Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement and answers to media questions at a joint news conference following talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty, Moscow, September 16, 2024

16 September 2024 16:21
1705-16-09-2024

Ladies and gentlemen,

My colleague, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty, and I have had extensive and productive talks.

We expressed satisfaction with the level of traditionally friendly Russian-Egyptian relations which are advancing in accordance with the Treaty on Comprehensive Partnership and Strategic Cooperation signed by our respective presidents in Sochi in 2018 which entered into force in 2021 following ratification by our respective parliaments.

The positive dynamics of trade and economic cooperation is quite inspiring. In 2023, bilateral trade exceeded the $7 billion mark, which is significantly more than the year before. We are committed to doing everything possible to maintain and reinforce this uptrend.

In this regard, we praise the activities of the Joint Russian-Egyptian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation and note its important coordinating role in strengthening our multifaceted ties. This morning, Minister Abdelatty had a meeting with Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov, who is also a newly appointed co-chair of the intergovernmental commission.

We reviewed the progress of implementation of major joint investment projects, primarily the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant and a Russian industrial zone near the Suez Canal. We had an extensive discussion about Russia's grain supplies to the Egyptian market, and noted their stability.

We both agreed that Egypt's accession to BRICS in January had given a strong boost to our partnership. We discussed preparations for the upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan in October, and the BRICS ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York later this month.

We had an in-depth discussion of current international and regional issues. We share common commitment to continuing close coordination at the UN and other multilateral platforms.

We focused on the crisis situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone in light of the unprecedented escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip. We stand united with our Egyptian friends in calling for immediate ceasefire and providing urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of the enclave.

We noted the importance of continuing uninterrupted collective efforts seeking to create proper conditions for advancing the political settlement process based on the UN-approved two-state formula, under which Palestine and Israel, as two independent and sovereign states, should coexist peacefully and securely which is crucial for ensuring sustainable peace for the peoples of Palestine and Israel. We highly appreciate Egypt's efforts to facilitate such agreements, particularly in terms of ceasefire. In turn, we keep working at the UN Security Council, but the stance adopted by the United States is preventing us from making sure Israel complies with the requirements put forward by mediators and Security Council members.

We discussed in detail the situation in and around Libya. Like our Egyptian friends, we are committed to the concept of a comprehensive crisis settlement based on the principles of Libya's sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity. We emphasised the urgent need to appoint a new Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Libya, as this position has remained vacant for too long.

We welcomed our Egyptian partners' commitment to expanding political dialogue with Syria. Cairo's constructive position was instrumental in deciding to restore Damascus' full membership in the League of Arab States. We hope that the process of restoring Syria's natural ties with its neighbours in the region will continue. This process will not only help overcome the consequences of the years-long crisis in that country, but will also create additional opportunities to strengthen security and stability in the Middle East as a whole.

There are many other issues which directly affect Egypt's interests in the regions that lie next to the Arab Republic of Egypt, such as Sudan, Somalia, and the Red Sea. We believe all these issues should be addressed through direct dialogue between the parties involved with the support of neighbouring countries.

We reviewed several practical issues related to the first ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, following the decision of last year's summit which was held in St Petersburg in July 2023. The ministerial session of the Partnership Forum will be held in Sochi on November 9-10.

I expressed my gratitude to our Egyptian friends for their balanced and constructive stance on the situation in and around Ukraine. We exchanged views on how this issue is being discussed at various venues. I outlined our perspective on the emerging issues, including within the international community, and our vision of ways to overcome them based on the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation.

We agreed to continue working together on all items on the bilateral agenda, as well as on international and regional matters.

Question: What do Russia and Egypt plan to do in order to achieve Palestinian settlement?

Sergey Lavrov: We mentioned the steps we are taking in our respective opening remarks. Along with several other countries, Egypt is striving to find recommendations that will be acceptable to both Israel and Hamas.

We welcome all initiatives aimed at ending the bloodshed as soon as possible and ensuring a sustainable and permanent ceasefire. We are working towards this goal at the UN Security Council as well, acting in concert with our Egyptian friends.

The problem is that the United States is unwilling to let pass the resolutions that would seriously imply an end to the bloodshed which is what everyone wants. They have vetoed several resolutions promoted by our Arab colleagues, other Security Council members, and us. Several months ago, in May, the Americans submitted their own draft resolution, a vague and non-specific document. However, they said it was enough, Israel agreed with this approach, and everything would be fine.

We asked them to provide evidence. We asked our Israeli colleagues to confirm that they agreed with what was written in the American document, but Israel refused to do so. We were forced to abstain during vote on this resolution. Our Arab friends, including Palestine, asked us not to veto it, and to give a chance to this document that was so much touted by the Americans. We abstained, and the resolution was adopted. It was adopted on "empty paper," and has remained empty paper to this day.

Not a single promise made by the United States has been acted upon. This does not mean we should stop doing what we are doing. If the mediation, which Egypt is energetically engaged in alongside a number of other Arab countries, bears fruit, we will be happy with that outcome.

The UN Security Council cannot leave this issue unattended, since it is the key international issue, no matter how others may try to portray it.

Second, we agreed that once the ceasefire is in place, humanitarian aid must be rushed in immediately. The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic, and the situation on the West Bank is not much better.

The most important thing is not to allow this conflict to remain "frozen" once again. We must press everyone who opposes it into complying with the UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions on creating a Palestinian state. This is no easy task, given the situation on the ground with a large number of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

We cannot go back on the decisions that have been made and supported by the overwhelming majority of the countries around the world. Those who are used to be the only ones to call the shots will eventually - sooner or later (preferably sooner) - have to heed the voice of humanity.

Question: What do you think about the latest US sanctions on Russian news outlets, including the RT television channel? What can you say about US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's call to treat RT as an intelligence agency? This is a serious accusation.

Sergey Lavrov: Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov and Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, as well as many other officials and politicians, have commented on this matter. I'm not going to go over it again.

I can only add that George Orwell had rich imagination and great historical foresight. However, even he was unable to envision what a totalitarian state would actually look like. He outlined some of its attributes, but was unable to delve into the depth of the totalitarianism we are witnessing today under the "rules-based order." I have nothing else to add to that. The leaders in Washington suppress dissent and have upstaged even Orwell and his vision. This is unadulterated totalitarianism. McCarthyism was just a child's play by comparison.

I hope independent observers who are closely watching international developments and the way the United States and its satellites are doing everything possible, impossible, and unimaginable to stop the objective process of forming a multipolar, just, and democratic world order are clear about that. They need democracy only to tell the countries how to go about their lives. But as soon as you propose discussing the democratisation of international relations, they clam up. It's all about the rules-based order. But all of that is doomed. Anyone can clearly see that. They are historically doomed. The course of history is accelerating.

Question: What does Türkiye (a NATO country) willing to join BRICS mean? How may its prospective membership impact things?

Sergey Lavrov: I'd be hard pressed to explain why the Turks submitted an application to join our organisation, but a few comments may be appropriate here.

First, there is an objective, historical, and unstoppable process of forming a multipolar world order. Second, it's clear that with its rapidly growing global weight and reputation, BRICS is becoming one of the key engines and creators of the multipolar world order. BRICS has received more than 30 requests to establish relations or to join as a member. These are all well-known countries that play significant roles in their respective regions. Perhaps, leaders who are thinking about the future of their countries within the emerging multipolar world order are unwilling to be left behind.

It is likewise important that BRICS is developing special mechanisms to enhance the role of its member states and their partners in addressing global governance issues, including reforming the Bretton Woods institutions, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. The acquisition of the necessary number of votes by BRICS countries and their like-minded partners in these institutions, which reflects their effective economic weight, is being artificially held back by the United States and its allies.

The situation in the World Trade Organisation is similar. Special efforts are being made to hold back the reform, which would allow the actual economic performance and trade capabilities of each country to be properly evaluated.

Without a doubt, against this backdrop, many are drawn by the fact that alternative payment platforms are being developed within BRICS which allow countries to trade, invest, and conduct other economic transactions without being dependent on those who have decided to weaponise the US dollar and the euro. No one wants to end up in that position. Everyone realises that anyone can be subjected to American or other Western sanctions.

We are witnessing the collapse of entities that were once created as part of Western globalisation, where everyone was pressed into believing that eternal values include fair competition, the inviolability of property, and free market mechanisms, and that the US dollar was the world patrimony.

Now, everyone knows this is by far not so and that these very levers and globalisation mechanisms, which were promoted primarily by Western countries, are being used in an unlawful policy of suppressing competitors by any means in an attempt to perpetuate their hegemony which is slipping away as the world is watching.

I think if we objectively assess the positions of the countries applying to BRICS, we can say that all of this is important for the countries determining their future.