Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov opening remarks at the opening ceremony of the Literary Salon: Ambassadors of Russian Culture event dedicated to Fyodor Tyutchev, Moscow, September 27, 2023
27 September 2023 19:35
1896-27-09-2023
Good evening, friends,
Mr Bak,
Colleagues,
Members of the diplomatic corps,
The occasion that brought us here today is the opening of a cultural and educational project, Literary Salon: Ambassadors of Russian Culture, a noble initiative by the Vladimir Dahl State Museum of the History of Russian Literature and the Foreign Ministry's Main Administration for Service to the Diplomatic Corps (GlavUpDK).
In conditions of international turbulence, with a hybrid war launched against us and Russophobia becoming commonplace in the ruling circles of Western countries, this initiative undeniably deserves our full support.
It is highly symbolic that today's event is dedicated to the great Russian poet and diplomat, Fyodor Tyutchev. This year, we celebrate his 220th birth anniversary. Along with many of the most acclaimed Russian men of letters such as Alexander Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky, Fyodor Tyutchev made a tremendous contribution to elevating literature to a global scale. For all of us who serve our Motherland, it is especially gratifying that Tyutchev also worked on foreign policy for many years, and was personally successful in defending Russia's interests in the international arena.
It is enough to note that for many years, he was an associate of the great Russian diplomat, Chancellor Alexander Gorchakov, whose name is etched forever in the annals of Russian history. It was Tyutchev who immortalised Gorchakov's brilliant diplomatic victory in his poetry in 1870, when Gorchakov successfully repealed the agreement banishing the Russian fleet from the Black Sea. As you remember, the restraining measure was introduced following the Crimean War in 1856. I would like to quote the poet's immortal lines:
"Yes, you have kept your word:
moving not a cannon, not a rouble,
our native Russian land
once more exercises its rights,
and the sea bequeathed to us,
once more with its free billows,
forgetting the short-lived shame,
kisses its native shore."
Today we can confidently say that Russia will not be humiliated like this ever again.
Tyutchev's extensive legacy, his highly artistic works still delight readers with their elegance of style, clarity of thought, and his principled civic stance as a true patriot of Russia is an example of honest service to the Fatherland.
Our diplomats are now implementing the foreign policy defined by President of Russia Vladimir Putin. In a way, diplomacy is similar to writing because just like poets and writers, we also use the word and the pen as our tools. I am sure that our guests will have a good time and will benefit from this literary event tonight.
Let me wish you a good evening, unforgettable meetings and conversations, and we will definitely continue to be friends in the future.
***
Friends,
I was not planning to say anything beyond the opening remarks I made at the beginning of this evening. But Dmitry Bak spoke about how relevant and modern Tyutchev's writing and thoughts are, and I must confess that I thought about it too. Actually, I even brought another Tyutchev quote, although it is not poetry. It is neither poetry nor prose and in fact, not creative writing at all. These are his thoughts about the present and future of Russia. It is significant that what I am about to read out is a translation from French. He wrote to his wife in French, thus emphasising that we wanted and were ready to be closer to Europe. Especially since European culture was to a large extent shaped by Russian geniuses.
French was the official language of correspondence in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. No other language was used there. This community with Europe, which Tyutchev reflected addressing his own wife in French, acquired very special features in his experience, his understanding of the universe and foreign policy. Because he was not only a poet, not only a connoisseur of subtleties of French culture and art (European art in general), he was also a truly Russian person. He took everything he saw or touched to heart - to his Russian heart that ached for the Russian people, for the Russian state.
This is the quote. Imagine this was written yesterday. "It has long been possible to foresee that this mad hatred, which has been mongered in the West against Russia for thirty years, getting stronger and stronger every year, will someday break loose. This moment has arrived. Russia was essentially offered suicide, being expected to renounce the very foundations of its being and admit, hand on its heart, to being nothing but a wild and ugly phenomenon that needs to be corrected. There is nothing more to deceive oneself about. Russia will, in all probability, enter into battle with the whole of Europe."
This was written in 1854, just a couple of years before the Crimean War. But if we put aside the dates and anniversaries, it is quite applicable to what the West is doing with respect to our homeland today. This is not paranoia. Fyodor Tyutchev was not paranoid. He was a shrewd diplomat and, by and large, a statesman.
Therefore, everything that we are doing today, what our President, the Russian army, society, and the state are doing is aimed at ensuring that all these plans, which he wrote about almost 200 years ago, never materialise. His legacy is one of the symbols that inspire us to always stand up for our truth.
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