Russian Embassy in Asmara

🎙Excerpts from President of Russia Vladimir Putin's remarks at the Plenary Session of the AI Journey international conference 💬Vladimir Putin: Russia’s experience in the practical implementation of artificial intelligence is needed in various countries. Today, nations in Asia, Africa, Latin America, as well as our partners from the #CIS, the Eurasian Economic Union, the #SCO, #BRICS, and other associations are forming promising economic sectors and introducing innovations. Russia unquestionably shares and supports their commitment to developing, and also supports domestic companies in creating AI-based products and services both for themselves and for the whole world. We will provide the countries of the Global South and East with consultative and technical assistance in the domain of artificial intelligence. Of course, we hope that we will also borrow our partners’ achievements and implement joint projects based on equal access to knowledge, technology, and scientific achievements. This priority is enshrined in the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence. We are ready to help create and apply generative models not only in Russian, but also in other languages. As I have said, these systems’ algorithms must be trusted, that is, clear, open, and unbiased. They must also be developed considering cultural and national peculiarities of each civilisation with its history, identity and traditions, which we, in Russia, deeply respect. ❗️I am confident that an international alliance of AI National associations and development institutions of the BRICS countries and other interested states will give a boost to this cooperation. This Alliance will be launched at the AI Journey conference today. I hope that new foreign participants, including my colleagues, leaders of state, will attend this event.

#BRICS2024 🗓 On 22 October, ahead of the #BRICS Summit, a gala concert of soloists from BRICS countries was held in the Column Hall of the Kazan City Hall. 🎼Laureates of international and Russian competitions, singers of leading theatres and creative groups of the BRICS countries, accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of Musa Jalil Tatar Academic State Opera and Ballet Theatre, performed for the leaders of the BRICS countries. Among the performers: 🇷🇺Pavel Milyukov 🇨🇳 Zhang Mengwen 🇮🇳 Anando Mukerjee 🇧🇷 José Gallisa 🇿🇦Siyabulela Ntlale 📸BRICS Summit Photo Bank

🎙 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's interview to the newspaper "Arguments and Facts" (October 21, 2024) Key Points: #BRICS • BRICS epitomises the shifts that have long been underway in the global economy. New centres of economic growth are emerging, and alongside them comes financial influence, which in turn brings political influence. • BRICS is a consortium where no single nation leads or is led, devoid of the bureaucratic machinery akin to that observed in Brussels, where EU officials impose decisions that contravene the will and interests of several member states, failing to align with the aspirations of voters across many countries. • BRICS does not stand in opposition to any entity, nor does it orchestrate operations or initiate projects. BRICS is committed to enhancing the combined potential of its nations and devising collaborative strategies for harnessing these potentials for mutual benefit. • What makes BRICS and other World Majority or Global East associations that do not include Western countries stand out, is that they are not created for the purpose of struggling or fighting with anyone. They are established to collectively benefit from their competitive advantages such as geographical location, shared history, cultural and humanitarian proximity <...>. #USA • The US is unwilling to relinquish the reins of power that they have held since World War II through the Bretton Woods institutions and through the role assigned to the US dollar in the international monetary system, even after free exchange of US dollars for gold had been cancelled. • The key goal of the US ruling class is to make sure no one can undermine their dominance. This goal is illusory. The historical process is objectively heading in a different direction, and this has to be reckoned with. • We are ready to interact with any administration voted in by the American people, but only if such a dialogue is mutually respectful, and both parties listen and hear what the other party has to say. #Ukraine • On multiple occasions, European leaders from Brussels have repeatedly made it clear that they must support Ukraine for as long as it takes, because Ukraine is fighting for the European values. • It turns out that European leaders are still willing to uphold Nazi values, which is why denazification is not just a motto, but an objective of utmost importance. #UN • The United Nations is not a valiant knight expected to “charge in and extinguish the fire” upon witnessing injustice. The UN is an assembly of its member states, each with established rules, including the Security Council's veto rights. The United States has effectively exercised this right five times over the past year, blocking a resolution proposed by several countries, including Russia, demanding an immediate ceasefire. <...> Presently, the United States is taking every measure to avoid antagonising Israel. • Nations such as India, Brazil, and African representatives should have long held permanent seats on the Security Council. This is essential to ensure representation of the World Majority. #Finland#Sweden#NATO • The zeal that the Finns and Swedes are showing in NATO, advocating for defeating Russia, is not only rooted in their historical instincts. They are also eager to show their Big Brothers in the North Atlantic Alliance that they have brought added value <...>. • I am confident that reasonable people in Europe, who have learned the lessons taught by history, see this too, including in Finland and Sweden. #Europe • To reiterate, the so-called right-wing conservatives are loyal to their countries and their people. We will engage with anyone who approaches us with a proposal to talk, to seek common ground, and to think about how we can jointly make the lives of our citizens better. #EurasianSecurity • We suggest discussing the Eurasian continent-wide security architecture, emphasising the fact that its doors will be open to everyone, including countries from the West of the Eurasian continent. Read in full(Telegraph)

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’sremarks and answers to media questions following the 19th East Asia Summit (#EAS) 📍 Vientiane, October 11, 2024 💬Sergey Lavrov: We have completed our meetings as part of the 19th East Asia Summit. President of Russia Vladimir Putin instructed me to represent him at this event. The discussions evidenced that our Western colleagues, who are #ASEAN partners <…> have been seeking to undermine the multilateral economic and security architecture which has evolved over decades with ASEAN at its core and which has proven its relevance and effectiveness. However, it is obvious today that the United States and its allies decided to draw the Asia-Pacific Region into NATO’s sphere of interests by creating all these narrow and exclusive US-led military and political associations. <...> ☝️ We have highlighted that this Western policy may lead to the region’s militarisation, while also threatening stability and sustainable development in the Asian part of our shared continent. Russia reaffirmed its unwavering support for ASEAN countries in their efforts to preserve peace and ensure equal cooperation with all ASEAN partners. <...> 👉 Instead of using the events held as part of the East Asia Summit for pursuing vested political interests, Russia opted for promoting initiatives in several domains, including pandemic response, people-to-people contacts, including tourism, and supporting volunteering. We offer practical avenues for working together which can benefit all the participants and advocate equal and mutually beneficial cooperation. <...> The Association hosted the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as its guest at the East Asia Summit for the third time. He put forward a proposal to promote closer contacts between the SCO and ASEAN in various spheres that are relevant for the countries involved. <...> We welcomed the fact that several ASEAN countries want to forge closer ties with #BRICS. Today, this structure acts as one of the cornerstones of a multipolar world order. In just a few days, Kazan will be hosting the BRICS Summit, which will be a major international event. Several ASEAN countries were invited to attend it, and they accepted these invitations. Excerpts from responses to media questions. Key talking points: • The final declaration has not been adopted because of the persistent attempts by the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to turn it into a purely political statement, contrary to the decades-long practice of East Asia summits, which boils down to preventing the saturation of declarations with confrontational geopolitical narratives. • When the United States and its allies unanimously reaffirmed their commitment to ASEAN’s central role in facilitating cooperation in the region today, they were being dishonest. Everything they do is aimed at containing Russia and China. Everything that has been accomplished in the ASEAN-centric format over decades is being sacrificed to this goal now. That format was convenient for everyone and incorporated the interests of each and every stakeholder. So, the destructive nature of Washington’s actions in the region is obvious. • We are seriously concerned about re-militarisation of Japan. Having forgotten the lessons of WWII, the Japanese authorities have stated increasing defence spending and augmenting its basic doctrines with a pre-emptive strike capability. Read in full

🌐 On September 26, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovtook part in a traditional #BRICS Ministerial meeting held on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. The Ministers had an in-depth exchange of views on a broad range of international issues, including items on the agenda of the 79th UN General Assembly session. Discussions focused on peace and security, global economic stability, and sustainable development. The participants reiterated their commitment to enhancing coordination within BRICS on international platforms. As part of preparations for the upcoming BRICS Summit in Kazan on October 22-24, the ministers reviewed pressing BRICS cooperation-related issues, including the establishment of a partner country category. The Brazilian delegation provided an outline of its BRICS chairmanship in 2025. #UNGA79

📺 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on the sidelines of the 79th Session. 📍 New York, September 25, 2024 💬 The formation of a multilateral world requires upgrading of the international governance architecture, if we want to build a more just and democratic world order based on the enduring principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interconnection. #G20, as a leading economic forum, can give a powerful boost to these objective processes that are dictated by life itself. We believe that the G20 should strictly adhere to its mandate and not delve into issues of peace and security and other universal problems, which the UN is here to deal with. It is important that the activities of our platform are strictly based on the principle of consensus. At the G20 summit in New Delhi in 2023, we promised to strengthen the voice of developing countries in collective decision-making. It is necessary to translate these promises into concrete actions. The reform of international institutions, which must be considered as global public goods, should be carried out taking into account the interests of new growing centres of global development. The current conditions show that there have been significant changes in the balance of economic leaders. 📈 Two years ago, BRICS member countries surpassed the G7 in terms of real GDP. According to forecasts, the ten BRICS members will produce about 37% of the world’s output, while the G7 group will fall to 27% or even lower. At the same time, we can see the African continent and other regions of the Global South and East quickly rising. Russia is actively reorienting its trade to their markets. This includes the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. 🌐Innovative multilateral formats such as #BRICS (where Russia presides in 2024), the SCO, the EAEU, ASEAN, the African Union, and CELAC are becoming increasingly important. Projects designed to align integration efforts, such as Russia’s flagship Greater Eurasian Partnership initiative, are picking up momentum. <...> A tangible progress has been achieved in the context of efforts to de-dollarise the international financial and economic system. In particular, the share of national currencies in Russia’s settlements with the SCO and EAEU countries has exceeded 90%. Russia and its BRICS partners have achieved an indicator equal to 65%, and this figure grows. The share of the dollar in the BRICS payments pattern is currently below 29%. <...> 🤷‍♂️ Nevertheless, certain global mechanisms are still in the West’s hands, and it tends to abuse them. A matter of particular concern are the attempts on the part of the United States and its allies to impose a confrontational agenda on international organisations in order to make them the vehicles of unilateral restrictions, plunder, impoundment of sovereign assets, trade wars and unfair competition, including in the name of environmentalism and climate. All of these are clear manifestations of neocolonialism. Over the past ten years, the collective West has introduced more than 21,000 illegal restrictions against Russia alone. Their extraterritorial use – and this is an even more odious, illegitimate, raider-style approach – is primarily affecting the poorest countries and destitute population groups, depriving them of affordable energy, food and fertiliser. <...> Another topical task is combat the predominance and influence of Western states’ citizens who occupy top positions in international secretariats. 🇺🇳 A reform of the global governance system should heed the intransient central role of the UN in the system of international relations. The UN Charter and international law should not be substituted by any behind-the-scenes "rules". <...> ☝️ We should be guided by a striving to achieve genuine multilateralism, the main guarantee of strategic stability, indivisible security and an open and non-discriminatory economy. Full transcript

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with RBC media holding on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (September 6, 2024) Read in full ❓ My first question has to do with the forum’s main theme, Combining Strengths to Create New Potential. What new global potential is referred to here? Which countries is Russia ready to join forces with to create it? 💬Sergey Lavrov: The idea is to create potential that will help countries become independent of the unipolar world, which Washington and the allies it has subjected to its will are trying to impose on the world to preserve their hegemony. The West, which has been living at the expense of former colonies for centuries, is trying to sponge off others now in a seemingly more acceptable manner. We have the potential to overcome the obstacles created by the West with the use of the globalisation instruments it has created and is imposing on others. More and more countries, almost all normal and independent states, are coming to see that nobody can be safe from the actions the West is taking to preserve its domination over Russia (it is the most striking example) and such countries as Iran, Venezuela, the DPRK and increasingly China. [The West] wants to hinder its technological advancement and prevent it from gaining competitive advantages by imposing artificially inflated tariffs on the import of Chinese electric vehicles. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has said that they are doing this because China’s exports to Europe are too cheap. Is this fair competition? The Americans have been essentially blocking the operation of the WTO,one of the main dispute settlement agencies, for years. They did it when Washington saw that China was beating them by playing by the rules created by the Word Trade Organisation. They prevent a quorum from being assembled to block additional appointments to vacancies in that agency. In their documents, #BRICS and other associations of the emerging economies such as the African Union, CELAC and ASEAN, are increasingly calling for a fair reform of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank group, so that the number of votes the developing countries have in them reflects their real weight in the global economy and finance. <...> Key talking points • We do not want Nazi values, theories and practices, a ban on the freedom of speech, national languages, cultures and traditions, a ban on canonical churches and the like. The essence of our values is set out in the UN Charter. • A major element of the UN Charter which BRICS fully accepts is a genuine concern for human rights. They must be respected regardless of race, sex, language or religion. • As for NATO membership and the EU candidate status, which Türkiye was awarded nearly 70 years ago, a Turkish official has recently said that there are no rules in BRICS to preclude members of some organisations from associating with the group. The main requirement for full members of the group and countries that are developing various forms of cooperation with it is to share common values. It is not the values the EU is defending in Ukraine. • We recognise the need to formalise relationships between BRICS members and the growing number of countries expressing interest in cooperating with the association, which now exceeds 30. This truly reflects the multipolar nature of the global landscape. • Zelensky is not ready for honest talks. The West will not let him near them. They have set the goal — to radically weaken Russia and to inflict a "strategic defeat" on us. Zelensky is no longer able to understand what meets the interests of Ukrainians. • The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has stopped lending funds for projects in Russia. The IMF and the World Bank have suspended all their projects in our country. They are not democratic structures. • Our position on Taiwan has long been known: China is a single and united state, and the government of China is the only government of the People’s Republic of China.

📹 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s video message to the participants in the 6th BRICS+ Young Diplomats’ Forum(August 28, 2024) 💬 I would like to begin by offering my heartfelt greetings to the participants in the 6th Young Diplomats’ Forum which is taking place in the #BRICSplus format. It was the Foreign Ministry’s Council of Young Diplomats that initiated the first event of this kind in Ufa as part of Russia’s 2015 chairmanship. Since then, this platform has emerged as an effective tool for promoting horizontal ties between the BRICS foreign ministries. It is worth noting that Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan, has been selected to host the 2024 meeting. It stands at the crossroads of civilisations, and people representing various religions, creeds and ethnic groups have been living here in peace and harmony for many centuries. This offers a vivid example of the way ethnic, religious and cultural diversity can serve as a foundation for promoting long-term development and sustaining mutual understanding. #BRICS countries have been relying on these very principles in their relations. 👉 The Forum’s main topic is The Role of Young Diplomats in Strengthening Multilateralism for Fairness in Global Development and Security. It covers a wide range of major issues for BRICS states, as well as for other like-minded countries. I welcome the fact that all partners share the association’s approaches to working together when responding to present-day global challenges. BRICS attracts more and more attention, which is a clear sign that our aspirations to build a fairer global architecture in international relations are aligned with deep-running and objective geopolitical shifts. The Global Majority has been very receptive to this vision, which demonstrates that what we do together is highly relevant and important. I am certain that your forum will contribute in its own way to strengthening the comprehensive partnership, atmosphere of friendship and trust between our countries and their people. 🌐 I wish all the participants every success, good health and fruitful work. Read in full #BRICS2024

📹 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s video address to the organisers and participants of the 6th International Municipal BRICS Forum(August 27, 2024) 💬 I am pleased to welcome the organisers and participants of the 6th International Municipal BRICS Forum, which is being hosted by Moscow, a city famous not only for its unique history, architecture, and vibrant cultural and sports scene, but also for its advancements in modern urban development, transportation, infrastructure, and organisation of urban life. I am confident that the Russian capital, along with other Russian cities, has much to share with our partners from #BRICS countries. In turn, we are interested in learning from the best practices of our friends. The relevance of these mutually enriching exchanges is clear: according to expert estimates, the share of urban residents is rising steadily and is now in excess of 56 percent of the world population. This dictates the need to devise a long-term and well-considered policy aimed at promoting the steady development of municipalities and creating a comfortable urban environment for all residents. Municipal and regional cooperation within BRICS is making strides and holds a significant place on the agenda. In June of this year, the BRICS Association of Cities and Municipalities was launched, and Nizhny Novgorod hosted a highly successful Forum of Twinned Cities and Municipal Formations. I am confident that the 6th International Municipal BRICS Forum will make a unique contribution to strengthening ties between our countries and peoples. The number of forum participants, over 5,000 delegates from about 500 cities worldwide, as well as the packed agenda for upcoming discussions, serve as clear evidence of the relevance of this event. You will discuss current issues related to urban economics and advanced urban science, introduction of digital and environmentally friendly technologies, access to quality education and healthcare, and the establishment of connections between business communities. On a separate note, I would like to commend the work done by the Moscow authorities, who have created all the necessary conditions for productive work during the forum. I am certain that all guests of the Russian capital will fully appreciate its hospitality. Your forum provides additional opportunities for establishing useful contacts, coordinating promising joint projects, and strengthening friendship and trust between our peoples. 🤝 I wish you productive discussions and all the best. #BRICS2024