Russian Consulate in Cape Town

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’sanswer to a media question ❓ Question: On July 31, in an interview with Fox Radio, Marco Rubio talked about continuing to work with Russia. He mentioned recent contacts and conversations held in the hope of arriving at an understanding on ways to achieve peace. However, he said that so far, the United States does not see any progress along this track. What could you say in this regard? 💬 Sergey Lavrov: It is true that we have regular contacts with our American colleagues at various levels, including telephone conversations between our Presidents (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), interactions between myself and Marco Rubio (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), and through United States Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. The fact that the current US administration has revived direct dialogue is totally consistent with normal diplomatic practice, while Joe Biden’s refusal to abide by it defied common sense. Moscow and Washington have been engaged in a meaningful discussion on the Ukraine topic, which has been quite useful and effective. It is thanks to President Donald Trump’s insistence, the Kiev regime accepted our proposal to resume the Istanbul talks. Three rounds of talks have already taken place (1, 2, 3). Apart from important humanitarian agreements, we came forward with a proposal to establish working groups on political and military matters. This could be a major step towards a lasting agreement, just as the President of Russia said on August 1 during his meeting with Alexander Lukashenko in Valaam. We are waiting for Kiev to provide a meaningful response. So far, all we have are Zelensky’s conflicting statements ranging from an immediate truce without any preconditions while calling on the West to use this truce to deliver more weapons to Ukraine, to replacing the Istanbul format with a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin. He goes as far as demanding that the West delivers on the promise of changing the Russian leadership. He can switch from one position to the without 24 hours or every other day. Therefore, I suggest that anyone interested in advancing the settlement process should take these obvious contradictions into account. So far, the progress boils down to the fact that our American colleagues have come to realise the existing reality and try taking into account the root causes of the crisis, which sets them apart from the aggressive Russia-hating attitude of the Europeans. Vladimir Putin has set forth these causes in great detail many times, including the need to respect the vote by the people of Crimea, Donbass and Novorossiya following the 2014 government coup. Its leaders designated these people as inhuman and terrorists. Europeans have been screaming about dragging Ukraine into NATO and preparing for war with Russia, while Marco Rubio has recently reaffirmed his commitment to a responsible attitude by making it clear that a direct military confrontation between the United States and Russia should never happen. We fully agree with this position. In order to claim progress in addressing the root causes of the crisis, there is a need to get the record straight regarding the positions of all the Kiev regime’s patrons regarding what the Ukrainian regime does to cancel and do away with everything Russian, be it the Russian language, education, culture, history, memory, or the ban on the canonical Orthodox faith. ❗️ Apart from Ukraine, you will not find any other country in the entire world to enact an official ban on any language. We are certain that the US has a sincere interest in ensuring that human rights and the rights of ethnic minorities are respected, which is not the case for many hypocrites in the EU. In doing so, the US could deliver an unbiased assessment of this situation. This would be a major step forward. The fact that our colleagues in Washington are open to continuing an honest and mutually respectful conversation is also encouraging. <...> President Putin reaffirmed that Russia is ready to launch this conversation. Read in full

🦅 On August 1, Russia commemorates the Day of Remembrance for Russian Soldiers Who Fell in World War I. On this day in 1914, Germany declared war on the Russian Empire, and by August 2, had already invaded its territory. Thus, our country joined the then largest and bloodiest armed conflict in history. At the beginning of the XX century, Europe was effectively divided into two opposing blocs — the Entente (the British Empire, France and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (the German Empire, Austro-Hungary, and Italy). Each side had mutual grievances, and their subsequent arms race marked the preparations for a large-scale war. The immediate trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo. He was killed by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the nationalist organisation "Young Bosnia". On July 23, Austro-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia, deliberately containing demands that were impossible to meet. The Serbian government responded with restraint, accepting many of the conditions, but rejected some key points, including allowing Austro-Hungarian police onto Serbian territory. As a result, on July 28, Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia. 🇷🇺 Russia, long regarded as the protector of Orthodox Slavic nations in the Balkans, could not remain uninvolved and on the night of July 31, declared a general mobilisation. On August 1, the German Empire declared war on the Russian Empire; two days later — on France. On August 4, the British Empire declared war on Germany. On August 6, Austro-Hungary declared war on Russia. Thus, within the span of a single week, the leading European powers were drawn into the conflict. The war that had begun among a few European countries gradually engulfed 38 nations. The conflict lasted just over four years but surpassed all previous wars in human history in both scale and consequences. The total number of mobilized soldiers reached 73.5 million. During the hostilities, 10 million people were killed — as many as had died in all European wars over the previous thousand years — and 20 million were wounded, 3.5 million of whom were left permanently disabled. 🥈 The Russian Empire had to fulfill its obligations as an ally while also pursuing its own strategic objectives. The most important directions, from the country's perspective, were the Southwestern and Caucasus fronts, while the Northwestern and Western directions played a less central role. However, due to treaty obligations, the Russian command undertook a full-scale offensive in East Prussia in 1914. Under these difficult conditions, our soldiers and officers demonstrated exceptional courage and bravery. One of the symbols of Russian valour was the defence of the Osowiec Fortress. German troops used chemical weapons — a mixture of chlorine and bromine — killing most of the garrison. To the enemy's shock, the surviving defenders launched a bayonet charge and drove them into retreat. This event went down in history as the "Attack of the Dead Men." One of the most significant and vivid episodes of World War I, according to many historians, was the famous Brusilov Offensive by the Russian Imperial Army on the Southwestern Front. It pushed Austro-Hungary to the brink of collapse and forced the German Empire to divert substantial forces from Verdun in France to the “Russian theatre of war.” 🕯The self-sacrifice of Russian soldiers and officers is hard to overestimate. Over the course of the war, over 2 million of them perished. Our country honours the memory of the heroes of those days: in 2004, the Memorial Park Complex to the Heroes of World War I was opened in Moscow, and in 2014, a monument to the heroes of World War I was unveiled on Poklonnaya Hill. In total, 20 monuments and memorials have been erected across Russia and abroad. 👉Read more #WeRemember

🔴#LIVE: UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine. 🔴UN Web TV 🔴X (Twitter) account of the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN

📰Article by Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova 'neocolon-AI-lism' for 'Rossiyskaya Gazeta' newspaper (July 17, 2025) Read in full ✍️ At the beginning of July, the Russian MFA Collegium held a regular meeting on information and communication technologies, specifically the new challenges posed by artificial intelligence. It marked the launch of a substantive intra-ministry debate and the ministry’s adaptation to addressing AI-related challenges within the international dimension of this vast topic. <...> As a key driver of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, AI has been shaping a new economic, socio-cultural, and political system right before our eyes. These changes are particularly evident in the industrial, financial, and economic spheres across nations – yet the explosive development of machine learning is increasingly acquiring a political dimension. To establish the appropriate semantic framework for this “underside” of digitalisation, we must first outline the ideological coordinates adopted by certain geopolitical players advancing artificial intelligence. 👉 That framework is neocolonialist thinking. When combined with AI, neocolonialism takes on a truly global, technologically sophisticated dimension. Beyond the traditional dominance of the so-called “golden billion,” the rest of the world now faces novel mechanisms of dependency – more subtle than classical colonial subjugation, yet far more pervasive and enduring. Developing nations are no longer merely reliant on imported hardware or software; they are increasingly subjected to algorithmic governance, which dictates critical processes – from logistics to education, from healthcare to the shaping of public opinion. AI is not only and not so much becoming an instrument of progress as a form of pressure and a driving force of global competition, including for people’s hearts and souls and their way of life, as well as a means of redistributing power in the world. <...> ❗️ The principal resource required to sustain the expansion of production and the increasingly pervasive application of artificial intelligence standards is rare-earth metals – fossil elements with critically limited reserves. These very materials now lie at the heart of the trade wars between the principal suppliers of AI solutions on the global market. The political elites of Western nations – the majority of which lack domestic deposits of such substances – seek to secure unrestricted access to extraction sites located in the states comprising the World Majority. In pursuit of this goal, they resort to aggressive neo-colonial policies. <...> Another component of the nascent neo-colonial order has emerged in the form of the environmental and ideological platform. For themselves, the collective West has engineered a universal system of economic permissiveness. Simultaneously, they assert that any economic development undertaken by the so-called “non-chosen” countries must rigidly conform to the West’s green standards. This deliberate “management” of: a) digitalisation, b) AI implementation, and c) the green agenda has propelled the AI sector into a phase of revolutionary progress. ☝️ The trajectory of humanity’s evolutionary vector has revealed itself with clarity. The assertions made by Russian President Vladimir Putin have gained in credibility – namely, that the state which commands leadership in the production of such technologies will attain global supremacy, and that their deployment marks the commencement of a new chapter in human existence. <...> These rapidly evolving processes, unfolding across numerous multilateral platforms and forums, are unmistakable indicators of the intensifying global race for leadership in this sphere. They demand the unremitting attention and active engagement of the state – including the Russian MFA. ❗️Ultimately, building a fair multipolar world is intrinsically dependent upon our capacity to thwart attempts at resurrecting neo-colonial exploitation and inequality in digital form.

🎙️ Interview with Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Aleksandr Pankin for TASS (July 26, 2025) Key Points • Russia is committed to eliminating global inequality, aiming to ensure that African and other developing countries not only gain equal access to resources and financing, but also actively participate in the governance of various international institutions, including economic ones — so that their voices are heard. • Under the prevailing neocolonial practices of the West toward Africa, stable development and social progress on the continent are unattainable. This calls for a fundamental transformation of the global order and the democratization of international relations. African nations recognize and support Russia’s policy aimed at these objectives. • A paradoxical situation exists: the volume of capital flowing into African countries is effectively matched by capital outflows. In essence, this reflects the ongoing exploitation of Africa, particularly its natural resources, from which the local populations and governments receive minimal benefit. • Within the G20 framework, Russia and South Africa maintain strong coordination and mutual support. South Africa plays a constructive role in ensuring that the G20 remains a non-confrontational platform, enabling dialogue and consensus-building among all member states wherever possible. • The #BRICS agenda holds global relevance, and its countries also participate in the #G20. However, BRICS tends to offer more effective solutions due to the shared vision among its members. In contrast, the G20 faces challenges stemming from the divide between Western and developing nations, making compromise more difficult to achieve. #G20SouthAfrica

🎙Address by Aleksandr Pankin at G20 Development Working Group Ministerial Meeting on illicit financial flows (IFFs) and social protection 📍Skukuza, July 25, 2025 💬Aleksandr Pankin: We extend our gratitude to South African friends for a well-thought choice of topical issues. Illicit financial flows and social protection represent major present-day challenges. As part of the implementation of the #SDGs we promised to focus the efforts on human needs, “make sure nobody is left behind”. A task was set to eradicate the inequality in development level between the countries. In this context, partnership between the donors and recipients and the reform of world economic institutions in favour of developing states are in our focus. We acknowledge with regret that strategic targets have not been implemented into practical results. Certain positive developments of recent years, by that I mean the rise of the multipolar world and emergence of new centres of growth such as #BRICS, faced the confrontational position from the West. Dominating elites leave fair economic competition in the past. Instead world’s economic system turns into an arena for confrontation, blackmailing, dictate and political pressure. <...> Achieving SDGs benchmarks by 2030 apparently stumbles, progress forecasts are most discouraging. African countries are among the most vulnerable. Former colonizers are trying to restore their dominance on the continent with new methods – through deepening dependence on donor aid and enslaving loans. The volumes of so-called “aid” that reach the states in need are significantly lower than the losses caused by illicit financial flows (IFF). According to UNCTAD, in Africa the IFFs reach 50-90 billion USD yearly, while donor funding is no more than 60-65 billion USD. <...> ☝️We consider combatting the IFFs as key element of world economic stability. <...> The IFFs can only be successfully countered through fair and open international cooperation, including in the areas of taxation and anti-corruption. A particular impetus should be given to the retrieval of assets. ❌ However, the West is persistently politicizing relevant multilateral formats, thus undermining cooperation. Biased anti-Russian steps of suspending Russia’s membership in FATF and Egmont Group disrupted the integrity of global network of combatting the money laundering and rendered a number of international financial investigations impossible. The EU is ready for plain pillage – seizing foreign sovereign financial assets frozen in their jurisdiction. The world majority needs to bolster its financial independence, establish control over capital circulation by reducing the dependence on unreliable Westcentric financial architecture. Promising initiatives are being discussed in BRICS, including those on cross-border payments and joint depository, payment and clearing infrastructure (BRICS Clear). We shall continue to strengthen the sovereignty of Global South in all aspects. <...> Due to lack of a system of equal access to benefits, dependence of Global South on Western donor aid is increasing, while the volumes of external assistance are dwindling – they are reallocated for military spending, under the pretext of imagined threats, and for fuelling the conflicts. This is also the case for international development banks: while during the pandemic the World Bank allocated 12.5 billion USD as emergency funds for social welfare, at the same time, since February 2022, it granted astronomical 81 billion USD to Ukraine. ❗️Development aid must be depoliticized, predictable and based on national priorities of the recipients. Setting out various pre-conditions for recipients of funds, including questionable climate and gender aims, is unacceptable. Social protection is a long-term investment into the future. 🇷🇺 Russia is ready to share with all partners its expertise in building the national social welfare system and mobilizing tax revenues, including advanced digital solutions. Read in full #G20SouthAfrica

🎙 ВыступлениеА.А.Панкина на министерской встрече «Группы двадцати» по вопросам развития по теме НФП и социальной защиты 📍Скукуза, ЮАР, 25 июля 2025 года 💬А.А.Панкин: Благодарим южноафриканских друзей за грамотный выбор актуальных тем. Незаконные финансовые потоки и социальная защита являются крупными современными вызовами. В рамках реализации #ЦУР мы обещали сфокусировать усилия на потребностях человека, «не оставить никого позади». Была определена задача ликвидировать неравенство в уровнях развития между странами. Важнейшими инструментами в данном контексте рассматривались партнёрство доноров и реципиентов и реформа глобальных экономинститутов в интересах развивающихся государств. С сожалением констатируем, что эти стратегические ориентиры так и не были воплощены в практические результаты. Отдельная позитивная динамика последних лет, имею в виду становление многополярного мира и возникновение новых центров роста в лице #БРИКС, наталкивается на конфронтационный настрой со стороны Запада. Доминирующие элиты оставляют в прошлом честную экономическую конкуренцию. Напротив мирохозяйственная система превращается в арену противостояния, шантажа, диктата и политического давления. <...> Достижение к 2030 году отраслевых показателей ЦУР явно пробуксовывает, прогнозы прогресса самые удручающие. Африканские страны относятся к числу наиболее уязвимых. Бывшие колонизаторы пытаются уже новыми методами возродить доминирование на континенте, усиливая его зависимость от донорской поддержки и кабальных займов. Объёмы «помощи», которая доходит до нуждающихся государств, существенно уступают потерям от незаконных финансовых потоков (НФП). В масштабах Африки НФП, по оценкам ЮНКТАД, составляют 50-90 млрд. долл. ежегодно, тогда как донорские вливания не превышают 60-65 млрд. <...> ☝️ Рассматриваем борьбу с НФП как ключевой элемент глобальной экономстабильности. <...> Успешно противодействовать НФП можно только путём честной и открытой международной кооперации, налогового и антикоррупционного сотрудничества. Особый импульс должен быть придан возврату похищенных активов. ❌ Тем не менее Запад упорно политизирует профильные многосторонние форматы, саботируя взаимодействие. Предвзятые антироссийские шаги по приостановке нашего членства в ФАТФ и Группе «Эгмонт» подорвали целостность глобальной сети по борьбе с отмыванием денег и сделали невыполнимыми ряд международных финрасследований. ЕС готов и к прямому грабежу – отъёму иностранных суверенных финансовых активов, замороженных в их юрисдикции. Мировому большинству необходимо укреплять финансовую самостоятельность, устанавливать контроль над перемещением капиталов, снижая зависимость от ненадежной западноцентричной финархитектуры. Перспективные инициативы обсуждаются в рамках БРИКС, в т.ч. по трансграничным платежам и совместной расчётно-депозитарной инфраструктуре (БРИКС Клир). Продолжим содействовать укреплению суверенитета Глобального Юга во всех аспектах. <...> В отсутствие системы равноправного доступа к благам зависимость Глобального Юга от западной донорской помощи возрастает, а объемы внешнего содействия сокращаются, их перераспределяют на военные нужды перед лицом мнимых угроз и на подпитку конфликтов. Это касается и международных банков развития: если в пандемию Всемирный банк выделил на экстренную соцзащиту порядка 12,5 млрд долл., то в интересах Украины с февраля 2022 года собрана астрономическая сумма в 81 млрд долл. ❗️Помощь развитию должна быть деполитизированной и предсказуемой, отталкиваться от национальных приоритетов реципиентов. Недопустимо выставление получателям средств различных условий, в том числе сомнительных климатических и гендерных задач. Соцзащита – это долгосрочная инвестиция в будущее. 🇷🇺 Со своей стороны готовы делиться со всеми партнёрами российским опытом по выстраиванию национальной системы предоставления соцуслуг и мобилизации налоговой базы, в т.ч. на основе передовых цифровых решений. Читайте полностью #Г20

⚡️ Statement by Head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky following the third round of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul(July 23, 2025) Key talking points: • All agreements on humanitarian tracks discussed previously have been fulfilled. The exchange of the last groups of prisoners of war — about 250 individuals from each side — is nearing completion at the Ukraine-Belarus border. A second, unprecedentedly large exchange involving approximately 1'200 people from each side has been completed. An agreement has been reached to conduct another exchange of no less than 1'200 POWs from each side in the near future. Ongoing indefinitehumanitarian exchanges of the severely wounded and sick along the line of contact will continue. • Russia proposed the formation of three working groups to operate online: on political issues, humanitarian issues, and military issues. The Ukrainian Side agreed to consider this proposal. • The Russian Side has once again proposed that Ukraine consider the possibility of declaring short-term ceasefires (24–48 hours) along the line of contact to retrieve the wounded and the bodies of fallen soldiers. • Russia has returned more than 7'000 bodies [of AFU soldiers] to Ukraine and has received a small number of its own in return. An offer was made to hand over an additional 3'000 bodies of Ukrainian servicemen. • The issue of returning civilians displaced by hostilities was discussed. Not all residents of the Kursk region who were "evacuated" by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to Ukrainian territory have been returned home. There are about 30 such individuals, and they are still being held by Ukraine. • There was extensive discussion on the positions outlined by both parties in the memoranda exchanged last time. The positions remain quite far apart. It was agreed to maintain contact. • The list of 339 names of Ukrainian children has been fully reviewed. Some children have been returned to Ukraine. Work is ongoing regarding the others. If legal guardians, close relatives, or official representatives are found, the children will be returned home immediately. For us, children are sacred. At present, they are under state care, safe and well provided for in appropriate child welfare institutions. *** ❓ Question: Was the possibility of a summit-level meeting discussed? 💬Vladimir Medinsky: For such a meeting to take place, the terms of the agreement must first be thoroughly prepared. A summit should be held to finalize and sign off on agreements. Meeting just to rehash everything again makes no sense.

⚡️According to the Russian-Ukrainian agreements reached on 2 June 2025 in Istanbul, a group of Russian servicemen was returned from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime. In exchange, a group of AFU POWs was returned. At the moment, the Russian servicemen are on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, where they receive the necessary psychological and medical aid. All Russian servicemen will be transported to the Russian Federation to undergo treatment and rehabilitation in medical instructions of the Russian Defence Ministry. 🔹Russian Defence Ministry

🔴#LIVE: Statement by Head of the Delegation of the Russian Federation, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Medinsky, in the context of the new round of Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul 🔴Ruptly

⚡️ Russia's Foreign Ministry statement on retaliatory measures to the 17th and 18th EU sanctions packages against Russia The European Union continues to expand its unilateral and illegitimate restrictive measures against Russia, which violate international law and undermine the prerogatives of the UN Security Council. On May 20 and July 18, the Council of the European Union passed the 17th and 18th packages of sanctions. ❗️ In response to these unfriendly actions, Russia has significantly expanded its list of representatives of EU institutions, EU member states, and other European countries that have aligned themselves with Brussels’ anti-Russia agenda. In accordance with Federal Law No. 114-FZ On the Procedure for Exiting the Russian Federation and Entering the Russian Federation dated August 15, 1996, these individuals are now banned from entering the territory of the Russian Federation. 📄 This expanded list includes: • members of law enforcement agencies, government and commercial organisations, and citizens of EU member countries and other Western countries responsible for supplying military aid to Kiev, facilitating deliveries of dual-purpose products to Ukraine, engaging in activities aimed at undermining Russia’s territorial integrity, or organising blockades against Russian vessels and cargo in the Baltic Sea, • representatives of EU bodies, national authorities of EU countries and other European states involved in politically motivated prosecution of Russian officials for alleged “illegal detentions and deportations from Ukrainian territory,” those supporting the creation of a so-called “tribunal” against the Russian leadership, and advocates of confiscating Russian state assets or redirecting revenues from them to the benefit of the Kiev regime, individuals responsible for drafting or enforcing anti-Russia sanctions, those attempting to damage Russia’s relations with other states, • outspoken Russophobic activists and representatives of the academic community • EU and European Parliament members who have voted for anti-Russia resolutions and draft laws. *** ☝️ These hostile, anti-Russia actions will have no impact on our national policy. Russia will continue to defend its national interests and promote the emergence of a new, just world order. Any future EU sanctions will be met with a timely and proportionate response.

📰Article by Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova 'neocolon-AI-lism' for 'Rossiyskaya Gazeta' newspaper (July 17, 2025) Read in full ✍️ At the beginning of July, the Russian MFA Collegium held a regular meeting on information and communication technologies, specifically the new challenges posed by artificial intelligence. It marked the launch of a substantive intra-ministry debate and the ministry’s adaptation to addressing AI-related challenges within the international dimension of this vast topic. <...> As a key driver of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, AI has been shaping a new economic, socio-cultural, and political system right before our eyes. These changes are particularly evident in the industrial, financial, and economic spheres across nations – yet the explosive development of machine learning is increasingly acquiring a political dimension. To establish the appropriate semantic framework for this “underside” of digitalisation, we must first outline the ideological coordinates adopted by certain geopolitical players advancing artificial intelligence. 👉 That framework is neocolonialist thinking. When combined with AI, neocolonialism takes on a truly global, technologically sophisticated dimension. Beyond the traditional dominance of the so-called “golden billion,” the rest of the world now faces novel mechanisms of dependency – more subtle than classical colonial subjugation, yet far more pervasive and enduring. Developing nations are no longer merely reliant on imported hardware or software; they are increasingly subjected to algorithmic governance, which dictates critical processes – from logistics to education, from healthcare to the shaping of public opinion. AI is not only and not so much becoming an instrument of progress as a form of pressure and a driving force of global competition, including for people’s hearts and souls and their way of life, as well as a means of redistributing power in the world. <...> ❗️ The principal resource required to sustain the expansion of production and the increasingly pervasive application of artificial intelligence standards is rare-earth metals – fossil elements with critically limited reserves. These very materials now lie at the heart of the trade wars between the principal suppliers of AI solutions on the global market. The political elites of Western nations – the majority of which lack domestic deposits of such substances – seek to secure unrestricted access to extraction sites located in the states comprising the World Majority. In pursuit of this goal, they resort to aggressive neo-colonial policies. <...> Another component of the nascent neo-colonial order has emerged in the form of the environmental and ideological platform. For themselves, the collective West has engineered a universal system of economic permissiveness. Simultaneously, they assert that any economic development undertaken by the so-called “non-chosen” countries must rigidly conform to the West’s green standards. This deliberate “management” of: a) digitalisation, b) AI implementation, and c) the green agenda has propelled the AI sector into a phase of revolutionary progress. ☝️ The trajectory of humanity’s evolutionary vector has revealed itself with clarity. The assertions made by Russian President Vladimir Putin have gained in credibility – namely, that the state which commands leadership in the production of such technologies will attain global supremacy, and that their deployment marks the commencement of a new chapter in human existence. <...> These rapidly evolving processes, unfolding across numerous multilateral platforms and forums, are unmistakable indicators of the intensifying global race for leadership in this sphere. They demand the unremitting attention and active engagement of the state – including the Russian MFA. ❗️Ultimately, building a fair multipolar world is intrinsically dependent upon our capacity to thwart attempts at resurrecting neo-colonial exploitation and inequality in digital form.