Foreign Minister's Sergey Lavrov's remarks and answers to media questions following his visit to the Republic of the Congo, Oyo, July 25, 2022
25 July 2022 18:30
1533-25-07-2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to express my gratitude to the leaders of the Republic of the Congo for their remarkable hospitality and the atmosphere of attention and care they have created for our delegation.
There were lengthy talks with President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso and I also held talks with my good friend, Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Congo Jean-Claude Gakosso.
The relationship between our countries is based on the rich history of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance and is being built on the principles of equality, respect for each other's interests and interaction in the world arena in compliance with the provisions of the UN Charter.
Today, we looked at what needs to be done to enhance the resource potential of our cooperation. Economic cooperation has good prospects, including in such areas as hydrocarbons and in the energy, transport infrastructure and telecommunications sectors. Several Russian companies have already started operating in the Republic of the Congo while others are showing an interest in that. Today, we saw that the idea of developing new projects received a positive response. Specific areas [of cooperation] discussed during the talks will be elaborated on in time for the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-Congolese Mixed Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation and Trade, which will take place in Brazzaville in late September 2022. Both parties also showed an interest in stepping up military and technical cooperation.
Russia will continue providing assistance to the Republic of the Congo in training specialists. We have significantly increased the number of scholarships allocated to students from that country by Russian universities - currently, there are 150 students. In all, since our cooperation started, over 8,000 Congolese students have received an education in our country, including Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Congo Jean-Claude Gakosso.
In the context of various pandemics spreading around the globe, we expressed an interest in developing a new form of cooperation, namely, creating a joint laboratory to study and prevent dangerous infectious diseases. In this connection, we handed humanitarian aid - test kits to diagnose monkeypox - to our friends.
We are cooperating closely in the international arena. Our positions on most pressing issues at the UN and other multilateral forums overlap or are close. We vote in solidarity on most issues that cause differences. We appreciate the interaction with our friends from the Republic of the Congo. Brazzaville has consistently opposed any form of discrimination within the UN. We reciprocate.
Today, we praised President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou-Nguesso and Foreign Minister Jean-Clause Gakosso in connection with their balanced and responsible position on Ukraine-related developments as they understand perfectly well the global dimension of this situation that was artificially created by our Western colleagues. We stand for the democratisation of international relations and ensuring equal participation of all countries in international discussions as per the UN Charter. We are against diktat, ultimatums and blackmail in relations between sovereign countries. We do not approve of our Western colleagues' attempts at deliberately forgetting about the many conflicts that have remained unresolved for decades, in relation to which the West has adopted a very timid position, primarily with regard to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The African continent is rife with unresolved crises. We welcome the proactive role played by the Republic of the Congo and President Denis Sassou Nguesso personally in galvanising efforts to overcome them. This includes the situation in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Great Lakes region, as well as Mali, Somalia, and the Central African Republic. Along with our other African colleagues, our Congolese friends are trying to achieve positive outcomes in all these areas.
I would like to highlight the President of the Congo's role as Chairman of the AU High-Level Committee on Libya. Denis Sassou Nguesso shared his plans to convene an all-Libyan conference on national reconciliation soon, to which all representatives of the country's leading political forces, without exception, will be invited. We warmly welcomed this commitment to ensure inclusiveness of this process, since the attempts made so far by individual European countries and even by our colleagues at the UN Secretariat did not imply all-Libya inclusion of the participants of a particular action. In the context of preparations for the event, President Denis Sassou Nguesso will also provide for the possibility of inviting external players, including the Russian Federation. We will spare no effort in helping to organise this important forum.
In closing, I would like to once again thank our Congolese friends and remind my colleague that it is now his turn to visit Russia.
Question: I would like to raise the subject of food security. This is especially serious for the African countries that depend on grain imports, including from Russia. The US and Ukraine have already accused Russia of attempting to ignore the agreements on exporting grain and other agricultural products from Black Sea ports, which were reached in Turkey. This is based on the destruction of a Ukrainian warship and a warehouse with American Harpoon missiles near the Odessa port the day before. Do you think Russia is ready to ensure food security and feed people in need?
Sergey Lavrov: Our Western colleagues have become adept at distorting any news item when it can be used against Russia. Nothing surprises me anymore.
Regarding the incident in Odessa, the obligations that Russia assumed under the agreements signed on July 22 in Istanbul say nothing about preventing us from continuing the special military operation, which can include destroying military infrastructure and other military targets. UN Secretariat representatives confirmed this interpretation of the documents yesterday.
The targets on which high-precision strikes were delivered were located in a separate, military section of the Odessa port. These included a Ukrainian Navy combat boat and an ammunition depot that had recently received Harpoon anti-ship missiles that could be used to threaten the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Now these "harpoons" are no threat to us.
Even unbiased analysts have confirmed what we have been talking about from the beginning: the grain terminal at the port of Odessa is located quite far from the military section. There is no obstacle that prevents grain from being shipped to buyers under the agreements signed in Istanbul. We have not created any obstacle to this.
Our Congolese partners understand clearly the reasons behind the food crisis that started to appear at least three years ago due to the short-sighted, and errant policy of the leading Western states. The Congo is also aware that it was the failed policy of the Europeans, carried out under US orders, that resulted in skyrocketing energy prices. We had a detailed discussion today on ways to avoid artificially created obstacles in relations between Russia and the Republic of the Congo, and on everything we can do so that our trade, economic and investment ties do not depend on the lawlessness unleashed by the West in the world economy.
Question: Can you comment on the statement made by President of Poland Andrzej Duda that Russia must lose the war with Ukraine in order for that country to become part of the free world?
Sergey Lavrov: I'm not tired, but I no longer enjoy the comments and statements made several times a day by Western politicians who are only pursuing most diverse goals. It is clear that this is due to both their domestic situations and their desire to divert attention from their own problems, as well as plans to promote their geopolitical interests.
This reminds me more and more of the image of the "pique vest," created and called this way in Russian classical literature. It becomes more obvious every day how free this world is where Poland wants to drag Ukraine, when all of Europe unquestioningly submits to the dictate of the United States, fulfills the will of Washington, with great damage to its own economy and social sphere. This is how the free world works. It has a price.
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