Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's opening remarks during talks with Foreign Minister of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Makei, Minsk, June 30, 2022
30 June 2022 20:10
1377-30-06-2022
Mr Makei, friends,
We always feel warmth and hospitality in the beautiful city of Minsk. We feel at home here. We hope you feel the same when you come to the capital of the Russian Federation. The programme of our visit is quite extensive.
I would like to once again express my gratitude to President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko for seeing me, which fact reaffirms the special nature of our relations of alliance and strategic partnership. We had an in-depth discussion of the international situation, the problems that international relations face and efforts to preserve international law in the wake of the selfish position and policies of the West, which is trying to push its dictatorship upon everyone, putting forward ultimatums and is sinking as low as necessary in its efforts to subjugate intractable nations.
The future world order is at stake. We will go back to the origins and observe in practice the UN Charter principles, above all the principle of sovereign equality of states, or else the world will be plunged into chaos for a long time. Our choice is clear: We stand for unconditional respect for international law. We will uphold this position together with our Belarusian allies and our other numerous like-minded partners who share these approaches, which was confirmed during the recent BRICS summit and in the final documents adopted at this summit. We are aware of the critically important conversation that our presidents had during their recent meeting in St Petersburg.
Today is a good opportunity to discuss in detail the steps the foreign ministries should take to advance the interests of our countries, as well as to fulfill the goals set by the presidents in the context of the approved 2022-2023 Programme of Coordinated Actions in Foreign Policy. We will determine the discussion topics and the agenda of the next annual joint meeting of the collegiums of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, which is scheduled for November 2022. The rapidly evolving international situation requires special attention and preparations for this important event.
This visit is timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Today we will sign a detailed joint statement dedicated to this anniversary. A number of events are planned to highlight the special nature of our cooperation.
We are grateful to our Belarusian friends for the opportunity to hold a meeting of the Commission of the General Council of the United Russia party on international cooperation and support of compatriots abroad in Minsk this afternoon. The main topic of the meeting is best suited for a discussion held in Minsk, "Socio-political assistance to the Union State and Eurasian integration." Truth be told, the choice of this site for the meeting is not accidental. The Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Belarus is Boris Gryzlov, who at the same time is chair of the Supreme Council of the United Russia party, actively supports inter-party cooperation. We can see the first results of his work in his new capacity. A cooperation agreement between United Russia party and Belaya Rus public association and an agreement between their youth organisations was signed in Minsk in April.
Thank you for the invitation to speak during the visit before the students and the faculty of Belarus State University. This is an excellent opportunity to present our assessments to them and listen to the questions and comments from the students and the public. Often, in the course of such meetings, which we also hold in Russia, we receive valuable tips which we use in our practical work.
We will continue to expand our relations, especially our allied relations, to cherish our centuries-old friendship and the spiritual and cultural ties that bind our fraternal peoples.
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