified the UN Charter.

#UNCharterIsOurRules