Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's opening remarks during talks with Foreign Minister of the Republic of South Ossetia Akhsar Dzhioev, Moscow, October 4, 2024
4 October 2024 13:00
1871-04-10-2024
Mr Dzhioev,
Friends,
We are delighted to have another opportunity to hold a meeting of foreign ministers. We make sure to meet on an annual basis to discuss current issues and review the progress on the agreements reached by the presidents of Russia and South Ossetia during their regular meetings.
I would like to strongly reaffirm the importance of ties with the Republic of South Ossetia, our close friend and ally - this is a time-tested strategic partnership we are consistently pursuing in full compliance with the 2015 Treaty on Alliance and Integration. We are building a common defence space. Our economic, social and humanitarian cooperation is deepening as well.
We appreciate the support that the Republic of South Ossetia provides to us using its capabilities for promoting a fairer international order based on the recognition of the sovereign equality of all states, large and small.
Once again, I would like to express our gratitude for your principled stance regarding the special military operation that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are carrying out in response to NATO's attempts to turn Ukraine into a source of threats to Russia's security and a tool for the extermination of all things Russian, even though the Russian language and culture have been an integral part of the history of Donbass, Novorossiya and Crimea for centuries. We know that you are providing assistance to our fighters and the residents of the conflict-affected regions. I know that President of South Ossetia Alan Gagloyev keeps humanitarian assistance to the victims under his personal review.
We have gratefully taken note of the support that the people of South Ossetia have been providing to Russian citizens targeted by Ukraine's terrorist attack on the Kursk Region. Please convey our special gratitude to the management of the South Ossetian State University for allowing students from the Kursk Region to take study there without having to pay any tuition fees.
We will continue to assist our friends in ensuring security, achieving economic growth, social and cultural progress, and in strengthening the South Ossetian state in other ways, as stipulated by bilateral agreements. We can only move forward from here. Our decisions of 2008 are not subject to revision.
Cooperation between our ministries is making active progress in keeping with the plan for holding consultations in 2024 and 2025 We are working closely with our Abkhaz friends during consultations on the South Caucasus. Until recently, these meetings took place in Geneva; now we will have to decide on a new suitable venue.
We will continue to admit Abkhaz nationals who consider a foreign policy career to programmes at MGIMO University and the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Russian-South Ossetian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation is implementing our trade and investment programme. This is an important element in strengthening our relationship at its core.
We have an extensive agenda today, which encompasses the further advancement of our allied relations in all areas of hands-on cooperation, a discussion of humanitarian matters, as well as the international agenda, which concerns everyone today.
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