⚡️ Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview for a documentary titled "The UN from the 20th to the 21st Century" (Moscow, September 25, 2024)
Key points:
• Less than a year after the victorious powers established the UN based on the noble principles formulated in its charter, it became clear that the West, acting contrary to these principles, intended to launch a war against the Soviet Union, and not merely a cold war but an all-out war. These plans hatched by the then "Anglo-Saxons" [nations of the Anglosphere led by the US & UK] have long become public knowledge.
• Once NATO was created, the Soviet Union circulated a large document which demonstrated the detrimental effect of that and the danger of building walls between the East and the West, especially in Europe, and called for respecting the #UNCharter and for working towards this. Our call was not heeded.
✊ However, we kept fighting for justice and the implementation of the principle of sovereign equality of nations. Decolonisation was a bright stage and a major embodiment of that principle. The Soviet Union was the main initiator of the 1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Following its adoption, the number of UN states increased by 80-90 members.
• They tell us that the main goal today is to ensure the territorial integrity of Ukraine. It is a misleading interpretation of the UN Charter, where the right of nations to self-determination is put before territorial integrity.
• Even before demanding respect for territorial integrity, the UN Charter demands respect for human rights without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion <…> Now that Zelensky’s Nazi regime, which the West nurtured, has banned both the language and religious rights of a large number of its own population, the West has put away the banners it was waving for decades.
❗️The top priority now is to ensure the achievement of the initial goals and principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and as a whole, rather than selectively or occasionally.
• The reform of the UN Security Council is not a one-off event. It’s a process which has been ongoing since the time the United Nations came into being <...> Nevertheless, it relies on principles that must be preserved at all costs. The main principle is that the Security Council reform should be based on a broad-based agreement among states. It does not say “consensus,” but it does state “broad-based agreement among states.”
🌍🇮🇳🇧🇷 We have invariably supported the legitimate aspirations of India and Brazil to secure permanent seats in the Security Council. However, African aspirations must be met as well. Africa has common collective positions, which we respect. And we would have like that.
• Our position implies providing additional seats for Asia, Africa, and Latin America. We are open to some of these seats being permanent, but we need to achieve general agreement before we can move forward. It is a complicated process. I don’t see any chance for bringing this process to a swift and expedited completion any time soon.
• Since the UN was created, there has never been a time, a region, or a situation that involved the United States in one way or another, where the country would actually respect that principle. Every time, everywhere they acted as a hegemon, or like a "bull in a china shop".
• When they wanted to punish Russia, the West abandoned all the principles which it was feeding to us and which it declared sacred. The same is happening to the principles of the UN Charter. The West is trampling and destroying them without a moment’s hesitation.
➡️ Read in full
#UNGA79#UNCharterIsOurRules
⚡️Comment by Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Antonio Guterres’s statement regarding the developments in Sumy (April 15, 2025)
On April 13, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made another statement on Ukraine via his Spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric. It concerns the developments in Sumy.
❌ He has accused of the April 13 missile attack, which allegedly “continues a devastating pattern of similar assaults on Ukrainian cities and towns.” We are perplexed by such assessments by the UN Secretary-General.
We would like to remind everyone that since the beginning of the special military operation, Russia's Armed Forces have never deliberately delivered, are not delivering and will not deliver strikes on civilian population. As Russia's Defence Ministry invariably points out, our targets are always and exclusively military facilities.
The UN Secretary-General also reiterated the UN’s support to meaningful efforts towards peace that fully upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, in line with the #UNCharter, international law, and relevant UN resolutions. As you can see, he never mentioned the right of nations to self-determination.This is yet another proof of Mr Guterres’s selective approach to the provisions of the UNCharter.
In this connection, we would like to point out that the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States, which was adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly in 1970, sealed a connection between the principles of the UN Charter, which must be applied in their entirety and as a whole.
☝️ In addition, the Declaration states that the principle of territorial integrity shall be applied to all states who are conducting themselves in compliance with the principle of self-determination of peoples and are thus possessed of a government representing the whole people belonging to the territory. It is clear to everyone that the current Kiev regime does not comply with these criteria.
Zelensky’s gang has been systematically and flagrantly infringing on the fundamental freedoms of ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking citizens. We have to state that the UN Secretary-General, acting contrary to Article 1 of the UN Charter, which calls for promoting and encouraging respect for language, religious and other human rights, continues to shield the Kiev regime’s open disregard for the principles of self-determination of nations and human rights.
👉Mr Guterres demonstrated a similar approach when he disregarded Russia’s appeals in the context of investigation into the provocation in Bucha, which Kiev orchestrated three years ago. We have publicly appealed to the UN Secretary-General on numerous occasions to at least help encourage Kiev to publish the lists of those whose bodies the Western media demonstrated to the world in early April 2022 to the accompaniment of hysterical accusations against Russia. In September 2024, a relevant official request, which was prepared by Russia’s Investigative Committee together with the Prosecutor General’s Office, was submitted to the UN Secretariat via the Permanent Mission of Russia in New York. In January and April 2025, we urged the UN Secretariat to speed up reply to our request. All our efforts were in vain; we have not received a substantive answer to our request.
❗️We again call on Antonio Guterres and his Secretariat to take an honest stance, to stop giving biased comments in the context of the Ukrainian crisis, and to stop discrediting our country and covering up the Kiev regime’s crimes.
🌐 April 24 marks the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace. Established by the UN General Assembly resolution 73/127 of December 12, 2018, it seeks to promote the values of the United Nations and reaffirm the faith of our peoples in the purposes and principles enshrined in its Charter.
🇺🇳#UNCharterIsOurRules
From Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the UN Security Council’s open debates “Effective multilateralism through the Defence of the Principles of the UN Charter” (New York, April 24, 2023):
💬 For a little less than 80 years of its existence, the UN has been carrying out the important mission entrusted to it by its founders. For several decades, a basic understanding by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council as regards the supremacy of the charter’s goals and principles guaranteed global security.
• Today, our UN-centric system is going through a deep crisis. The main reason is a striving by some UN members to replace international law and the UN Charter with a certain “rules-based” order.
• Our Western colleagues have been inconvenienced by holding talks based on universal formats, such as the UN, for a long time now. In order to provide an ideological substantiation for the course on undermining multilateralism, they initiated a concept of united “democracies” as opposed to “autocracies.”
• Summits for Democracy, the Alliance for Multilateralism <...> – all these and other non-inclusive projects were designed to thwart talks on the corresponding matters under the auspices of the UN.
❗️ Let's call it what it is: no one authorised the Western minority to speak on behalf of all humankind. Please act decently and respect all members of the international community.
👉 It is our common duty to preserve the United Nations as the hard-won epitome of multilateralism and coordination of international politics. The key to success lies in working together, renouncing claims to anyone's exceptionalism and showing respect for the sovereign equality of states.
7️⃣9️⃣ years ago, on June 26, 1945, The United Nations Charter was signed, which became the main result of the San Francisco Conference.
This fundamental document was signed by 50 participating countries, including the USSR as well as its constituent entities: the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. On behalf of the USSR, the UN Charter was signed by Andrey Gromyko.
The establishing of the UN – a universal international organization, the main goals of which are defined as the maintenance and strengthening of peace and security – was a natural consequence of the Second World War, an expression of the desire of the world community to resolve conflicts without global military action.
📃The UN Charter is a fundamental international document mandating the main principles and norms of states’ international behaviour and regulating relations between states as well as the activities of UN agencies and organisations within its system.
🇺🇳 Today, the UN comprises 1️⃣9️⃣3️⃣ Member States, with its activities embracing every sphere of the planet’s international, political, economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian life through its specialised agencies, committees and sub-committees.
🇷🇺 Russia invariably remains committed to multilateralism and the UN’s coordinating role in world affairs, and is actively involved in the effort to reform and adapt the UN to new international realities.
🎙 FromRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks during the UN Security Council open debate on "Effective Multilateralism through the Protection of the Principles of the UN Charter" (New York, April 24, 2023):
💬 It is our shared responsibility to preserve the UN as the enduring model of multilateralism and coordination of world politics. The key to success is working together, refusing to claim exclusivity and - I repeat once again - respecting the sovereign equality of states. This is what we all signed up to when we ratified the UN Charter.
#UNCharterIsOurRules
🗓 On October 24, 1945, exactly 7️⃣9️⃣ years ago, the UN Charter entered into force, almost four months after its singing at the concluding session of the UN Conference on International Organisation in San Francisco (June 26, 1945).
With the ratification of this founding document the United Nations officially came into being.
💬 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:After the UN Charter came into force, the constituent conference was held in San Francisco, and the UN was established, the Soviet Union acted energetically to ensure respect for implementation of the principles set out in the UN Charter (excerpt from the interview for a documentary titled "The UN from the 20th to the 21st Century", Moscow, September 25, 2024).
🇷🇺🇺🇳 Strict adherence to the letter and spirit of the UN Charter is a prerequisite for building a more peaceful, prosperous, genuinely just and equitable world order.
💬 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:Today, the international community faces massive challenges, <...> which require united efforts rather than confrontation and desire of global dominance. Russia will always advocate collective efforts, truth and the rule of law, peace and cooperation in the interests of reviving the ideals set forth by the UN’s founding fathers. <...> [The] objectives and principles [of the UN Charter] remain fully relevant. The main thing is that everyone, without exception, respects these principles, not selectively, but considering their holistic and interconnected nature (excerpt from the article for Russia in Global Affairs magazine "The UN must recover its central role in coordinating actions by nations", October 4, 2024)
👉Article by FM Sergey Lavrov "Adherence to the UN Charter principles in their entirety and interconnection underwrite international peace and stability" (October 10, 2023)
#UNCharterIsOurRules
8️⃣0️⃣ years ago, on October 24, 1945, the Charter of the United Nations entered into force. This date marks the founding day of the UN.
The idea of creating a universal international organisation to maintain peace emerged during World War II. In 1943, at an international conference in Moscow, the foreign ministers of the USSR, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China signed a declaration that laid the foundation for the future United Nations.
In February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, the leaders of the three Allied powers – Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill – decided to convene a conference in San Francisco, where on June 26, 1945, 50 states signed the UN Charter.
The establishment of the United Nations marked the beginning of a new era in human history and became a natural outcome of World War II, expressing the global community’s determination to prevent such horrible massacre from ever happening again, and to resolve conflicts through consensus and compromise.
#UNCharterIsOurRules: Russia has consistently advocated the strengthening of the central coordinating role of the UN in global affairs. Strict compliance with the letter and spirit of the UN Charter is an indispensable condition for advancing towards a more peaceful, prosperous and truly just and equal world order.
💬 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:
“We have always upheld the principles of the UN Charter, which we consider to be perfectly applicable norms of international law codified in the most important international legal document of the international community, which comprehensively sets out the organisational standards of international relations.”
📜 Today, 80 years later after its adoption, the words of the United Nations Charter Preamble once again affirm their relevance:
WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind… HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS.
The Founding Fathers of the UN envisioned its purpose as serving as a centre for coordinating the nations’ activities.
👉 The outstanding Russian diplomat Vitaly Churkin, who served as Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2006 to 2017, aptly described the UN’s role in today’s world:
“The United Nations has proven its ability to change along with transformations of the international system. At the current stage of turbulence in global affairs, it is crucial to preserve its prestige based on the enduring and truly democratic principle of sovereign equality of all states, without dividing them into the leaders and the led.”
These words resonate with another famous statement by the second UN Secretary-General (1953–1961), Dag Hammarskjöld: “The United Nations was not created in order to bring us to heaven, but in order to save us from hell".
8️⃣0️⃣ years ago, on October 24, 1945, the Charter of the United Nations entered into force. This date marks the founding day of the UN.
The idea of creating a universal international organisation to maintain peace emerged during World War II. In 1943, at an international conference in Moscow, the foreign ministers of the USSR, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China signed a declaration that laid the foundation for the future United Nations.
In February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, the leaders of the three Allied powers – Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill – decided to convene a conference in San Francisco, where on June 26, 1945, 50 states signed the UN Charter.
The establishment of the United Nations marked the beginning of a new era in human history and became a natural outcome of World War II, expressing the global community’s determination to prevent such horrible massacre from ever happening again, and to resolve conflicts through consensus and compromise.
#UNCharterIsOurRules: Russia has consistently advocated the strengthening of the central coordinating role of the UN in global affairs. Strict compliance with the letter and spirit of the UN Charter is an indispensable condition for advancing towards a more peaceful, prosperous and truly just and equal world order.
💬 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:
“We have always upheld the principles of the UN Charter, which we consider to be perfectly applicable norms of international law codified in the most important international legal document of the international community, which comprehensively sets out the organisational standards of international relations.”
📜 Today, 80 years later after its adoption, the words of the United Nations Charter Preamble once again affirm their relevance:
WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind… HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS.
The Founding Fathers of the UN envisioned its purpose as serving as a centre for coordinating the nations’ activities.
👉 The outstanding Russian diplomat Vitaly Churkin, who served as Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2006 to 2017, aptly described the UN’s role in today’s world:
“The United Nations has proven its ability to change along with transformations of the international system. At the current stage of turbulence in global affairs, it is crucial to preserve its prestige based on the enduring and truly democratic principle of sovereign equality of all states, without dividing them into the leaders and the led.”
These words resonate with another famous statement by the second UN Secretary-General (1953–1961), Dag Hammarskjöld: “The United Nations was not created in order to bring us to heaven, but in order to save us from hell".
🇷🇺🇺🇳 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov & Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly's 77th Session's High-Level Week.
#UNGA77
#UNCharterIsOurRules
⚡️Russian Foreign Ministry statement in connection with the US strikes on Iran(June 22, 2025)
❗️Russia resolutely condemns the United States’ strikes on several nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, carried out in the early hours of June 22, following recent attacks by Israel.
This reckless decision to launch missile and aerial strikes on the territory of a sovereign state, regardless of the justifications offered, constitutes a blatant violation of international law, the #UNCharter, and relevant resolutions by the UN Security Council, which has consistently and unequivocally deemed such actions unacceptable. Particularly concerning is the fact that the strikes were executed by a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
☢️ The consequences of this action, including potential radioactive effects, have yet to be determined. However, it is already evident that a dangerous escalation is underway, one that threatens to further destabilise security both in the region and globally. This has drastically increased the likelihood of a larger conflict in the #MiddleEast, a region already plagued by numerous crises.
The attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities have dealt a substantial blow to the global non-proliferation regime built around the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (#NPT), which raises particular concerns. They have significantly undermined both the credibility of the NPT and the integrity of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) monitoring and verification mechanisms that underpin it.
We expect the IAEA leadership to respond promptly, professionally, and transparently, avoiding vague language or efforts to hide behind political ‘equidistance.’ An unbiased and objective report from the Director General is required, to be submitted for consideration at the Agency’s upcoming special session.
Obviously, the UN Security Council must take a firm stance as well. Confrontational and destabilising actions taken by the United States and Israel must be collectively rejected.
☝️We call for an immediate end to aggression and for stepping up efforts to bring the situation back onto a peaceful, diplomatic track.
📺 Remarks by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the General Debate of 80th Session of the UN General Assembly.
Key points (Unofficial translation):
• 80 years ago the most terrible war in human history came to an end. More than 70 million people fell victim to hostilities, hunger and disease. In 1945 the course of world history changed forever. We hold sacred the memory of brotherhood-in-arms with all Allies who then stood on the side of truth in the struggle against the forces of evil.
• #UNCharterIsOurRules The principles and the Charter agreed upon by the founding fathers of our Organization still serve as a bright beacon for international cooperation.
• We advocate for the unconditional observance of the principle of equality. In it lies the guarantee that all countries can take their rightful place in world affairs, regardless of their military power, population size, territory or economy.
• Russia strongly condemned the Hamas militants’ attack on peaceful Israelis on October 7, 2023. However, there is no justification for the brutal killing of Palestinian civilians, just as there is no justification for terrorism.
• The Arabic language is not banned in Israel, nor is Hebrew in Arab countries or Iran – but the Russian language is banned in Ukraine. Let me recall that Article 1 of the Charter speaks of the need to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion. Europe remains silent, obsessed with the utopian goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.
• The rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people in the territories still under the control of the Kiev regime must be fully restored. On this basis we are ready to discuss the security guarantees for Ukraine.
• Russia and the US bear a special responsibility for world affairs, for avoiding risks that could plunge humanity into a new war.
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (#SCO) and #BRICS play a special role as mechanisms for coordination of countries of the Global South and East.
• NATO is already cramped in Europe, and it is expanding into the Pacific Ocean, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, undermining the universal ASEAN mechanisms and creating threats not only to China and Russia but also to other countries in the region.
• Speaking of the future, we must not forget the lessons of the past – especially when Nazism is once again raising its head in Europe, militarization is gaining momentum under the same anti-Russian slogans. This causes particular concern given that a number of political figures, now in power in Brussels and certain EU and NATO capitals, seriously discuss World War III as a possible scenario.
• We call on member states and the Secretariat’s leadership to scrupulously follow all the Charter’s principles – without exception and without double standards. Then the legacy of the UN’s founding fathers will not be wasted.
Watch / Read — English subs included 👆
📺 Remarks by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the General Debate of 80th Session of the UN General Assembly.
Key points (Unofficial translation):
• 80 years ago the most terrible war in human history came to an end. More than 70 million people fell victim to hostilities, hunger and disease. In 1945 the course of world history changed forever. We hold sacred the memory of brotherhood-in-arms with all Allies who then stood on the side of truth in the struggle against the forces of evil.
• #UNCharterIsOurRules The principles and the Charter agreed upon by the founding fathers of our Organization still serve as a bright beacon for international cooperation.
• We advocate for the unconditional observance of the principle of equality. In it lies the guarantee that all countries can take their rightful place in world affairs, regardless of their military power, population size, territory or economy.
• Russia strongly condemned the Hamas militants’ attack on peaceful Israelis on October 7, 2023. However, there is no justification for the brutal killing of Palestinian civilians, just as there is no justification for terrorism.
• The Arabic language is not banned in Israel, nor is Hebrew in Arab countries or Iran – but the Russian language is banned in Ukraine. Let me recall that Article 1 of the Charter speaks of the need to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion. Europe remains silent, obsessed with the utopian goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.
• The rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people in the territories still under the control of the Kiev regime must be fully restored. On this basis we are ready to discuss the security guarantees for Ukraine.
• Russia and the US bear a special responsibility for world affairs, for avoiding risks that could plunge humanity into a new war.
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (#SCO) and #BRICS play a special role as mechanisms for coordination of countries of the Global South and East.
• NATO is already cramped in Europe, and it is expanding into the Pacific Ocean, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, undermining the universal ASEAN mechanisms and creating threats not only to China and Russia but also to other countries in the region.
• Speaking of the future, we must not forget the lessons of the past – especially when Nazism is once again raising its head in Europe, militarization is gaining momentum under the same anti-Russian slogans. This causes particular concern given that a number of political figures, now in power in Brussels and certain EU and NATO capitals, seriously discuss World War III as a possible scenario.
• We call on member states and the Secretariat’s leadership to scrupulously follow all the Charter’s principles – without exception and without double standards. Then the legacy of the UN’s founding fathers will not be wasted.
Watch / Read — English subs included 👆