📹 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s video address to the organisers and participants of the 6th International Municipal BRICS Forum (August 27, 2024)

💬 I am pleased to welcome the organisers and participants of the 6th International Municipal BRICS Forum, which is being hosted by Moscow, a city famous not only for its unique history, architecture, and vibrant cultural and sports scene, but also for its advancements in modern urban development, transportation, infrastructure, and organisation of urban life. I am confident that the Russian capital, along with other Russian cities, has much to share with our partners from #BRICS countries. In turn, we are interested in learning from the best practices of our friends.

The relevance of these mutually enriching exchanges is clear: according to expert estimates, the share of urban residents is rising steadily and is now in excess of 56 percent of the world population. This dictates the need to devise a long-term and well-considered policy aimed at promoting the steady development of municipalities and creating a comfortable urban environment for all residents.

Municipal and regional cooperation within BRICS is making strides and holds a significant place on the agenda. In June of this year, the BRICS Association of Cities and Municipalities was launched, and Nizhny Novgorod hosted a highly successful Forum of Twinned Cities and Municipal Formations.

I am confident that the 6th International Municipal BRICS Forum will make a unique contribution to strengthening ties between our countries and peoples. The number of forum participants, over 5,000 delegates from about 500 cities worldwide, as well as the packed agenda for upcoming discussions, serve as clear evidence of the relevance of this event. You will discuss current issues related to urban economics and advanced urban science, introduction of digital and environmentally friendly technologies, access to quality education and healthcare, and the establishment of connections between business communities.

On a separate note, I would like to commend the work done by the Moscow authorities, who have created all the necessary conditions for productive work during the forum. I am certain that all guests of the Russian capital will fully appreciate its hospitality.

Your forum provides additional opportunities for establishing useful contacts, coordinating promising joint projects, and strengthening friendship and trust between our peoples.

🤝 I wish you productive discussions and all the best.

#BRICS2024

🎙 President of Russia Vladimir Putin sent greetings to the participants, organisers and guests of the 9th Eastern Economic Forum (August 27, 2024)

💬 It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the 9th Eastern Economic Forum.

Over the years, the Forum has contributed significantly to the development of constructive economic ties between our country and other states in the Asia-Pacific region. A direct, informal communication that occurs here between Russian entrepreneurs and their foreign counterparts, government agencies, social organisations, and the expert community makes it possible for us to discuss many topical issues on the regional agenda and develop beneficial projects together, a fact reflected in the forum’s slogan this year, ‘Far East 2030. Combining Strengths to Create New Potential’.

The influence of the Asia-Pacific region in international affairs is growing fast. New opportunities for productive cooperation are opening up here, including within such authoritative multilateral structures as the Eurasian Economic Community, the #SCO, and #BRICS. I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that Russia is open to dialogue with all interested partners in the Asia-Pacific region and is determined to actively interact with others to build a fairer, more democratic system of international relations based on genuine equality, with no place for dictate, strong-arm tactics or sanctions pressure.

🤝 The Forum participants are to discuss new promising forms of cooperation in various areas, from transport, energy and infrastructure to ecology and tourism. I trust you will enjoy constructive, informative discussions while your proposals and initiatives will be in demand on a practical level.

I wish you every success and all the best.

#EEF2024

🇷🇺🇲🇳 President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh held a meeting in Ulaanbaatar.

💬 President Putin:

First of all, I want to thank you for the invitation.

It has, in fact, become a good tradition for us to meet in Mongolia every five years to mark the remarkable highly significant events in our shared history.

I am also pleased to note that the Russian-Mongolian relations have been developing on a new foundation. Our countries have experienced growth in trade, despite the various challenges we have faced, including those you have mentioned, such as COVID.

In fact, relations between our countries are progressing well across all areas. Apart from the economy and politics, where we continue to cooperate quite actively, I would like to highlight the successful collaboration in culture and education.

To conclude my opening remarks, I would like to extend an invitation for you to visit Kazan, Russia, where the #BRICS Summit will be held later this year. This will be the first top-level event following the recent expansion of the association. I hope you will take part in the #BRICSOutreach – #BRICSplus format.

We look forward to seeing you in Russia.

✍️ A set of documents was signed following talks.

The Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Mongolia signed agreements on the development of basic project documentation for the reconstruction of the TPP-3 thermal power plant in Ulaanbaatar, as well as on cooperation in the supply of oil products.

The Russian Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare and the Ministry of Health of Mongolia signed an Agreement on cooperation to ensure epidemiological welfare with regard to plague.

In addition, the Russian Federation Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Mongolia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the conservation of Lake Baikal and the Selenga River.

#RussiaMongolia

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov’s video address to participants in the 9th BRICS Legal Forum (Moscow, September 19, 2024)

💬 I would like to cordially greet the organisers and participants in the #BRICS Legal Forum, being held in this format for the ninth time.

Over the years, the Forum has asserted itself as an influential international platform that provides professional jurists with an excellent opportunity to exchange experience and applied knowledge in the field of regulating various spheres of public life and interstate collaboration.

I am noting with satisfaction that the Forum’s central theme, Law: Safeguarding a Fair World, meets the current agenda. It is common knowledge that countries of the US-led collective West strive to destabilise the existing system of international law and to replace it with their own pro-Western rules-based world order.

For its part, Russia is firmly committed to the principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interconnection. We believe that unconditional compliance with the norms of international law is a highly important component of forging a more equitable multipolar world order heeding the cultural and civilisational diversity of nations worldwide and their sovereign right to decide their destiny.

🤝 I am delighted to note that our position enjoys the broadest support among like-minded BRICS countries and other states of the Global Majority.

Your meeting has a rather packed agenda. You will discuss a wide range of topical issues, including the international justice system, the legal dimension of international trade, as well as legal aspects of sport and energy cooperation.

I am confident that the Forum will take place in a constructive and creative setting, and that it will contribute to more effective legal collaboration and to charting common approaches towards the regulation of various aspects of cooperation within BRICS.

I wish you productive discussions.

#BRICS2024

📺 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on the sidelines of the 79th Session.

📍 New York, September 25, 2024

💬 The formation of a multilateral world requires upgrading of the international governance architecture, if we want to build a more just and democratic world order based on the enduring principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interconnection.

#G20, as a leading economic forum, can give a powerful boost to these objective processes that are dictated by life itself. We believe that the G20 should strictly adhere to its mandate.

At the G20 summit in New Delhi in 2023, we promised to strengthen the voice of developing countries in collective decision-making. It is necessary to translate these promises into concrete actions.

📈 Two years ago, BRICS member countries surpassed the G7 in terms of real GDP. According to forecasts, the ten BRICS members will produce about 37% of the world’s output, while the G7 group will fall to 27% or even lower.


🌐 Innovative multilateral formats such as #BRICS (where Russia presides in 2024), the SCO, the EAEU, ASEAN, the African Union, and CELAC are becoming increasingly important.

<...>

A tangible progress has been achieved in the context of efforts to de-dollarise the international financial and economic system. In particular, the share of national currencies in Russia’s settlements with the SCO and EAEU countries has exceeded 90%.

<...>

Another topical task is combat the predominance and influence of Western states’ citizens who occupy top positions in international secretariats.

🇺🇳 A reform of the global governance system should heed the intransient central role of the UN in the system of international relations.

<...>

☝️ We should be guided by a striving to achieve genuine multilateralism, the main guarantee of strategic stability, indivisible security and an open and non-discriminatory economy.

Full transcript

🌐 On September 26, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took part in a traditional #BRICS Ministerial meeting held on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The Ministers had an in-depth exchange of views on a broad range of international issues, including items on the agenda of the 79th UN General Assembly session. Discussions focused on peace and security, global economic stability, and sustainable development. The participants reiterated their commitment to enhancing coordination within BRICS on international platforms.

As part of preparations for the upcoming BRICS Summit in Kazan on October 22-24, the ministers reviewed pressing BRICS cooperation-related issues, including the establishment of a partner country category. The Brazilian delegation provided an outline of its BRICS chairmanship in 2025.

#UNGA79

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions following the 19th East Asia Summit (#EAS)

📍 Vientiane, October 11, 2024

💬 Sergey Lavrov: We have completed our meetings as part of the 19th East Asia Summit. President of Russia Vladimir Putin instructed me to represent him at this event.

The discussions evidenced that our Western colleagues, who are #ASEAN partners <…> have been seeking to undermine the multilateral economic and security architecture which has evolved over decades with ASEAN at its core and which has proven its relevance and effectiveness.

However, it is obvious today that the United States and its allies decided to draw the Asia-Pacific Region into NATO’s sphere of interests by creating all these narrow and exclusive US-led military and political associations. <...>

☝️ We have highlighted that this Western policy may lead to the region’s militarisation, while also threatening stability and sustainable development in the Asian part of our shared continent.

Russia reaffirmed its unwavering support for ASEAN countries in their efforts to preserve peace and ensure equal cooperation with all ASEAN partners.

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👉 Instead of using the events held as part of the East Asia Summit for pursuing vested political interests, Russia opted for promoting initiatives in several domains, including pandemic response, people-to-people contacts, including tourism, and supporting volunteering. We offer practical avenues for working together which can benefit all the participants and advocate equal and mutually beneficial cooperation. <...>

The Association hosted the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as its guest at the East Asia Summit for the third time. He put forward a proposal to promote closer contacts between the SCO and ASEAN in various spheres that are relevant for the countries involved. <...>

We welcomed the fact that several ASEAN countries want to forge closer ties with #BRICS. Today, this structure acts as one of the cornerstones of a multipolar world order. In just a few days, Kazan will be hosting the BRICS Summit, which will be a major international event. Several ASEAN countries were invited to attend it, and they accepted these invitations.

Excerpts from responses to media questions. Key talking points:

• The final declaration has not been adopted because of the persistent attempts by the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to turn it into a purely political statement, contrary to the decades-long practice of East Asia summits, which boils down to preventing the saturation of declarations with confrontational geopolitical narratives.

• When the United States and its allies unanimously reaffirmed their commitment to ASEAN’s central role in facilitating cooperation in the region today, they were being dishonest. Everything they do is aimed at containing Russia and China. Everything that has been accomplished in the ASEAN-centric format over decades is being sacrificed to this goal now. That format was convenient for everyone and incorporated the interests of each and every stakeholder. So, the destructive nature of Washington’s actions in the region is obvious.

• We are seriously concerned about re-militarisation of Japan. Having forgotten the lessons of WWII, the Japanese authorities have stated increasing defence spending and augmenting its basic doctrines with a pre-emptive strike capability.

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🎙 President of Russia Vladimir Putin met with journalists from BRICS countries ahead of the XVI BRICS Summit in Kazan (October 18, 2024)

Read and watch in full

Key talking points:

• In the modern world, creating nuclear weapons is not a difficult task. I do not know whether current-day Ukraine is capable of doing this now though. It is not easy for Ukraine today, but generally there are no big difficulties in this regard, with everyone knowing how it is done. <...> I can say straight away: under no circumstances will Russia allow this to happen.

• NATO is waging war against us with the hands of the Ukrainian soldiers, and Ukraine spares no lives for the interests of third countries, but Ukraine on its own does not use high-tech weapons: NATO does that.

• What sets BRICS apart from many other international organisations/fora? #BRICS was never meant to be created to oppose anyone. It is a group of countries that work together, guided by shared values, a common vision for development, and, most importantly, by the consideration of each other’s interests.

• In certain sectors, humanity’s existence is impossible without the BRICS countries, particularly in food and energy markets and so on.

• Russian-Chinese cooperation on the global stage is undoubtedly one of the key pillars of strategic stability worldwide.

• We do not interfere in [bilateral relations of other countries]. If there are any issues arising and if there is something that depends on us, we are ready to offer our services in resolving these issues, if they arise and if the participants in the corresponding process are interested in any involvement from our side.

• The United States should not have destroyed the [Middle East] Quartet. it worked, it was easier to agree on all positions. But the US monopolised the work, took all the responsibility and eventually failed.

• The main method to resolve the Palestinian issue is to create a full-fledged Palestinian state.

• 95% of Russia’s foreign trade with its partners is being done in national currencies. The United States did it themselves.

• The International Criminal Court has no universal power. This is an international organisation whose jurisdiction Russia does not recognise, like many other countries.

#Announcement

🗓 On October 22–24, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin will take part in the #BRICS Summit in Kazan under the chairship of Russia. The Summit is themed Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security.

During meetings held in both restricted and expanded formats, the BRICS leaders will exchange views on pressing issues on the global and regional agenda, discuss the three main pillars of cooperation identified by the Russian chairship: politics and security, the economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian ties.

☝️ Particular attention will be given to the potential expansion of BRICS through the proposed establishment of a new category of ”partner nations.“

Reports will also be delivered by the Chair of the New Development Bank, the Business Council, the Interbank Cooperation Mechanism, and the Women's Business Alliance.

The outcomes of these discussions will be summarised in the Kazan Summit Declaration.

🌐 On the final day of the summit, a BRICS Plus/Outreach format meeting will be convened, with representatives from nearly forty countries in attendance. Among them are leaders from the CIS, delegations from numerous Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American countries, as well as heads of executive bodies from various international organisations.

The agenda includes discussions on pressing international issues, with a particular focus on the escalating situation in the Middle East and interactions between the BRICS countries and the Global South in the interests of sustainable development.

🤝 Vladimir Putin will hold bilateral meetings with almost all the leaders participating in the Summit.

#BRICS2024

#BRICS2024

🇷🇺🇮🇷 Russia's President Vladimir Putin and President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian met on the sidelines of the #BRICS Summit.

📍 Kazan, October 23, 2024

🤝 #RussiaIran

#BRICS2024

🇷🇺🇻🇪 Russia's President Vladimir Putin and President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro met on the sidelines of the #BRICS Summit.

📍 Kazan, October 23, 2024

🤝 #RussiaVenezuela

#BRICS2024

🇷🇺🇹🇷 Russia's President Vladimir Putin and President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan met on the sidelines of the #BRICS Summit.

📍 Kazan, October 23, 2024

#RussiaTurkiye

🇷🇺🇵🇸 President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas held a meeting on the sidelines of the XVI BRICS Summit in Kazan (October 24, 2024)

💬 President Vladimir Putin: Mr President, friends,

During your visit to Moscow in August, we engaged in extensive discussions, exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East, reviewed crucial aspects of Russian-Palestinian cooperation, and also concurred that you would attend the #BRICS Summit in Kazan to continue our dialogue.

Regrettably, since our previous meeting, the situation in the region has not improved; on the contrary, it is deteriorating. The tragic events in the Gaza Strip have already led to more than 40,000 deaths, provoked tensions in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East.

Russia's principled position is consistent and absolutely impartial: we firmly advocate for an early cessation of bloodshed and the provision of humanitarian access to all those in need. We urge all parties to exercise restraint.

A lasting peace in the region can only be achieved through a political and diplomatic settlement based on recognised international legal grounds and platform, which provide for the establishment of an independent sovereign Palestinian State that would coexist in peace and security with Israel.

Russia has traditionally devoted special attention to the Middle East settlement issue. Among other efforts, we have been addressing this issue during our BRICS chairmanship. As you observed at the meeting and during bilateral contacts, BRICS countries have similar approaches. This was affirmed both by the extraordinary BRICS summit on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the discussion that took place here in Kazan.

Of course, Russia cannot overlook the needs of the people. As you are aware, we have transferred over 800 tonnes of supplies, including food and medicine, to the Palestinians. Naturally, we will do everything within our power to steer the situation towards the resolution of all the problems in this area.

#SPIEF2025

✍️ President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin sent greetings to the participants, organisers, and guests of the 28th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (June 9, 2025)

The message reads, in part:

💬 I would like to welcome you to the opening of the 28th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (#SPIEF).

During the plenary session, panel discussions and roundtables, the Forum participants, including politicians and representatives of the business community, academia and expert circles from around the world, will explore key trends in the development of both the Russian and global economies. They will assess recent challenges and accomplishments and share their outlook for the future.

It is fitting that St. Petersburg, a city where past and present, tradition and innovation are deeply intertwined, has become the place where the agenda for the future is shaped and ideas with the potential to change the world for the better are born.

The main theme of this year’s Forum is “Shared Values: The Foundation of Growth in a Multipolar World”.

☝️ Russia consistently upholds the principles of sovereign development and respect for the cultural and civilizational identity of nations and peoples. Together with our partners, particularly within the #BRICS Group, we remain committed to building an effective system of equal and mutually beneficial international cooperation, free from any form of discrimination, dictate, and sanctions pressure.

The central focus of the Forum’s programme is on technology and digital transformation as key drivers of leadership in the modern world and as essential foundations for creating a comfortable living environment and enabling personal fulfilment.

Participants will also exchange views on issues related to demographics, labour productivity, science and education, healthcare, and social protection.

I am confident that your discussions will be productive and will contribute meaningfully to addressing the pressing challenges facing humanity.

VLADIMIR PUTIN

📸 #FamilyPhoto

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov takes part in the official family photo ceremony together with heads of delegations of the #BRICS nations.

📍 Rio de Janeiro, July 6

#BRICS2025