“Moscow is ready to take its part of the road towards restoration of relations with Washington, which suffered major damage at the previous head of the U.S. administration Barack Obama, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Austria’s Profil weekly. Moscow is watching closely statements made by President Donald Trump about Russia, he said.”
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“Russia is not banking on Donald Trump scrapping economic sanctions any time soon. First deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov said the Russian government’s plans for 2017 are based on the expectations that sanctions are here to stay. ‘Perhaps the market is expecting an improvement in our relationship … [but] in our work, we operate on the basis of continued sanctions,’ […]
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(Kremlin.ru – December 29, 2016) Mr Shoigu and Mr Lavrov briefed the President on work to resolve the Syrian crisis, in particular, agreements reached between the Syrian government and the opposition on a ceasefire and readiness to begin peace talks. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, The news has just come in that this morning, a few hours ago, an […]
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MINSK. Nov 29 (Interfax) – Today’s meeting of the Normandy Quartet foreign ministers has brought no breakthroughs; it is noted that implementation of the Minsk Agreements in the area of security and politics remains stalled as no specific steps have been agreed upon, although the earlier agreements made by leaders of the fours countries are not being questioned, Russian Foreign […]
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“… During a recent telephone conversation, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump discussed and agreed on the absolutely unsatisfactory state of bilateral relations. This is what we should proceed from. President Obama may want this to continue, but I am confident that this does not meet the interests of the American people and will not facilitate […]
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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview for the Rossiya 1 television network documentary entitled “My mind is set: Yevgeny Primakov”, Moscow, October 31, 2016
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According to Zlobin, the Russian top diplomat rather thoroughly dwelled on Russia’s relations with the United States “in various aspects, both on direct relations and on contacts in the context of third countries.” Another major topic was relations between Russia and the European Union. “It was stressed that NATO’s eastwards expansion has spoiled the idea of promoting a strong and […]
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Question: We are here at an extraordinarily difficult and painful time: what’s happening in Syria has got the world very, very upset. In the United Kingdom people are saying that this is the worst bombardment of civilians since the Nazis bombed Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. John Kerry has said that Russia and the Syrian regime owe the world […]
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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with Channel One’s Vremya weekly news and analysis programme, broadcast on Sunday, Moscow, October 9, 2016
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… Kerry and … Lavrov are meeting … in a bid to complete a deal on increased cooperation in Syria that officials hope could help create the calm necessary for talks on a political transition. … The Pentagon is concerned about more closely cooperating with Russia, which backs … al-Assad’s regime. * * * Kerry’s efforts are opposed by some […]
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… Lavrov said Russia had no intention of breaking diplomatic ties with Ukraine and was discussing the possibility of organizing joint talks with Ukrainian, Russian, French and German officials aimed at resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine. … Lavrov’s comments … come after … Putin blamed Ukraine … for incidents in #Crimea that left two Russian service members dead and […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – The Daily Vertical: Brian Whitmore – July 18, 2016) So the big talking point coming out of the Kremlin is that NATO is overreacting to a non-existent Russian threat. According to Moscow, rotating just four combat battalion groups, a total of 4,000 troops, on the alliance’s eastern frontier constitutes a “provocation.” According to Vladimir Putin’s regime, […]
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MOSCOW. June 15 (Interfax) – Moscow is seeking to avoid confrontation with the United States, NATO, and the European Union, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “We are not going to be drawn into confrontation with the U.S., NATO, or the European Union, which is being imposed on us. It’s obvious that confrontational attitudes and geopolitical zero-sum games hinder efforts […]
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… Lavrov believes that Russia’s current measures against smoking are excessive somewhat. … he remarked that although he himself might light up a cigarette or two once in a while, he preferred … sports. Asked … if he smoked inside the Foreign Ministry’s building, Lavrov said: ‘I cannot violate Russia’s laws. But I believe that the laws have gone too […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – The Daily Vertical: Brian Whitmore – March 24, 2016) Well, it was predictable, but Sergei Lavrov has not let us down. He’s proven yet again the axiom that if you want to know what Russia is doing, pay close attention to what it accuses the West of doing. The Russian foreign minister yesterday urged Europe to […]
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(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Maxim Trudolyubov – March 9, 2016) Originally many in the West tended to view Russia’s Syrian adventure as yet another one of “Moscow’s gambits.” Commentators described Ukraine and Syria in the same breath. But Russia is eager to demonstrate that the two projects could hardly be more different and that Moscow can be two things […]
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… John Kerry said on Sunday he and … Sergei Lavrov … reached a provisional agreement on terms of a cessation of hostilities in Syria …. violence continued to rage …. Multiple bomb blasts in a southern district of Damascus … and twin car bombs … in Homs …. Russian air strikes launched in September against rebels fighting … al-Assad […]
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Feb. 10 is Diplomatic Worker’s Day in Russia. To mark the occasion, RBTH has collected seven quotes that best represent the attitudes and values of the country’s principal “diplomatic worker” – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ANNA SOROKINA, RBTH – February 10, 2016) 1. “The global financial and economic crisis has convincingly demonstrated […]
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(Interfax – December 28, 2015) The main objective of Russia’s foreign policy in 2015 was to secure the country’s leading role in the fight against terrorism; the actions of the Russian aviation group in Syria helped clear the situation in this regard, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “The key objective of Russian diplomatic efforts was to secure the leading […]
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(Interfax – November 7, 2015) By having refused to guarantee Ukraine’s debt as part of Russia’s proposal to restructure it, the United States effectively admitted the absence of prospects of restoring its solvency, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Interfax. “We were ready to restructure Ukraine’s $3 billion debt at much more advantageous terms than those […]
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BOCHAROV RUCHEI (Sochi). Nov 10 (Interfax) – Adherence to abstract ideas about the need to change the regime in Syria will have no success at the Vienna meeting; Russia is nevertheless expecting it to be constructive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. “If, instead of concrete work on these two issues (forming a list of terrorist organizations and a […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 14 (Interfax) – The United States has rejected the Russian proposal to send a delegation led by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Washington and a U.S. delegation to Moscow in order to discuss interaction in the Syria situation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. “Actually, we received a formal reply today. It seems the public speech delivered […]
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MOSCOW. Sept 29 (Interfax) – At their meeting in New York, the Russian and U.S. presidents did not discuss a coalition to fight the Islamic State (ISIL) group in ‘the classical sense of the word’, any joint command is unrealistic, but activities on the ground and airstrikes require coordination, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. The Russian and U.S. […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – August 13, 2015) You know things are getting really bad when Sergei Lavrov blows his cool. The Russian foreign minister is usually smooth as silk in public, shamelessly and effortlessly twisting, spinning, distorting, and lying on behalf of Vladimir Putin’s regime. But this week, Lavrov was caught on camera — and on mic […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – May 19, 2015) Two high-level delegations to Russia from the US suggest that icy relations between the two sides may have begun to thaw a little. US Secretary of State John Kerry travelled to Sochi to meet his counterpart Sergei Lavrov on May 12 in his first visit to Russia […]
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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Monday that the Kremlin continues to provide heavy arms and training to its proxy militias in eastern Ukraine—a “blatant violation,” he says, of the Minsk deal Russia signed in February to end the fighting. NATO says Russia is also building forces on both sides of its international border with Ukraine. Civilians in the port of […]
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It is a measure of how low American-Russian relations have sunk that a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Secretary of State John Kerry that achieves nothing is perceived as good news. But good news it was when they met for four hours in the southern Russian city of Sochi on Tuesday, following talks between Mr. Kerry and the Russian […]
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The US secretary’s visit to Russia, on the heels of a visit by Angela Merkel, suggests that the Kremlin and the West are trying to cooperate on international issues like Iran and Ukraine.
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(US Department of State – Sochi, Russia – May 12, 2015) [Compare with Russian Foreign Ministry version: mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/0/1832A4FE6BF 5B7E643257E440029BBE5] MODERATOR: (In progress) (Via interpreter) ready to start the press conference. Heads of the foreign policy agencies of the U.S. and Russia. FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, thanks a lot for your patience and waiting till the end of […]
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MOSCOW. May 11 (Interfax) – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has not confirmed reports that President Vladimir Putin is to meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Sochi on Tuesday. “We will make an announcement if such a meeting takes place,” Peskov said on Govorit Moskva radio on Monday. The radio station said citing Peskov that no decision has […]
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KYIV. May 3 (Interfax) – Kyiv on Sunday denied allegations by Moscow that Ukrainian heavy artillery has been shelling Donetsk. “Any use of weapons by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, if it takes place, is purely and simply a forced response to armed provocations from illegal armed units that are active in individual districts and is made in […]
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(RIA Novosti – April 6, 2015) The US is trying to curb the relations of “all the countries without exception” with Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. He was speaking in an interview with Dmitriy Kiselev, director-general of the state-owned International News Agency Rossiya Segodnya, as reported by RIA Novosti (part of Rossiya Segodnya) on 6 April. “The […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Spinella – April 6, 2015) Days after Russian authorities shut down the only television station run by Crimea’s Tatars, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in comments carried by state media that the minority ethnic group enjoys more rights under Russian rule than they did when the region was part of Ukraine. Lavrov said at […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yevgeny Bai, special to RBTH – March 27, 2015) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently completed a tour of Latin America that was notable for its focus on countries usually seen to be outside Moscow’s sphere of interest. With traditional ally Venezuela mired in crisis and the leaders of Brazil and Argentina occupied […]
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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited several Latin American nations this week to seek trade opportunities that could offset US efforts to puncture Russia’s economy. Russia took its global charm offensive to Latin America this week, as the Kremlin seeks to counter Western sanctions over its policies in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. … http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2015/0326/Russia-heads-to-America-s-backyard-to-find-salve-for-sanctions
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MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov does not rule out that what he called “the war party” in Kyiv might resort to some provocative acts to open the path to supplies of lethal weapons to Ukrainian government forces from abroad. “Provocateurs in Kyiv and also those who support the war party may try to cook something […]
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(Interfax – February 25, 2015) Moscow hopes that Ukraine will take a responsible approach to the implementation of the obligations undertaken in Minsk and carry out the constitutional reform, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. He was speaking at a meeting with President of the Senate of France Gerard Larcher in Moscow on 25 February, as reported by privately-owned […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Josh Rogin – February 7, 2015) Josh Rogin is a Bloomberg View columnist who writes about national security and foreign affairs. He has previously worked for the Daily Beast, Newsweek, Foreign Policy magazine, the Washington Post, Congressional Quarterly and Asahi Shimbun. In the span of 45 minutes today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rewrote the history […]
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(Interfax – February 8, 2015) Russia hopes that the feeling of excitement inspired by NATO’s all-out support will not do harm to the Ukrainian leadership, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the press in Munich on Sunday. “Concerning Ukraine in the context of relations with NATO, and the parallels between Ukraine and Georgia, I did not draw such parallels. NATO […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – January 22, 2015) Russia is determined to play a leading role in the new multipolar world that the United States relentlessly opposes and will not give up on Ukraine until a desirable outcome is reached, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists during an annual news conference Wednesday. Moscow wants to see Ukraine […]
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BERLIN. Jan 22 (Interfax) – Foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, the countries of the “Normandy format”, have supported the need to urgently withdraw heavy weapons from the line of engagement defined by the September 16, 2014 Minsk agreements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “The most important decision that was adopted today was outlined in a joint […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Joanna Paraszczuk – January 13, 2015) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called for a “more serious” fight against the Islamic State (IS) group, amid reports that the militant group is present in Afghanistan and is expanding elsewhere. “‘Islamic State’ is a structure that calls for a great deal more attention and a more serious reaction. […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 29 (Interfax) – The resolution of the crisis in Ukraine is quite possible in 2015, but only if Kyiv and southeastern Ukraine reach agreements without outside influence, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “As to the crisis in Ukraine, its resolution is not only possible, but quite realistic,” he said in an interview with Interfax, responding to a […]
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[“Poroshenko best chance for Ukraine at present — Lavrov” – ITAR-TASS – Dec. 17, 2014] Russian government-backed news agency TASS reported on comments to French television by Russian Foreign Ministery Sergei Lavrov, indicating that Russia can work with current Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. President Petro Poroshenko is the best chance for Ukraine at present, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in […]
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[“Russia says it wants east Ukraine to stay with Kiev under reformed constitution” – Reuters – Dec. 16, 2014] Reuters reports on Russian calls for Ukrainian constitutional reform to provide greater autonomy for eastern regions impacted by separatists. They cite comments from an interview with Interfax by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Moscow wants Ukraine to carry out … constitutional reform to […]
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(RIA Novosti – December 9, 2014) Russia is open to dialogue with Washington, but it will not give up its interests under any circumstances, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said in an interview with RIA Novosti (part of the state-owned International News Agency Rossiya Segodnya). “For our part, we are always open to a constructive and honest dialogue with […]
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BASEL. Dec 5 (Interfax) – There is information that foreign forces have pushed for Kyiv’s economic siege on southeastern Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “I really do not want to suspect anyone but there is information that such an aggressive treatment of the aforementioned territories has been encouraged from abroad,” Lavrov said at a press conference on Friday […]
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