Mr Minister, Gordan, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to express my appreciation to our Croatian friends for their hospitality and warm welcome.

Our friendly relations, including the political dialogue, inter-parliamentary ties, and economic and cultural cooperation, are steadily developing.

Our respective law enforcement agencies are interacting as well. The Programme for Cooperation between the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia and the Prosecutor General's Office of Croatia for 2020-2022 was signed recently.

In the economy, we have high hopes for the early resumption of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, which had to take a break due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, its co-chairs maintain contact. I am confident that the commission will resume its activities in full next year.

Many Russian and Croatian companies have established partnerships, notably large Russian companies such as Zarubezhneft, Gazpromneft, Sberbank and several others.

The Croatian Minister of Culture Nina Obulen-Korzinek and I signed a Programme for Cooperation in Culture for the next two years which reflects our interest in promoting people-to-people contact in education, science and art. This is a very productive area of ​​our work.

Russia is interested in opening a Science and Culture Centre in Zagreb, as it has done in many other countries. We agreed to step up work on identifying the proper legal form for the centre.

We discussed in detail the situation in the Western Balkans, primarily, Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are on the same page here: it is necessary to strictly comply with the Dayton Accords in their entirety, including, primarily, ensuring the equal rights of the three state-forming nations and two entities.

We reiterated the need for an early settlement to the Kosovo problem in strict compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244. We are convinced that Pristina must honour the obligations it had assumed, above all, to create a Community of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo.

We touched on the relations between the EU and Russia. Our assessment is clear: the facts show that the EU as a structure is not ready for normal contacts with Russia. But this in no way prevents us from maintaining good, effective and equal relations with our Croatian colleagues and friends.

The bilateral Russian-Croatian Agreement on deploying diplomatic missions came into force this year. The Croatian embassy has already held a housewarming party. In just a couple of hours, I hope, together with Gordan Grlic-Radman, we will hold a similar ceremony in the new building of the Russian embassy in Zagreb.

I have invited the Foreign Minister of Croatia to visit Russia at any time that is convenient for him.

Question (translated from Croatian): Both ministers have touched on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. You have mentioned the need to change the election laws. If we accept this possibility as real, what would Russia demand in return? Perhaps, it could be Bosnia and Herzegovina giving up NATO membership?

When can we expect Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Croatia?

Sergey Lavrov: Regarding the situation with the election law in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we absolutely agree with our Croatian colleagues: it should be reformed in such a way that each state-forming nation elects its own representative to the agencies operating in Sarajevo, especially the Presidium. As for the question of whether we will “prohibit” Bosnia and Herzegovina from joining NATO or anything else – we are not in the habit of prohibiting anyone from doing anything.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is an independent state in spite of the existing High Representative's de facto protectorate, which has long become an atavism. Under its constitution, the Dayton Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina must determine its own international policy. We must respect the decisions that the state makes that are based on the Dayton mandate. This is well-known. Everyone must also respect the positions of the three state-forming nations because Bosnia and Herzegovina does not exist as a state without this. Respect for these agreements, the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, implies respect for the position adopted by the Republica Srpska, which has declared military neutrality.

As for high-level contact, I believe it will resume when the pandemic is over.

Question (translated from Croatian): What issues do you plan to discuss with Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenkovic? What will be Russia’s position considering that four years ago Moscow had a negative response to the statements made by Mr Plenkovic in Ukraine regarding Croatia’s position on “reintegration” and the incorporation of the “occupied” territories?

Sergey Lavrov: We will discuss the further development of our ties in all spheres with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, as well as with President of Croatia Zoran Milanovic. We are ready to answer any questions they may have.

As for the example you have cited, its meaning is not quite clear. If you are referring to a settlement in eastern Ukraine, Croatia’s position, which Mr Minister has clearly reaffirmed today, is that there is no alternative to the implementation of the Minsk Agreements approved by a UN Security Council resolution. It fully coincides with our position.

Question: Over the past few days, the US media have posted a new series of allegations regarding Russian hackers’ attacks on US government agencies. Have you received any official complaints from the United States? What form could our cooperation in cyberspace take when President Biden assumes office?

Sergey Lavrov: We have not registered any official US requests regarding suspected hacking attacks. We have become accustomed that the United States and other Western countries simply make media statements containing allegations against Russia, such as hacking attacks or “sensational” news about the double or even triple poisoning of Alexey Navalny – it has transpired that it was his wife who was poisoned first. It is fun to read such news. The way in which this information is presented can only mean that our Western partners lack the ethics and standards of normal diplomatic work and that they have no respect for international law when it comes to establishing facts.

Their logic is simple: they have made public the new “facts” concerning Navalny’s poisoning found by German security services, yet Moscow has remained silent for two days. If it is silent, it must be guilty. The flaw in this approach is evident to any reasonable person.

Question: Could you comment on yesterday’s statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Russia undermines security in the Mediterranean region, and that wealthy Russians allegedly launder their money in Cyprus and Malta?

Sergey Lavrov: We don’t believe that the US policy in the Eastern Mediterranean region is constructive. The United States forbids all regional countries to normally cooperate with the Russian Federation, including military-technical cooperation, energy or any other significant area.

We cannot but notice the United States’ subversive role in the attempt to undermine Orthodox Christianity, including in this region.

Question: On what conditions would Moscow be ready to launch a dialogue with the new US administration on extending the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) Treaty?

Sergey Lavrov: I cannot discuss this matter because nothing depends on us anymore. The treaty can be extended or not. All the terms and conditions presented by the United States until recently meant drafting a new treaty, rather than extending the old one. They should make the decision. We will wait until the new administration formulates its approach, and we will then chart our own line.