Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answers to media questions following his visit to the Republic of Tunisia, Tunis, December 21, 2023

Question: As we know, the West did everything it could to interfere with your negotiations during your previous visits to African countries. Was it the same this time? Did your Tunisian colleagues tell you about any arm twisting?

SergeyLavrov: My current trip is not limited to Tunisia. It began yesterday at the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum in Marrakesh. I did not ask any questions about how the Western countries had followed these plans and visits.

I do not want to go into detail at this point, but we know for certain that every trip by a Russian delegation, including a Foreign Ministry delegation, to countries in the Arab world, the Middle East or North Africa is always preceded by Western diplomats’ demarches. They issue warnings, and in some cases even “hint at consequences,” as they like to put it.

We have already reported (this is no secret) that prior to last year’s visit to the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo, the US, UK and European ambassadors  made public demarches, urging Cairo to “cancel Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s address” at the Arab League. When they were told that Russia and the Arab League had their own relations as determined by agreements between them, the Western diplomats started asking LAS representatives to make   the Arab countries denounce Russia’s actions in Ukraine after Mr Lavrov’s speech. They were told again that the Arab League had its own position on international developments. Then the ambassadors made a third request: “Let Lavrov speak and don’t denounce anything, just avoid posing for a photograph with him.” I am not joking. I mention this only because it was made public by the Arab League Secretariat. They even published a special document following these indecent demarches by the Western diplomats in question.

Let me reiterate that I did not talk about these kinds of attitudes during my yesterday’s visit to Morocco or today’s visit to Tunisia. I have no doubt that this is a persistent trend. We have reliable information to the effect that the West sends instructions of this sort to all their ambassadors, prescribing them to act the way they did ahead of our last year’s visit to the Arab League headquarters.

Question: President of Russia Vladimir Putin said that free trade agreements were being drafted with several African countries, including Tunisia. At what stage are they now? What effect do we expect from them? Will it play a tangible role in our economies?

Sergey Lavrov: As you know, we have delegated the relevant competences to the Commission of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Our Tunisian friends expressed an interest in starting these negotiations. However, this process takes time. First, a research group is established. After it submits its recommendations, an official decision on the start of the talks is approved.

The issue was discussed within this context. A regular session of the Intergovernmental Russian-Tunisian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation will take place in the first, or the beginning of the second quarter of 2024. Naturally, we will continue discussing this issue if our Tunisian friends maintain their interest in it.

Question: It has recently come to light that the Prosecutor’s Office of Germany is seeking the seizure of Russian assets in favour of Germany’s own budget. Was this expected? How can we retaliate? Could you comment on this, please?

Sergey Lavrov: I see. They have “independent” courts after all. Why not try and make this demand?  They are a thievish kind of people. We realised this long ago.  Earlier, they were thievish politically (in the sense of going back on commitments and trying to cheat), but now we can use this word, thievish, literally. They are scampering to find some legal avenues to confiscate Russian assets. Or, as a first step, they plan to confiscate the profits derived from these assets and send them to Ukraine. Despite this, the Europeans still maintain some semblance of respect for their own laws. That is why they are delaying these decisions. According to our information, the Americans are secretly advising them on how to change their laws so that they can ultimately steal these funds. We will wait and see.

Commenting on a similar issue, Finance Minister of Russia Anton Siluanov said that if such confiscation were to take place, we would retaliate by  confiscating their assets in Russia.

Question: The Tunisian economy has not yet fully recovered from the Arab Spring events. Early this year, President of the Republic Kais Saied declined an IMF loan that it had taken his country a long while to negotiate. Can Russia offer help to Tunisia? Is it going to?

Sergey Lavrov: Our Tunisian friends have not raised this issue. They haven’t asked for our help. To my mind, they have a clear understanding of their national development priorities, including an economic revival.

During today’s conversation about trade and economic issues, my colleague, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Nabil Ammar, and I discussed trade and economy, as well as various foreign economic aspects. He said that President of Tunisia Kais Saied had been implementing reforms since 2021 and organised a referendum in support of reforming the political system, including the system of parliamentary elections. He said elections to the local government bodies would take place on December 24, and the second chamber of parliament would be formed for the first time following these elections.

The Tunisian foreign minister informed me that President Kais Saied had made a firm decision to repay all of the country’s accumulated debts from the previous years as part of the reform process.

We did not discuss Tunisia’s relations with the International Monetary Fund. However, it is possible that in these relations, they are guided by the desire to get rid of the debt burden. This goal aligns with Tunisia’s overall objective of becoming more independent in international affairs.

At the opening of today’s talks, Mr Ammar emphasised their belief that partnership with any country, with which Tunisia wanted to develop relations, could not depend on relations with any other country. This principle aligns with our own approach:  we never build friendships aimed against someone else. Usually, our Western colleagues “make friends” against Russia or China. This has become part of their diplomatic practice. I think a desire to rely on one’s own strengths and not to borrow too much absolutely meets the interests of Tunisia’s independent development.

Question: Continuing the topic of the economic situation in Tunisia, what are the prospects for increased grain supplies from Russia? You discussed this with your Tunisian colleague in September. As far as I know, Tunisia had a poor harvest. This agricultural year, Russian grain supplies to Tunisia have increased fivefold (some say even more). From what I understand, the Tunisian side wants to receive this grain at a discount, on favourable terms. Have there been any agreements reached regarding the price? Is the increase in supplies a long-term trend or is it due to the current poor harvest?

Sergey Lavrov: You have actually covered all aspects of the situation. I cannot speak on behalf of the United Grain Company, which is in negotiations with the Tunisian side. Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar met with them when he was in Russia in September, and these contacts are still ongoing. It is not the Foreign Ministry that determines the prices; that responsibility lies with those who sign contracts.

Similarly, I cannot speak for the “celestial forces” and make predictions about the end of a drought or the beginning of floods. It’s just life.

Of course, we have confirmed our interest in the work of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, which will resume its operations in the first quarter of next year.  It should closely monitor all these developments and provide political support when needed.

But the interest in expanding the supplies of Russian grain is evident. President of Tunisia Kais Saied spoke about it today. We are ready for this, thanks to the hard work of our farmers and favourable weather conditions. We have had bumper harvests for three consecutive years. While this year’s intake may not be as high as in 2022, it still allows us to export almost the same record amount of grain as last year.