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🎙Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's interview with Indian news portal Firstpost(April 25, 2026) Read in full ❓ Question: Russia plays a huge role in India’s energy security. In light of the growing tensions in West Asia, how do you see Russia’s role in ensuring India’s resilience to global oil price shocks in 2027? 💬Maria Zakharova: Our country is making a weighty contribution to ensuring India’s energy security by supplying hydrocarbons on favourable terms and building the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. The possibility of implementing a project to build a new Russian-designed NPP on Indian territory is under discussion. Other promising options for expanding energy cooperation are also being explored. Russian petroleum has an important place in the structure of bilateral trade, and we plan to expand petroleum exports, which meets the interests of both countries. Russian energy operators make sure that their Indian counterparts’ requests for petroleum shipments are fulfilled as soon as possible. We regard long-term export contracts as the main instrument for protecting our partners from oil price fluctuations caused by global and regional instability. Such agreements make it possible to receive hydrocarbons over the long term on the most favourable terms and at a fixed price. ❓ Question: Russia has been India’s most reliable defence partner for decades. Could you comment on how the two countries ensure uninterrupted defence cooperation and supplies in these turbulent times? 💬Maria Zakharova: Our time-tested military-technical cooperation is comprehensive, based on mutual trust and unaffected by foreign policy fluctuations. The bilateral Intergovernmental Commission on Military and Military-Technical Cooperation and its working groups meet every year. The intensity of military delegation exchanges has been growing year after year. Amid intensifying international competition, Russia intends to continue expanding military-technical cooperation with New Delhi. Supplies of military products across a broad range for all branches of India’s armed forces are carried out within mutually agreed timeframes. We readily share the latest defence technologies with our Indian partners. In India, in particular, the Russian-Indian company BrahMos, which manufactures missile systems, is operating successfully, and serial production of AK-203 assault rifles has been organised at the relevant joint venture. Other key points from the interview: • #RussiaIndia: When building relations with other major centres of power, including the US, our Indian friends always duly take into account the factor of their special and privileged strategic partnership with Russia. • #MiddleEast: The energy route through the Strait of Hormuz functioned uninterrupted until the US-Israeli tandem launched its unprovoked, unlawful and reckless aggressive adventure against Iran. From the very beginning, Russia advocated bringing the conflict back into the political and diplomatic track. We remain ready to assist in resolving this acute international situation. • #BRICS: Over the two decades since its establishment, BRICS has evolved significantly – from an informal dialogue platform into a full-format strategic partnership. Today, the association accounts for a significant share of global GDP, population and natural resources. • #UkrainianCrisis: The goals and objectives of the special military operation set by President Vladimir Putin remain relevant. 👉 A sustainable settlement of the crisis around Ukraine is possible only by addressing its root causes. Ukraine must return to the foundations of its statehood – the non-aligned, neutral, and non-nuclear status.

🎙Remarks by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Ambassadorial Roundtable “The Ukrainian Crisis. Digital Threats and International Information Security”(March 5, 2026, Moscow) 💬 Sergey Lavrov: This is far from the first time we are meeting to discuss an issue that is central to us in international politics. President Vladimir Putin and other representatives of the Russian leadership have repeatedly stated this. The goal of the war waged against Russia – prepared and ultimately unleashed by the West through the Ukrainian regime – is to weaken our country and, as they themselves say, inflict a “strategic defeat” on it. There is every reason to believe that behind this goal also lies a desire to “break up” our country. At the same time, many other developments are unfolding around the world – including the events in the Middle East – a result of the aggression by the US and Israel against Iran. In this regard, I cannot but mention this crisis, which threatens colossal negative consequences for the entire world – for global stability, the global economy and everything that was once called globalization for the prosperity of all humanity. All of this has been destroyed. Civilians are suffering both in Iran and, as a result of Iran’s retaliatory actions, in neighboring Arab states. We express our condolences for all civilian casualties. We also see the damage being inflicted on civilian infrastructure across the countries of the Persian Gulf. #UkrainianCrisis We are conducting negotiations with our US colleagues, who are assisting in the dialogue with Ukraine. Quite recently, several trilateral rounds took place in Abu Dhabi – for which we are sincerely grateful to our Emirati friends – and in Geneva. ❗️At present, we see no grounds to believe that these talks are merely a “smokescreen”, as we remain in direct contact with our American counterparts. At the same time, we clearly see that during the seven months since Anchorage, Ukrainians and Europeans have made – and continue to make – every effort to reinterpret and rewrite the understandings reached there. We see how negotiators in the US are facing pressure and the temptation to yield to it – shifting the entire responsibility for further steps, as they say, onto Russia in order to meet certain symbolic dates in this year’s political calendar. This, too, is a fact. But our conscience is clear. We remain faithful to the understandings reached at the initiative of the US in Alaska. We are fully committed to the Alaska agreements. Our American colleagues know perfectly well what we are referring to, since these were their proposals. I hope that no one will divert our American colleagues from this true path, despite all the efforts of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and other “masters” of the Kiev regime. #MiddleEast#Iran ▪️ We express our condolences for all civilian casualties and see the damage being inflicted on civilian infrastructure across the countries of the Persian Gulf. I have no doubt that one of the objectives was to drive a wedge between the countries of the region – between the Persian Gulf states, Iran and its Arab neighbors – among whom a positive process of normalization had been developing in recent years. This became particularly evident when Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic relations. Russia actively contributed to this process. For many years we have been promoting a unifying agenda. 👉For more than 20 years, we have been working to mobilize support for the Concept of Collective Security in the Persian Gulf. This initiative envisages participation by all coastal states and their key neighbors and – as originally proposed – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, ensuring transparency, confidence-building measures and practical steps to use this immensely rich region in the interests of the prosperity of its peoples. The West has done everything to prevent the advancement of a positive agenda in the Gulf region. Read in full

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’sinterview with Al Arabiya television channel(Moscow, February 17, 2026) Key talking points: #TheArabWorld • We enjoy solid relationships with all Arab countries and their organisations. These include the League of Arab States (LAS), with which we have held about half a dozen ministerial meetings. We also plan to hold the Russia-LAS summit. We also maintain a close relationship with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which has been maintained by annual events at the level of foreign ministers. #SaudiArabia • Saudi Arabia is the leader of the Arab world, a country of two Holiest sites in Islam, and the author of the Arab Peace Initiative to settle the most complicated and enduring crisis, the Palestinian issue. • Our country regards Saudi Arabia as its strategic partner in the region. We believe that this view is shared by our Saudi colleagues. We are very pleased with our cooperation. • We are developing humanitarian, cultural, educational and sports ties. <...> A few days ago, I had a conversation with my friend, Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. One of the issues we discussed concerned the preparation of Intervision International Music Contest, which reflects the striving of Russia and Saudi Arabia to promote traditional values. • We enjoy solid relationships with all Arab countries and their organisations. These include the #LAS, with which we have held about half a dozen ministerial meetings. We also plan to hold the #RussiaLAS summit. We also maintain a close relationship with #GCC. #Iran • Regrettably, Israel and the US went ahead with the strikes [against Iran], creating physical risks and undermining the authority of the #IAEA and the #NPT. The IAEA has exerted unprecedented control, especially in the past years, after the signing of the #JCPOA. Iran was never found violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty or its agreement on guarantees with the IAEA. All risks and political tensions emerged after the US withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018. #Syria • Mutual respect and mutual benefit – these are the principles that have underpinned our relations with Syria from the very beginning, since its establishment. We hold these relations in high regard. • We firmly believe that a multiethnic, multi-confessional state such as Syria must restore its unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty as swiftly as possible. In this endeavour, we will continue to – and indeed already do – assist Damascus and its new leadership. • As for our military facilities, discussions are ongoing. Let me reiterate: the Syrians are keen for our presence to endure. #Palestine • We should not overlook the fact that the situation in the West Bank is becoming increasingly tense and volatile as a result of Israeli actions, including the recent issuance of directives regulating land acquisition and urban development procedures. Until recently, such matters were coordinated with the Palestinian National Authority. Now, however, unilateral decisions are being taken, and analysis of their likely consequences suggests that little may remain of the territories currently administered by the Palestinian National Authority. Now, however, unilateral decisions are being taken, and analysis of their likely consequences suggests that little may remain of the territories currently administered by the Palestinian National Authority. #UkrainianCrisis • Europe hysterically demands that Russia start talks and that all sides agree that Europe must be part of these talks. <...> Europe has revealed its Nazi essence, which we thought was destroyed with the Hitler’s defeat in WWII. It has turned out to be extremely tenacious. I don’t see what role Europe could play. • We greatly value the stance taken by the Trump administration and personally by the President of the US. We are closely observing Europe’s attempts to dissuade the current Washington administration from its principled stance, as discussed and agreed in Anchorage, Alaska. We remain fully committed to those understandings. Read in full