Russian MFA 🇷🇺

🎙Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks at a meeting of the Supervisory Board and Board of Trustees of Foreign Ministry’s MGIMO University(Moscow, April 23, 2026) 💬 I would like to note MGIMO leadership’s efforts to preserve Russia’s historical and diplomatic heritage. Not long ago, the latest two-volume edition of The History of Diplomacy was published, introducing previously unused archival materials into academic circulation. Projects aimed at popularising the scholarly legacy of the internationally renowned historian and first head of MGIMO’s Department of the History of International Relations Yevgeny Tarle and the first director of MGIMO Ivan Udaltsov deserve the highest praise. 2025 marked the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The university’s faculty made an invaluable contribution to preparing materials for a number of books and articles devoted to inextricable link between the outcomes of the Second World War and the modern-day international relations system. ☝️We will continue working to preserve historical memory and to prevent the attempts to distort Russian and world history. On April 19, Russia marked the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People for the first time. Russian diplomacy will consistently seek international recognition of the crimes committed by Nazis and their accomplices against Soviet civilians of all ethnic backgrounds as genocide. I am positive that MGIMO’s specialized departments, with their extensive track record in historiographical research and the defence of national interests at the present stage of global development when Nazism, particularly in Europe, is once again rearing its ugly head, will find a niche of their own in this work. Such efforts can seamlessly complement MGIMO’s activities in promoting Russian education and the Russian language internationally, as well as strengthening mutual understanding and trust between nations, primarily in the near abroad. The opening in 2025 of MGIMO's branch in Kazakhstan came as an important milestone in this regard with 100 undergraduate and master’s students studying at MGIMO-Astana. 🤝MGIMO’s push to diversify ties with its partner universities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America deserves every support it can get. The signing of a memorandum of understanding between MGIMO and Hanoi State University in May 2025 in the presence of Russia’s and Vietnam’s top leaders was a signature event. We support MGIMO’s plans to launch its first academic programme at its new Hanoi branch in 2025. We also welcome the efforts to gradually resume partner programmes leading to dual degrees. The fact that such work is underway primarily with the university’s partners from the #GlobalMajority countries fully reflects current geopolitical realities. Importantly, universities from China, our great eastern neighbour, with which our relations continue to strengthen across all areas, are among MGIMO’s partners. Prospects are good for establishing similar arrangements with our friends from the #BRICS countries.

🎙Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks at the Government Hour during the Plenary Session of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation(February 11, 2026) Read in full 💬Sergey Lavrov: Russia is defending its legitimate rights in the emerging #MultipolarWorld amid intense competition. We are often compelled to do so despite the Western minority’s reluctance to curb its excessive ambitions. Russia engages respectfully with those prepared to work on the basis of sovereign equality and other principles of international law. Such countries constitute the #GlobalMajority. They are our reliable and promising partners. The West, however, has yet to rid itself of its obsession with colonial – and, I dare say, slave-owning – grandeur. The dramatic events of the beginning of 2026, including the armed invasion of Venezuela by the US, increased American pressure on Cuba, attempts to destabilize Iran, and the crisis around Greenland, have confirmed our assessment that the world has entered an era of rapid and profound change. The central trend toward a more just and sustainable multipolar system will be accompanied by a struggle between the “old” former leaders – concentrated in the West – and the rising centres of development representing the Global Majority. This struggle is gaining momentum and affects virtually all regions. Viewed through this perspective, it becomes clear why a former colonial power such as France seeks to undermine nationally oriented governments in the Sahel and other parts of Africa. Berlin is not far behind, driven by revanchist ambitions. 🤔 The current generation of German, French and other European politicians seems to have forgotten the “outcomes” of Poltava, Berezina, Stalingrad and the Kursk Bulge. The state of strategic stability remains a matter of concern. A number of European Russophobes continue to groundlessly blame Russia for its deterioration. At the same time, President Vladimir Putin’s initiative proposing continued voluntary compliance by the parties to New START with its core quantitative limits has received no official response from the US. ☢️ We proceed from the understanding thatthe moratorium declared by President Putin remains in force – but only as long as the US does not exceed those limits. We will defend truth and law in all contacts with our international partners. We will provide political and diplomatic support to ensure the achievement of all the goals and objectives of the special military operation. ❗️We consistently emphasize that a sustainable settlement of the crisis provoked by the “collective West” in Ukraine is impossible without eliminating its root causes. Unlike those who, in President Putin’s words, claim the “right of might” to dictate their will, lecture others and issue orders, we threaten no one and impose our views on no one. On the contrary, our diplomacy consistently advances honest, equal and mutually beneficial partnerships with all who are prepared to engage on these principles. Our strategic partnerships and allied relations with our neighbours – the #CIS and #CSTO member states – play a key role in ensuring national security and maintaining regional stability. We will continue to further develop these ties.