(Interfax – April 10, 2014) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that he believes that US congressmen, who uphold an anti-Russian position, for example over events in Ukraine, are thus trying to undermine US President Barack Obama’s positions, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 10 April. “A huge number of facts point to the idea that those who […]
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MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti) – The de-escalation of the crisis in Ukraine is completely possible, but attempts to legitimize the country’s new leadership must stop first, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday. “We believe that the de-escalation of the Ukrainian crisis is completely possible, but to do so it is necessary to stop imposing facts and stop the […]
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NOVO-OGARYOVO. April 9 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia is ready to join four-sided talks on Ukraine, if they are meant to urge those who are in charge in Kyiv to take care of the country but not demand cheap gas from Russia. “This is our position: we want to see clear purposes for the […]
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MOSCOW, April 4 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine’s interim authorities Friday of ignoring an independent probe into deadly sniper fire during protests in Kiev, while denying any alleged Russian link to the incident. “We did not have and could not have had any relation to these crimes,” Lavrov said, adding that Ukraine’s authorities who seized […]
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MOSCOW. April 3 (Interfax) – Russia will keep a close eye on how the United States and Turkey follow the principles of the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits, which set the rules for warships’ presence in the Black Sea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “We have the Montreux Convention, which introduces absolutely clear-cut criteria that restrict […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dmitry Babich, special to RBTH – March 31, 2014) As tensions ease, economic rapprochement with Europe will increase but security comes first for Moscow, discovers Voice of Russia political analyst Dmitry Babich Following last Sunday’s talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris, which while […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, March 30, 2014) Acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya, during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov [earlier] in the week, said that the idea of Ukraine’s ??federalization and giving Russian the status of a second state language was unacceptable. “Deshchytsya said that our proposal is unacceptable because federalization is contrary to the fundamental principles of […]
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MOSCOW. March 29 (Interfax) – Interaction between Moscow, Western countries and Kyiv to settle the crisis in Ukraine is becoming more tangible, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “Anyway, we are bringing our approaches closer together. My last meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in The Hague and my contacts with Germany, France and some other countries show […]
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(Kremlin.ru – March 21, 2014) Vladimir Putin held a meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council, during which a detailed discussion on the situation in Ukraine took place. Taking part in the meeting were Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Ivanov, […]
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Reuters reports on statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe is close to reaching an arrangement to send observers to Ukraine: ‘We have already practically agreed a draft decision’ on an observer mission, Lavrov told President Vladimir Putin in televised remarks, adding that observers would be sent to western and central […]
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MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) – The purpose of signing the political provisions for the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement is not to take care of the interests of the Ukrainian people. This is an attempt to score in a geopolitical game, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “In my opinion, this step was not dictated by the interests of the Ukrainian economy, […]
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MOSCOW (RIA Novosti, March 21) – Russia is collecting facts on lawless extremists and neo-nationalists in Ukraine as well as on the violence that has racked the country, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. “We are scrupulously collecting all of the facts that show the lawlessness of neo-nationalists and extremists and would like to complete this work as quickly […]
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MOSCOW, March 20 (RIA Novosti) – Making Ukraine a federal state is the only way to stabilize situation in the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. “We want to understand, who exactly will represent legitimate authorities in Kiev. In this regard we have a proposal: first of all, a constitutional reform should be held, so that interests […]
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MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) – The sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union and the United States do not have international legal grounds, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “Unilateral sanctions have never done any good. They are not legal. And they do not have international legal grounds,” Lavrov said at a State Duma sitting on Thursday. “The UN […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov – March 11, 2014) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told President Vladimir Putin on Monday that Russia and the West were continuing to butt heads over the Ukraine situation after the U.S. submitted “unsatisfactory” proposals based on the notion that there was a “conflict between Russia and Ukraine.” At a meeting with Putin […]
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MOSCOW, March 5 (RIA Novosti) – The top diplomats of Russia and the United States agreed at their meeting on Wednesday that they should help Ukraine to implement the EU-brokered reconciliation deal. “We have agreed that Ukrainians need assistance to implement the February 21 accord,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. He met with US Secretary of State John Kerry […]
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BAGHDAD. Feb 20 (Interfax) – Moscow is concerned by how the West has been trying to impact on the situation in Ukraine, and also notes that the situation in this country is being misrepresented, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “We are most deeply concerned by what is going on in Ukraine, and in particular by how Western capitals have […]
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[“Russia accuses EU of seeking Ukraine ‘sphere of influence’” – Reuters – Gabriela Baczynska, Alexandra Hudson – February 14, 2014 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/14/us-ukraine-russia-eu-idUSBREA1D0PT20140214] Reuters covers tensions between Russia and the EU over Ukraine, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov bemoaning the prospect of an EU sphere of influence on Russia’s borders: Russia accused the European Union on Friday of seeking to […]
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(Interfax – February 14, 2014) Russia is prepared to act as a mediator between Ukraine’s opposition and government in their search for a solution to the crisis in the country if Russia is asked to, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “We will not mind acting as a mediator between the authorities and the opposition if the authorities and the opposition […]
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(Interfax – February 1, 2014) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that statements that Ukraine should choose between relations with Russia and relations with the rest of the world are “counterproductive”, privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 1 February. “When (US Secretary of State) John Kerry speaks and says that Ukraine should choose who it is with – with […]
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(Interfax – January 28, 2014) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen are ready to search for solutions to the European missile defense problem. They have also discussed possible assistance to the UN/OPCW mission dealing with Syrian chemical weapons, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “Problems and the prospective development of Russia-NATO relations have been discussed. […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Margot Light – January 5, 2014) Margot Light is Professor Emeritus of International Relations at the Department of International Relations of the London School of Economics and Political Science. 2013 produced several foreign policy successes for President Putin, increasing Russia’s prominence on the international stage. At home, the Volgograd suicide attacks brought the year to a sad and […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, December 21, 2013) Russia would like to see Ukraine participating in Eurasian integrational processes and the agreements between Russia and Ukraine of 17 December confirm a shared desire for constructive work, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. “Eurasian integrational structures are open to other partners in the CIS as well. Of course, we would like to […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) – Washington’s attempts to expand the so-called Magnitsky List are an extra irritant in relations between Russia and the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said referring to the list of Russian officials suspected of human rights abuses and subject to U.S. financial and visa sanctions under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax) – Moscow is already taking disciplinary measures in relation to the Russian diplomats accused in the U.S. of unlawfully receiving Medicaid benefits to cover the pregnancy and childbirth costs, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “This is a disciplinary offence, because, by being insincere in filing applications and citing inaccurate figures to receive some benefits, they […]
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KYIV. Dec 5 (Interfax) – Moscow supports the idea of the Internet’s international regulation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “I think our organization should think about its role in ensuring the people’s rights in cyberspace,” Lavrov said at a ministerial session of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Kyiv on Thursday. “This concerns the problem […]
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KYIV. Dec 5 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called the Western countries’ reaction to Ukraine’s refusal to sign an association agreement with the EU “hysteria.” “This situation is connected to some Europeans’ hysteria, which was caused by the fact that Ukraine exercised its sovereign right in deciding not to sign an agreement that Ukrainian experts and the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – December 5, 2013) BRUSSELS At a meeting with NATO counterparts on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov slammed NATO’s response to recent protests in Ukraine and said last month’s deal on Iran’s nuclear program renders the need for missile defense in Europe obsolete. In response to a joint resolution issued by […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yuri Paniyev, special to RBTH – December 3, 2013) Syria, Afghanistan and NATO’s European missile defense system will top the agenda at the Russia-NATO Council session scheduled to begin on Dec.3. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his counterparts from the NATO member states are expected to exchange opinions on issues concerning Euro-Atlantic […]
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ROME, November 25 (RIA Novosti) Implementation of a deal on Iran’s nuclear program reached in Geneva this weekend will make the US missile defense system in Europe unnecessary, Russia’s foreign minister said Monday. “If the agreement on Iran is implemented, the reason named as a necessity to establish a missile defense system in Europe will drop away,” Sergei Lavrov […]
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VLADIVOSTOK. Nov 18 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has described the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces’ demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must go as a precondition for its participation in the Geneva II conference as unrealistic and going against the Geneva communique. “The opposition, primarily that represented by the National Coalition, said it would […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called for boosting trade between Russia and the United States and for more extensive mutual investment. “Russia and the United States possess all the necessary resources for more extensive collaboration in countering modern threats and challenges and in trying to settle regional crises and conflicts. I am convinced that […]
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ATHENS. Oct 30 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov believes most of the key world political leaders were aware of being tapped by U.S. special services. “I even feel somewhat bored to comment on this. In fact, I am sure that everyone knew everything or at least had such suspicions. And all this fuss is being made now just […]
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MINSK, October 25 (RIA Novosti) Leaks by former US security contractor Edward Snowden regarding US intelligence-gathering on Russia will have no impact on relations between Moscow and Washington, Russia’s foreign minister said Friday. Sergei Lavrov said issues regarding Snowden were not high on Russia’s international diplomatic agenda. Emerging allegations that US intelligence operative have spied on the phones of […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax) – Namely the United States urged at some point to prevent organizations under its control from actions, which could undermine the security of another country or which are aimed at changing political regimes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Washington. Everyone who is currently attempting to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries should be […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yulia Ponomareva, RBTH – October 17, 2013) As Lavrov’s achievements in the negotiations regarding the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria put him in the spotlight, RBTH takes a look at the man beyond his political persona. The agreement on the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons, which was reached on September 14, 2013, […]
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(Interfax – BRUSSELS, October 16, 2013) Relations between Russia and NATO have scaled back on certain tracks, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “Positive results are hard to win in practice in certain areas, and progress was even reversed on some tracks,” he said at the Royal Institute of International relations (the Egmont Institute) in Brussels. “I mean, for instance, […]
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(Interfax – BRUSSELS, October 15, 2013) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called the Russian-U.S. understandings on Syria’s chemical weapons a renaissance of diplomacy aimed not at building coalitions but at reaching common goals. Speaking at the Brussels-based Royal Institute for International Relations (Egmont Institute), Lavrov suggested that the world has switched to a polycentric from a bipolar system of […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 19, 2013) The estimates of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to which the disposal of Syrian chemical weapons would require approximately one year and cost about $1 billion, are fairly accurate, Chairman of the Council on the Foreign and Defense Policy Fyodor Lukyanov said. “It is probably close to the truth. What foreign countries are saying […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 16, 2013) Before the current international diplomatic crisis over the reported chemical arms attacks in a Damascus suburb on August 21, the United States had contacted the Syrian government to find out how safe its chemical stockpiles were, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “We were working with the Syrians directly to understand the how […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, August 28, 2013) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the latest tensions surrounding Syria in a telephone conversation late on Tuesday. “John Kerry set out his judgments based, as was stated, on information from trustworthy sources, according to which the government of the Syrian Arab Republic is to blame for […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – August 12, 2013) Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with U.S. officials in Washington to show that “there is no Cold War” despite President Barack Obama’s cancellation of a summit with President Vladimir Putin. At a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 22, 2013) After Russia and the United States implement the New START treaty, further strategic offensive arms cuts will have to be discussed in a multilateral format, as the matter will concern arms levels comparable to those possessed by countries other than Russia and the U.S., Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “The first priority now […]
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(RIA Novosti – RIO DE JANEIRO, June 12, 2013) The head of Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that he has no information about US whistleblower Edward Snowden seeking asylum in Russia. “I haven’t heard about there being a formal [asylum] request from Snowden,” Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro. Russia will review the request […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 11, 2013) Relations between Moscow and Washington will develop in a step by step manner despite the existing “irritators”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “Well, I don’t see any challenges which are not insurmountable. I believe that after some pause and some irritators, which appeared rather officially in our relationship some time ago, both presidents […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 11, 2013) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has criticized the West’s “double standards” in dealing with foreign regimes it has branded as dictatorial, and defended Russia’s arms contracts with Syria. Speaking in a recent interview with America’s CBS network released on Monday evening, Lavrov said the West had a policy of double standards in […]
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(Interfax – PIONERSKY, Kaliningrad region, June 6, 2013) Turkey has still not clarified reports that militants possessing sarin were detained on its territory some time ago, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “I would like to seize this opportunity to remind you that we still expect full information from our Turkish partners regarding reports, which came about a week ago, […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, May 17, 2013) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday responded to a New York Times report that Russia has sent advanced antiship cruise missiles to war-torn Syria by saying that Russian arms deliveries do not change the balance of power, are fully legal and take place under existing contracts. Citing unidentified American officials, The […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 29, 2013) Achieving agreements on the missile shield issue between Russia and the United States will bring the Russian-U.S. ties to a new allied level like during World War II, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “We are convinced that doing it together – doing it together with the United States and the Europeans – would […]
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(Interfax – April 11, 2013) Middle East conflicts are advantageous to those who would like the region to have smaller and less influential countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the RTVI channel. “This may be advantageous to many. For instance, those who want the region to have less influential countries. Those who want these countries […]
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