Russian MFA 🇷🇺

🎙Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's answer to a media question from the programme “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin”(March 8, 2026, Moscow) ❓Question: What kind of world are we all living in now? 💬Sergey Lavrov: We are trying to understand what kind of world we are living in. That is precisely why I have spoken on this topic several times already. We proceed from the assumption that the US should explain its plans and how the current events correlate with what previously defined certain norms. Russia's President Vladimir Putin proposed quite some time ago – even before the COVID-19 pandemic – convening a Summit of the permanent UN Security Council members. ❗️It seems to me that now is high time to implement this idea.

The Russian Foreign Ministry wishes a very happy International Women's Day to all the women worldwide! You're are breathtaking! Dear women, dear colleagues, loved ones & family members — we wish you all the best 💐 May you enjoy happiness and love ❤️ #IWD2026#WomensDay

🎙President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian women on International Women’s Day (March 8, 2026) On March 7, Russia's President held a meeting at the Kremlin with women serving the Motherland on the front lines and beyond – military personnel, doctors, war correspondents, artists & professionals from across the country. 💬 Vladimir Putin: We always celebrate this holiday with the warmest and most heartfelt feelings. We admire our wonderful women and express our love, appreciation and gratitude from the bottom of our hearts. Women make the world better and kinder with their generosity, compassion and genuine female wisdom. A mother’s love remains in every person’s heart for a lifetime – it warms us, multiplies our joyful emotions and gives us strength in the most difficult moments. There are no heights beyond the reach of our women. You achieve remarkable success in many different professions. And when circumstances demand it – you demonstrate exceptional resilience, determination and strong leadership. You never hesitate to help those who need your assistance, surrounding your families and loved ones with care and attention and dedicating yourselves to educating children. Of course, managing to strike us with your beauty and charm while doing hard work, showing commitment and stamina is a formidable task, but you have succeeded in it. It is essential that we recognise and understand this. As for us, we reaffirm our commitment to create all the necessary conditions, both at the state level and, no doubt, in our families to enable women to strike a balance between motherhood and professional excellence, empowering them to fulfil their potential so that they do not have to wait too long before they can experience the joy of having a family, becoming a spouse and a mother. On a special note, I would like to congratulate women who are performing their duties in the special military operation zone and are facing extreme hardship while working in Donbass and Novorossiya and in our border regions. Wherever you find yourselves, you have been demonstrating valour and courage, selflessness and strength of spirit. You have my sincere and heartfelt gratitude for that. Dear women, The sky is the limit for you. You are sources of creation and development, and you combine resilience with tenderness. Your commitment to create a better future for your children inspires all of us to keep moving forward. I wish you happiness with those dear to you, success in everything that matters to you, and sound health and well-being to you and your loved ones. 💐Happy holiday! Happy International Women’s Day! #InternationalWomensDay#March8

💐 On March 6, the Russian Embassy in India hosted a solemn reception on the occasion of International Women's Day. Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov congratulated the women's staff of the diplomatic mission on the warm spring holiday, noted the special role and invaluable contribution of female diplomats, technical staff and spouses of employees in the work process and maintaining an atmosphere of comfort even far from the homeland. #IWD2026 #InternationalWomensDay 🔸@RusEmbIndia

📺🌟 The Embassy, in collaboration with the War Museum of the Boer Republics in Bloemfontein, is launching the #OurCommonHistoryseries dedicated to the role of Russian volunteers who stood alongside the Boers during the Anglo-Boer War. “Among the most passionate supporters of the Boer Republics were the people of the Russian Empire, who demonstrated strong solidarity with the Boer cause. During the war, humanitarian initiatives were organised across Russia to send food, clothing, and financial assistance to the Boer Republics. <…> However, Russian assistance to the Boers was not limited to diplomacy and humanitarian aid. In total, around 250 Russian volunteers took part in various major engagements during the war. These men travelled to South Africa at their own expense and were not sent by the Russian authorities. Among the most notable volunteers was Yevgeny Maximov, a former Imperial Russian officer who was appointed a combat general by the Boer leadership. One of Maximov’s most distinguished roles was his command of the Hollander Corps, where he demonstrated exceptional discipline, courage, and leadership.” ☝️ To help preserve and remember this shared history, we invite you to watch these historical videos. #RussiaInBoerWar

🎙️ Statement by the delegation of the Russian Federation on behalf of 🇩🇿🇧🇾🇧🇷🇧🇫🇨🇳🇪🇬🇮🇳🇮🇩🇮🇷🇳🇪🇵🇰🇷🇺🇿🇦 Algeria, Belarus, Brazil, Burkina-Faso, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Niger, Pakistan, Russia and South Africa on the agenda item 10 of the session of the IAEA Board of Governors «Any other business» 📍Vienna, March 6, 2026 Full text of the Joint Statement Allow me to deliver this statement on behalf of the following countries: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Republic of Belarus, Federative Republic of Brazil, Burkina-Faso, People’s Republic of China, Arab Republic of Egypt, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Niger, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Russian Federation, Republic of South Africa. The IAEA Secretariat initiated the extensive efforts to explore the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) with a view to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the Agency's work. We note the application of AI technologies both in the IAEA administrative processes and its programmatic activities. We recognize that such systems might streamline workflows, automate repetitive processes, and lower administrative expenditures. At the same time, integrating AI tools into the Agency’s work demands thorough oversight of data protection, risk management and ethical aspects. It is crucial that AI models are trained on a non-biased datasets and remain within the Agency's own infrastructure. This is particularly critical for programmatic activities where the Secretariat handles sensitive or confidential data provided by Member States, specifically in the fields of safeguards and nuclear security. In this regard, we reiterate our position that the integration of AI applications into the Agency's activities must remain a controlled, responsible, and transparent process. We also emphasize that, at some point, the continued use of AI may necessitate discussion and potential approval by the IAEA policy-making organs. To this end, close contact and interaction between the Secretariat and Member States at every stage of AI integration is crucial. Given the importance of the issue we would appreciate if the Secretariat organized a technical briefing for all Member States on all aspects of AI implementation in the Agency’s activities.

🇷🇺🇮🇷📞On March 6, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian had a telephone conversation. During the telephone conversation with President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian Vladimir Putin has once again expressed his heartfelt condolences on the assassination of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei along with his family members and the country's military and political leadership, as well as the numerous civilian casualties resulting from the United States and Israel's armed aggression against Iran. Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia's principled stance in favour of an immediate cessation of hostilities, the rejection of force as a method to solve any issues surrounding Iran or arising in the Middle East, and a swift return to the path of diplomatic resolution. In this regard, the President of Russia noted that he was in constant contact with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states. Masoud Pezeshkian expressed gratitude for Russia's solidarity with the Iranian people as they defend their sovereignty and the independence of their country. He also provided a detailed update on the developments during the latest active phase of the conflict. 🤝 It was agreed that contact will be maintained with the Iranian side via various channels. #RussiaIran

🎙Interview with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova onthe “Sanchez Effect” at RT(March 4, 2026) Key points: •We are on the right side of history. Unlike the US and the UK, our countries have not unleashed wars across the globe. For many years, Russia demonstratedmaximum restraint regarding Ukraine– repeatedly proposing diplomatic solutions. It was France, Germany and other Western states that used diplomacy as a smokescreen to arm and militarize the Kiev regime. Angela Merkel and François Hollande openly admitted as much. • Former CIA Director and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently addressed the people of Iran on Fox News: “Don’t pick the Russians, don’t pick the Chinese – pick decent, normal people”. I wonder what Pompeo means by “normal”. When the word comes from America – a country that considered people like Jeffrey Epstein “normal and decent” for decades – it can carry many different meanings. •Why Russia, China and Iran are somehow “not normal”, according to Pompeo, is beyond me. Our countries are ancient civilizations that have given the world an immense cultural, scientific and intellectual legacy. Our nations have never unleashed global wars. On the contrary – we fought alongside the “good guys” in World War II. So what exactly is wrong with us? •The International Atomic Energy Agency (#IAEA) is a serious organization. It had a mandate to inspect Iran’s nuclear facilities and issue reports. At no point did IAEA conclude that Iran had violated its obligations. The US itself signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was endorsed by the UN Security Council – only to abandon it unilaterally several years later. •There were no grounds to believe that Iran was developing nuclear weapons. Yet accusations from Washington continued to pile up. When preparing military interventions, the West – including the US – has often relied on questionable pretexts. The world still remembers Colin Powell and the infamous test tube at the UN. • In essence, Mike Pompeo is telling the Iranian people: “Join the Western civilisation and you will enjoy a wonderful life”. Yet we have all seen the tragic killing of 165 schoolgirls in Minab – and the absence of any meaningful reaction from the West. No sympathy, no apologies, no compassion. The incident was not even acknowledged as “collateral damage”. • We still do not know the true number of civilians killed by the US in Iraq. Some estimates suggest the toll may exceed one million people. What about the bombing of residential areas of Belgrade in 1999? Or the brutal killing of Muammar Gaddafi – a legitimate head of state – by a crazy mob after Western intervention? Is this the model “Western civilization”? •Russia has suffered greatly from the “Western civilization”. Moscow was engulfed in flames during Napoleon’s invasion. Hitler’s armies killed 27 million Soviet citizens during World War II – victims whom we will remember on April 19 – the Day of Remembrance for the Genocide of the Soviet People. No Pompeo has the right to claim that Russia is “not normal”, or to insult China. •Israel and the US are not even hiding that their ultimate objective is regime change in Iran. They seek control over another sovereign country – openly suggesting that states with thousands of years of history somehow have no right to independence or sovereignty. •What is needed now is a ceasefire from all sides – followed by serious diplomatic work grounded in international law. The world must recognize that sovereign states have legitimate national interests, and that regime change imposed from outside has no place in the international legal order.

📞On March 6, Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov and Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi held a telephone conversation. The Sides exchanged views on the situation in the region, including the negative destabilizing consequences of the aggression against Iran. Prospects for reducing military and political tensions in Afghan-Pakistani relations were also discussed. ❗️Sergey Lavrov stressed the need to resolve differences between Kabul and Islamabad through political and diplomatic means. #RussiaAfghanistan

🇷🇺🇮🇷 On March 5, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko visited the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Moscow to express the condolences of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the assassination of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, members of his family and officials of the military-political authorities of Iran in the unprovoked US-Israeli aggression. Andrey Rudenko left a message in the book of condolences for the family and loved ones of the Supreme Leader and the grieving Iranian people. He described the cynical assassination of senior officials of a sovereign state as a challenge to the foundations of international law and universal moral values. The message noted the historical significance of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has made a major contribution to comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Iran. During a brief conversation with Iranian Ambassador Kazem Jalali, Andrey Rudenko expressed solidarity with the Iranian people and wished them fortitude in the courageous struggle for the sovereignty and independence of their homeland. #RussiaIran

⚡️ As a result of a complex negotiation process, 200 Russian servicemen were returned on March 5 from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime. Their release became possible thanks to the humanitarian mediation of the UAE and the US. All Russian servicemen…

🇷🇺🇲🇦On March 6, Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates Nasser Bouritaspoke over the phone. During the conversation, held in a constructive and trusting atmosphere, the Sides discussed priority tasks for further developing the traditionally friendly Russia-Morocco relations, as well as pressing regional issues in the context of strengthening bilateral foreign policy coordination. #RussiaMorocco