Briefing by Deputy Director of the Foreign Ministry Information and Press Department Ivan Nechayev, Moscow, November 17, 2022

Answers to media questions:

Action plan for EU military mobility
Implementation of the Black Sea initiative
Russia-China cooperation
Incident involving a missile hitting Polish territory
Russia’s efforts to settle Armenia-Azerbaijan relations
French initiatives on an Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement
Greater Eurasian partnership
11th Russia-Azerbaijan Interregional Forum
Oil supplies through the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline
District Court of The Hague MH17 verdict
Trade and investment cooperation between Russia and ASEAN
EAEU-ASEAN cooperation
Ukraine’s qualification as a terrorist state
Ukraine’s shelling of its own cities
Actions in the event of emergencies

The 39th meeting of the Foreign Ministry’s Council of the Heads of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation

At the last briefing, we announced that the 39th meeting of the Foreign Ministry’s Council of the Heads of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation will take place at the Foreign Ministry’s Mansion tomorrow, on November 18, under the chairmanship of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. I would like to remind you that it will be attended by regional governors, high-ranking officials from the Presidential Executive Office and federal executive government bodies.

The main item on the agenda is the peculiarities of international interregional cooperation for Russian regions in today’s geopolitical situation.

The challenges that Russia is facing today are acquiring a new quality. The collective West has unleashed a real hybrid war against us. Under these conditions, we must revise our approaches to international interregional cooperation.

The goal of the meeting is to discuss and map out steps towards restructuring international and foreign economic ties for the Russian regions in accordance with the re-orientation of foreign policy priorities.

Following the meeting, the participants plan to draft recommendations for practical results.

Sergey Lavrov’s upcoming participation in the joint meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers, Council of Defence Ministers and the Committee of Security Council Secretaries

On November 22-23, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the joint meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers, Council of Defence Ministers and the Committee of Security Council Secretaries. The meeting will take place in Yerevan on the eve of a regular session of the CSTO Collective Security Council.

The participants plan to exchange views on the military-political situation in the regions of CSTO collective security and CSTO activities between sessions. They will review a large package of decisions on foreign policy, defence and counterterrorism cooperation in the CSTO, which are aimed at strengthening and further developing the CSTO collective security system.

At the joint meeting, the participants also plan to endorse a number of documents, including the Final Declaration, to be submitted to the CSTO Collective Security Council for approval.

Update on Ukraine crisis

The ongoing special military operation convincingly proves what Russian leadership has expressed on many occasions. In Ukraine, we are dealing with the collective West whose long-term goal is “victory over Russia on the battlefield” at all costs, down to the last Ukrainian.

The faint signals that have been coming recently from Europe and the United States about the importance of using diplomacy to resolve the Ukraine crisis are fading. The party of war’s interests have trumped everything else. Again, we are witnessing calls to continue to provide comprehensive help to Ukraine, something that was reiterated by CIA Director William J. Burns who was in Kiev on November 15. As reported by The Washington Post, he “reinforced the US commitment to provide support to Zelensky’s regime “in its fight against Russian aggression.”

Ukraine’s leaders have adopted an outright bellicose stance. Not a word can be heard from them about suspending hostilities or agreeing to a truce. Kiev is set on escalating the conflict. Kiev’s aggressive rhetoric is mounting. Speaking at the G20 summit on November 15 in his habitual Russophobic manner, Vladimir Zelensky rolled out another list of Ukraine’s unrealistic “fantasies” calling it “a peace formula.” He deliberately omitted the subject of talks, but clearly outlined Kiev’s bid to fight to a “victorious end.” Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Zaluzhny has adopted an even tougher stance and rejects even the idea of holding talks or striking a compromise and makes it clear that the troops will fight to “liberate all of Ukraine’s land.”

This Kiev regime’s policy is fully approved by the West, which stands ready to supply Ukraine with more weapons, which Ukraine uses to fire daily at residential areas and social facilities in the DPR and the LPR, as well as the Kherson, Zaporozhye and a number of other regions near the Russian border. The 7th meeting of the “Ukraine Defence Contact Group in the Ramstein format” was held yesterday, November 16. The day before, reports came from Washington to the effect that the US administration had asked US Congress to allocate an additional $38 billion before the end of 2022 to help Kiev, with more than half of this amount to be used to send more weapons to Ukraine.

The EU has done its part to help Ukraine pump up its military muscles. The EU Military Assistance Mission to train Ukrainian forces was launched in Brussels on November 14. It will last two years and will be used to train about 15,000 military personnel in a variety of specialties. Training will be held at EU training grounds.

Clearly, the collective West is so willingly providing Kiev with everything it wishes only because it is cynically pursuing its own interests. For them, Ukraine is just a tool that provides a way to use “proxy force” and, unfortunately, the lives of ordinary Ukrainians, to weaken and isolate Russia. The Ukrainian authorities do not even hide the fact that the country has become a testing ground for NATO weapons. Ukrainian Defence Minister Alexey Reznikov was open about this in an interview with Politico.

One gets the impression that Kiev has become so carried away by military adventures that it remains oblivious to what it is doing. However, time is against them. Every day, more facts about the atrocities committed by the Ukrainian armed forces and foreign mercenaries within the special military operation zone transpire. Clearly drawing on the experience of their bloody provocations in Bucha and Izyum and barely waiting for the Russian armed forces to withdraw from the portion of the Kherson region and Kherson, the Ukrainian neo-Nazis are once again doing what they do best, which is abuse civilians. Thus, the Zelensky-appointed head of the Kherson Military-Civilian Administration, Galina Lugovaya, openly urged the troops to “shoot traitors like dogs.” Visuals of the people tied to lampposts in the Russian territories occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kherson Region have been posted online.

We strongly condemn these shameful and inhumane tactics, which are simply unthinkable in any law-based country, which Ukraine has long ceased to be. To cover up the atrocities committed by the Ukrainian armed formations, Kiev has denied the media entry into the Kherson Region, including foreign media, under the pretext of ongoing “stabilisation efforts.” The other day they revoked the accreditation of a number of Western journalists who “dared” make reports from Kherson in the lead-up to Zelensky’s visit to that city. As can be seen from the footage posted on social media and instant messaging, a thin crowd of Kherson residents who refused to evacuate were not, to put it mildly, overly enthusiastic about seeing him.

The collective West and its Kiev puppet regime’s actions reaffirm the unconditional imperative of fulfilling the goals and objectives of the special military operation. There is no doubt that all of them will be fulfilled.

Third Committee of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly adopts a resolution, Situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine

On November 16 of this year, the Third Committee of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, at the initiative of Ukraine, adopted a resolution “Situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine.” As many as 78 states voted in support of this document – mainly the Western handlers of the Kiev regime and their allies; 14 countries voted against it, while 79 abstained. Thus, once again, the instigators of this odious concoction failed to achieve a consensus-based approval, as less than half of the UN member states supported the adoption of this resolution.

It is regrettable that the Kiev regime is using the noble cause of protecting human rights in an unseemly manner to reinforce its unfounded political and territorial claims to the Republic of Crimea. The resolution is predictably one-sided and biased. Its content goes far beyond human rights issues or the mandate of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.

The authors of this resolution show glaring cynicism and unscrupulousness in accusing Russia of the very human rights violations that the Kiev regime committed against Crimean residents while the peninsula was part of Ukraine, and continues to commit against its own population. This includes their failure to fulfil their obligations under international treaties as well as actions that violate and abuse the rights of persons belonging to national, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, the persecution of journalists and media workers, and blocking access to news websites that broadcast opinions that are different from Kiev’s official policy.

Characteristically, neither Kiev’s Western handlers, nor the UN human rights mechanisms have ever condemned the illegal and inhumane actions of the Ukrainian authorities, which imposed a water, energy, transport, food and humanitarian blockade on Crimea, over the eight years since the peninsula was reunified with Russia. The EU’s discriminatory policy of denying visas to Crimeans, which is a flagrant violation of their right to freedom of movement, has never been criticised either.

The resolution was adopted amid a conspiracy of silence on the part of the international community and international human rights agencies about the Kiev regime’s terrorist attacks on Crimean residents, including the use of suicide bombers – I am referring to the October 8 Crimean bridge explosion, which claimed innocent lives.

We would like to remind you that all constituent entities of the Russian Federation, including the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, are regulated by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and Russian laws, which guarantee all citizens of Russia the observance of all their fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to work, social security, healthcare and education. Equally, the Russian Federation’s international treaties are fully in force on the territory of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, and residents of these constituent entities of the Russian Federation enjoy all human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the country’s human rights treaties, without any discrimination as compared to residents of other Russian regions.

The 19th International Meeting on Syria in the Astana format

On November 22 and 23, the capital of Kazakhstan will host the regular 19th International Meeting on Syria in the Astana format. As usual, in addition to top-level officials from the three countries that act as guarantors of the Astana format – Russia, Iran and Türkiye – the meeting will be attended by a delegation from the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and a delegation from the Syrian opposition, as well as observers from Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon and representatives from the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Participants in the meeting will have an in-depth discussion on how the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic and around it has been developing, with a focus on efforts to ensure further stabilisation of the situation on the ground and on promoting a comprehensive political settlement in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254. They will consider issues of mobilising collective efforts in the interest of improving the humanitarian situation in Syria, including through funding projects to fast-track the restoration of the country’s socioeconomic facilities, the key importance of which is highlighted in UN Security Council Resolution 2642.

Germany bars the Russian Paralympic Committee delegation from the International Paralympic Committee General Assembly

We are indignant at Germany’s refusal to issue entry visas to the delegation of the Russian Paralympic Committee, which was invited by the International Paralympic Committee to take part in its extraordinary General Assembly scheduled to take place in Berlin on November 16, 2022.

For many years, the Russian Committee has made a considerable contribution to developing international cooperation in sport, consistently promoting the ideas and principles of the Paralympic movement and protecting the interests of our athletes in a dignified manner. Apparently, this is not to everyone’s liking.

We consider the move to bar members of the Russian Paralympic Committee from the International Paralympic Committee General Assembly to be a manifestation of a biased policy and unfair competition. Germany has unceremoniously misused its position as the host country for an event being held by this international nongovernmental organisation, having decided to unilaterally interfere with its activities. It appears that the objective of this move is to prevent the Russian Paralympic Committee delegation from taking part in the General Assembly which would allow them to refute the groundless accusations against the Russian Paralympic movement.

Berlin has taken another unfriendly move with respect to Russia. However, in this case the Germans have overstepped all bounds of propriety in their anti-Russia hysterics, having chosen Paralympic athletes as a target for their attack. It is pitiful that representatives of the “civilised world,” who so zealously preach the all-round fight for human rights and freedoms, do not hesitate for a moment to resort to cynical discriminatory actions regarding people with disabilities, and they are doing this, actually, on ethnic grounds.

We strongly protest yet another attempt by the collective West to settle a political score with Russia and to isolate our country by using a sensitive area like the international Paralympic movement.

International Paralympic Committee General Assembly decision to suspend Russian Paralympic Committee membership

We are very disappointed by the IPC General Assembly’s decision to suspend the membership of the Russian Paralympic Committee.

The International Olympic Committee and a number of international sports federations have already taken illegitimate measures to suspend Russian athletes from legal participation in important sporting competitions and championships. As a result, Russia has lost the opportunity to host many major competitions. Against this backdrop, we once again see the direct interference of politics in sports, this time Paralympic sports. In this way, sports functionaries have played into the hands of the West by using the banned trick of removing their strongest rivals – our Paralympic athletes.

We must state that the International Paralympic Committee is turning into a platform for settling scores, which is cynical, considering that this is encroachment on the rights of athletes with disabilities.

We find particularly indignant the attempt to pull the plug by accusing our athletes of violating the Olympic truce and blaming our Paralympic Committee for its alleged inability to abide by the requirements of the IPC Charter.

This adopted decision contradicts the principle of banning discrimination on any grounds. It is absolutely illegal and unfounded and violates the basic principles that underlie Olympic and Paralympic values.

For our part, we will use all international legal instruments to uphold the rights of Russian athletes.

Russian cultural workers denied entry to Moldova

We were very surprised that on November 15 of this year, the Moldovan authorities denied entry to the country to a delegation of Russian cultural workers that arrived in Chisinau to organise cultural events as part of the Festival of Documentary Films Eurasia.DОС. This Festival takes place every year with assistance from the CIS Interstate Humanitarian Cooperation Fund.

Moldovan authorities were notified in advance about the Russian delegation’s arrival. Nevertheless, three Russians were kept at Chisinau Airport for several hours without explanation. Eventually they were told that they were being denied entry to the territory of Moldova. Our Embassy officials were not allowed to meet with them.

We have always considered Moldova an active participant in the Commonwealth of Independent States. To put it mildly, we do not understand the decision of the Moldovan authorities to deny entry to the Russian participants in a CIS project aimed at promoting cultural and humanitarian cooperation in the CIS. We hope Moldova’s representatives will clarify this issue for us.

Attempted attack on the Russian Embassy in Warsaw

In the early hours of November 12, unknown individuals attempted to attack our diplomatic mission in Warsaw twice, by throwing flares and bottles with a combustible substance over the fence of the Embassy. The police watched passively what was happening and did not try to detain the attacker.

The situation when a foreign diplomatic mission in the very centre of the Polish capital, in close proximity to other protected facilities such as the National Defence Ministry and the residences of the president and prime minister of Poland, is attacked in a very dangerous way and the attack goes unpunished, causes extreme concern and indicates a gross violation of Warsaw’s obligations stipulated by international law to protect the premises of diplomatic missions from any intrusion or damage.

We call on Poland to ensure the safety of Russian diplomatic and consular missions in their country and guarantee the inviolability of our foreign missions from unlawful actions. We demand that the competent Polish authorities investigate the incident and bring those responsible to account.

Statements by Foreign Minister of the Netherlands accusing Russia of spreading hatred towards Jews

We noted the statements made by Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra in a Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam on November 9. He stated that Russia contributes to the spread of hatred towards Jews online.

Using the example of Wopke Hoekstra, we can see that Dutch officials are conquering new heights in the ridiculous exercise to shift the blame for problems arising in their own countries onto Russia. At the same time, they pretend not to notice how the escalation of anti-Russia rhetoric contributes to the spread of hatred towards the multiethnic Russian nation, which includes several hundred thousand Jews living in Russia.

We would recommend the Dutch authorities to take a realistic look at the causes of anti-Semitism in their own country. The Dutch media have long been ringing an alarm about extremist views spreading among young people on social media. The activity of such neo-Nazi organisations as The Base and Feuerkrieg Division, which promote the ideas of racial and ethnic intolerance, is also well known.

Let me remind you that every year the UN General Assembly adopts a resolution “Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” at Russia’s initiative. If in the past the Netherlands abstained on this resolution, this year they voted against it for the first time. Is this not an indicator of the Netherlands gradually drifting towards the promotion of ideas that underlie exceptionalism, intolerance and, ultimately, anti-Semitism?

NATO Cyber Defence Pledge Conference

We noted the Cyber Defence Pledge Conference held in Rome on November 9-10 under NATO’s auspices. The discussions at the Conference confirmed again that one of NATO’s priorities is to continue militarising cyberspace. NATO is turning the digital dimension into an arena of geopolitical confrontation and a zone for offensive operations.

Speaking about malicious activities online, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg slipped into his usual accusations of Russia. He said Russia’s actions allegedly create a threat to critical infrastructure not only in Ukraine but also in other European countries. As per tradition, he did not cite any evidence. Instead, he emphasised the need to increase investment into expanding the capabilities of the NATO countries to respond to cyber and hybrid challenges. Regular drills by NATO are aimed at practicing these skills. Incidentally, Estonia will soon host the biggest exercises of this kind, Cyber Coalition, with the participation of over 40 countries, both NATO members and those states whom they want to draw into the orbit of their influence.

The United States and its allies are depriving states of their digital sovereignty by compelling them to change their domestic legislation and transfer information of national importance to cloud storage on NATO’s territory via IT companies under its control. This is what Microsoft and Amazon did in Ukraine when they established control over the Kiev regime’s information resources.

The eventual goal of Washington and its accomplices is to reformat the virtual space in a way that will allow them to establish monopoly control over it. Among other things, this will allow them to occupy advanced positions in case cyberspace is used for military-political aims.

New facts on crimes by British military in Afghanistan

We have taken note of new evidence of crimes committed by British military in Afghanistan. We believe it is necessary to thoroughly investigate the information that has come to light and bring those guilty to account. It is necessary to put an end to impunity that allows the Western military to neglect the lives of civilians.

We are already working in this area. Thus, at the November 16 meeting of the Moscow format consultations on Afghanistan, the Foreign Ministry presented its White Book on the deaths of Afghan civilians because of illegal actions by the United States and its allies. The Book draws public attention to the crimes committed by the US-NATO forces in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021. These actions led to the deaths and injuries of Afghan civilians and caused damage to the country’s economy, infrastructure and environment. The book also emphasised that international legal institutions must investigate all incidents of this kind.

Update on the Republic of Chad

We are closely following the domestic political developments in the Republic of Chad. We welcome the completion of the inclusive National Dialogue in October and regard its decisions as an important milestone on the way to that country achieving domestic political stability.

We hope that the newly formed bodies of authority led by President of Transitional Military Council, President of the Republic and Head of State Mahamat Idriss Déby, who will lead the country during the next two years, will manage to work successfully through the transformation phase, overcome the socioeconomic development challenges, counter the terrorist threat, and ensure the return to the constitutional form of government. We believe that for the Chadian leadership to achieve these goals it must be helped, including through the efforts of international and regional organisations.

Meanwhile, the security situation in Chad remains challenging. The threat of the armed opposition militants stationed in neighbouring Libya and Sudan invading the territory of the Republic is still there. Chadian military personnel stand up against the extremist groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State’s West Africa Province, whose terrorist activities in the Lake Chad region are gathering pace. We believe it is important to unite the efforts of the international community and African organisations in order to collectively counter these challenges.

The Russian Foreign Ministry recommends not travelling to the Republic of Chad unless it is an emergency until the situation fully normalises and strong security guarantees are provided.

The outrageous case of a number of European countries’ authorities using spyware for political ends

We are closely following the unfolding scandal involving the facts that came to light recently of the authorities of several European states using spyware for political ends.

Last week, a draft report was published that was put together by a special committee formed in the European Parliament to conduct an investigation into this incident. The document shows that the leadership of a number of European countries – Poland and Greece, to name a few – used mostly Israeli-made Pegasus, Predator and other spyware against objectionable members of the opposition, civil society and business circles, as well as human rights activists and journalists.

The report’s authors note that in many cases the above software was purchased by the European authorities through specialised companies registered in Bulgaria and Cyprus. According to their information, these countries have become havens for re-exporting spyware due to setbacks in their national legislation and mechanisms for overseeing the IT economic operators’ activities. This thesis was in fact confirmed by the Cypriot leadership during the parliamentary hearings that took place after the above report of the European Parliament's special committee came out.

We consider this to be a blatant violation of the fundamental principles of the rule of law and human rights. Accustomed to patronising others in matters of “undemocratic” behaviour, the European Union has, in fact, given away its inability to keep track of the rampant totalitarian developments unfolding within its borders.

This state of affairs goes to show that no one in the EU can be securely protected against eavesdropping by foreign intelligence services. We strongly urge the Russian citizens residing in or travelling across the European Union to keep this in mind when using ICT devices.

Article by President of Germany’s Goethe-Institut in Berliner Zeitung

We have noted an article by President of the German state Goethe-Institut Carola Lentz in the Berliner Zeitung issue of November 9, 2022. The Goethe-Institut supervises a broad network of German cultural centres under the auspices Germany’s embassies abroad. The leader of this ideally purely humanitarian agency in her what appears to be essentially a major policy essay, unexpectedly positions the institute clearly and openly as a political organisation which tries to affect internal affairs in the countries where it has a presence. Moreover, Dr Carola Lentz literally admits that this activity is being conducted under the umbrella of the “quasi diplomatic status” of the Goethe-Institut. According to the article, even German language courses at these cultural centres are used for propaganda work against the governments in the states whose political system, in the opinion of Carola Lentz, needs to be changed. The courses also allegedly act as “protected” venues for critics of the local regimes to stage their events.

The self-exposing article by Carola Lentz is notable as another transparent confirmation of the long-known truth: the majority of foreign NGOs and soft power institutions pursue political activities under the guise of humanitarian and educational projects and oftentimes directly interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. Therefore, the activities of a number of German non-commercial organisations have been recently declared undesirable in Russia.

The operation of the Moscow office of the Goethe-Institut is closely monitored by the Russian Foreign Ministry. It is regulated by the bilateral Russian-German Intergovernmental Agreement dated February 4, 2011. If the German agency abuses its status of a culture and information centre, the Russian side will take adequate steps in response under our country’s law and the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. So far, no such instances have been recorded. We expect things to remain as they are. On our part, we should specify that the Russian culture and information centre in Germany, the Russian House of Science in Culture in Berlin, does not conduct any political work.

The 77th anniversary of the beginning of the Nuremberg Trials

On November 20, 1945, the trials over major Nazi war criminals began in Nuremberg, which went down in history as the Verdict of Nations.

The International Military Tribunal was legally based on the Declaration of the Responsibility of the Hitlerites for the Atrocities Committed, which was approved at the Moscow Conference in 1943, and the Agreement for the Prosecution and Punishment of the Major War Criminals of the European Axis signed by the USSR, the United States, the United Kingdom and France in 1945.

In keeping with the principles of the Nuremberg Trials, 24 defendants were charged with planning, preparing, unleashing and conducting an aggressive war, that is, with crimes against peace; with killing and torturing prisoners of war and civilians on the occupied territory; with plundering and aimlessly destroying villages and cities, which was unjustified in terms of military necessity; and with cruel acts committed against civilians, that is, with crimes against humanity.

It is of principal importance that the historical objective of the trial was to bring major initiators and perpetrators of Nazi atrocities to justice; the trial was in no way an act of revenge against the German people, who, to a certain extent, became hostages to Hitler’s policy.

The outcomes of the Nuremberg Trials are known to everyone. The Nazi leaders were sentenced to capital punishment or received long-term or life sentences for committing numerous war crimes and grave crimes against humanity.

The Nuremberg Trials hold everlasting historical importance: they exposed heinous crimes by Nazism and militarism to the whole world and demonstrated the danger of them being revived in any form.

Today the governments of the majority of countries which took part in the establishment of the Tribunal and unanimously acted as prosecutors and judges, have forgotten or choose to ignore the historical lesson that cost Europe and all of humanity so much. There are increasing attempts to revise the history of WWII, hold the aggressors and the liberators, victims and butchers equally responsible for what happened, and elevate war criminals to heroes. These attempts must be firmly rebuffed. It is unacceptable to rewrite the history of WWII, revise its outcomes, and acquit the Nazis, their accomplices and the crimes they committed.

Georgy Chicherin’s 150th birth anniversary

November 24 is the 150th birth anniversary of Georgy Chicherin, an outstanding Soviet statesman, political leader and diplomat. He was the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic (RSFSR) and later the USSR. It is impossible to overrate his role in developing diplomacy in post-revolutionary Russia and organising the work of the Foreign Ministry later on.

Georgy Chicherin remains a model of competence and devotion in serving our Fatherland to this day. As the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs in 1918-1930, he was trying to break the isolation of Soviet Russia and achieve its recognition as a full-fledged member of the international community. The Peace Treaty of Brest, peace talks with the Baltic countries, the first equitable agreements with Türkiye, Iran and Afghanistan, participation as the head of the delegation in the Genoa and Lausanne conferences, the Treaty of Rapallo, persistent efforts to sign a Berlin treaty on non-aggression and neutrality with Germany in 1926, and recognition of Soviet Russia by many countries – this is far from a complete list of his achievements that could without exaggeration be described as the most impressive successes of domestic foreign policy.

Georgy Chicherin laid the foundations of new Russia’s “Eastern policy.” He enthusiastically promoted the strengthening of relations with China and conducted interesting correspondence with outstanding Chinese politician Sun Yat-sen.

His principle of a global approach to international affairs has become topical for Russian diplomacy today as never before.

The Foreign Ministry has always attached special importance to Chicherin’s rich legacy. The Foreign Policy Archives of the Russian Federation contain the materials of his Secretariat – over 9,000 archive documents, the majority of which have been digitised and are accessible for researchers.

The historical exhibition at the Moscow Kremlin museums timed to Chicherin’s 150th birth anniversary opened on October 7.

I would recommend you to visit the exhibition to learn more about the life and diplomatic achievements of the outstanding diplomat, touch history and see with your own eyes the memorabilia, original manuscripts, photos, household items and documents of that era. The exhibition in the Patriarch’s Palace displays almost a hundred valuable items, many of which are presented to the public for the first time. It will be open until January 8, 2023.

The Russian Post will issue a postal stamp to commemorate the anniversary of the great Soviet diplomat.

Answers to media questions:

Question: What can you say about the Action Plan on Military Mobility presented by the European Commission and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell on November 10 and discussed at a meeting of the European Defence Agency?

Ivan Nechayev: The fact that this document was effectively drafted confirms the fact of ongoing militarisation of the European project, which was originally created to prevent a new war in Europe. Now, everything in the EU is subjected to the logic of military confrontation with our country. In fact, the EU is merging with NATO. The EU civilian infrastructure, including the transport and transit network, is being reformatted in order to facilitate the rapid deployment of heavy-duty equipment in the east/west direction. These efforts are amply funded.

Clearly, the belligerent groups in the European Union want more than ongoing supplies of, in circumvention of EU export controls, lethal weapons to the Kiev regime worth 3.1 billion euros through the European Peace Facility (that is Europe’s cynical interpretation of “peace”) and training of Ukrainian militants in Germany and Poland who will then kill civilians and destroy the infrastructure. Now, the EU wants to improve the logistics in order to be able to supply weapons and military equipment to the conflict zone faster. They are trying to rope other countries, such as Moldova and the Western Balkans, into their reckless enterprise.

Unfortunately, just like it was after the coup in Kiev in February 2014, a peaceful settlement in Ukraine is not part of the EU's plans. On the contrary, Brussels is deliberately escalating the situation. The EU is building up investment in order to draw out the hostilities and is, as a true hypocrite, turning a blind eye to multiple war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

All of that is posing a severe threat to stability in Europe, which some EU countries would like to see turn into an actual theatre of war operations. In addition, the implementation of the above Action Plan on Military Mobility 2.0 will come at a cost for the EU public.

Because of the short-sighted policy of the EU, the Europeans are already forced to confront skyrocketing inflation, cold homes, and long queues at the pump. We are not sure that they are willing to dig in their pockets and pay for the European bureaucrats’ multibillion-dollar militaristic undertakings.

Question: Russia has done its utmost to resume the grain deal despite Kiev’s provocations. But our part of the deal, including the export of our fertilisers, is not being honoured. Will it be resumed? If not, how will we respond?

Ivan Nechayev: I would like to point out that a press release has been published on this issue on the Foreign Ministry website recently. In addition, a detailed comment on the implementation of the Istanbul agreements was provided by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin in his interview with Izvestia on November 16, 2022, and with Rossiya Segodnya today, on November 17.

It is notable that technically, the deal has been extended for 120 days, which is stipulated in the documents in the absence of objections from any of the parties. Russia did not object. We have always emphasised the package nature of the deal, which provides not only for Ukrainian food export but also for the export of Russian grain and fertilisers.

We closely monitored the efforts of the UN Secretariat in this area. We appreciate them and hope that all our concerns will be lifted within the next 120 days. The issue concerns the donation of our food exports to the countries that need them.

We would like to reaffirm unambiguously that the Black Sea humanitarian corridor must only be used for the above-mentioned purpose. Any provocations by the Kiev regime, especially military ones, must be precluded.

We hope that Russia’s concerns will be taken into account within the next 120 days.

Question: President of China Xi Jinping said at the G20 summit that drawing ideological lines or promoting bloc confrontation will only hamper global progress. What is your opinion of the concept of the community of common destiny, which President Xi Jinping has advanced in the current geopolitical situation?

Ivan Nechayev: We welcome the concept of creating the community of common destiny advanced by the President of China for strengthening global solidarity and rallying international efforts to respond to common challenges, including in the area you have mentioned.

It is notable that Russia and China hold similar positions on the absolute majority of international issues. Our countries stand together with regard to the collective West’s plans to create a NATO-centric architecture of global security, and we are working together to strengthen the multipolar system of international relations.

In light of the ongoing radical changes in the geopolitical situation, we intend to strengthen our foreign policy coordination with our Chinese partners so as to promote a more democratic multipolar world order and neutralise the collective West’s attempts to ensure its unilateral domination, including through enforcing the concept of the so-called rules-based order.

Question: According to CNN quoting a source in the White House, the Ukrainian military informed the United States and other Western allies that their attempt to intercept a Russian missile coincided with the incident in Poland, which took place in close proximity. The Polish Foreign Ministry, the leaders of NATO and G7 issued a joint statement following an emergency meeting on the sidelines of the summit in Indonesia. They offered every possible support to Poland on whose territory the explosion occurred, killing two people. Yet, the White House said that the United States is blaming Russia for the missile incident in Poland regardless of the investigation results. How can you comment on the Americans’ response?

Ivan Nechayev: I want to stress that, immediately after the incident claiming two lives was reported, the Russian Defence Ministry issued a comment that the Russian Armed Forces had nothing to do with the missiles that fell on Polish territory.

We noted the completely anti-Russia and Russophobic reaction from representatives of several NATO countries and media outlets. They immediately, as if at someone’s bidding (maybe they had been preparing), accused Russia, before any investigation was conducted and the cause of the incident was established.

It was not the first time such a response had been given. The collective West is known for using this tactic, hurling unsubstantiated accusations at Russia without thoroughly investigating the incident.

We want to note that Kiev also makes unsupported allegations against Russia whenever such opportunity arises, expressing its anti-Russia stance. Perhaps now the Kiev regime will think twice. Its Western curators are starting to get annoyed.

Russia insists on a comprehensive investigation into this incident and disclosing its outcome.

Question: Special Representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry for the normalisation of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan Igor Khovayev visited Yerevan and met with the Armenian leadership. What issues were discussed? Can you confirm that new agreements have been reached? And I would like to know if Mr Khovayev plans to visit Baku.

Ivan Nechayev: The planned visit to Yerevan by Special Representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry for the normalisation of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan Igor Khovayev resulted in constructive discussions with our Armenian partners on fulfilling the agreements reached during the trilateral talks between President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in Sochi on October 31, 2022. Mr Khovayev plans to visit Baku next.

Question: On November 15, the French Senate adopted a resolution calling for sanctions against Azerbaijan, including restrictions on hydrocarbon imports. How does Moscow feel about this policy? France, which has been making every effort to mediate the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement, is now clearly showing an imbalanced approach, double standards and the typical Western affinity for using sanctions as pressure. Do you think this policy is really consistent?

Ivan Nechayev: This is not France’s policy; it is just an initiative of French parliamentarians. It would be advisable to contact Paris officials for comment and an assessment of their legislators’ inventions like this.

Question: International processes are now undergoing transformation. As far as we understand, in the new conditions, Russia is, among other things, promoting the idea of a Greater Eurasian Partnership. What role will the South Caucasus region play for Russia in the future in terms of implementing this concept, in global transformations, new economic, transport and logistics cooperation patterns, including the implementation of the North-South project, unblocking transport and economic links, etc.?

Ivan Nechayev: The world is going through a long and complex phase in the formation of a multipolar system. This is manifested in distributed economic potential and the strengthening of non-Western centres of political decision-making. The focus of global economic activity has already shifted to the Asia-Pacific region. There is an obvious need for the entire system of international relations to adapt to the realities of a multipolar international order. A global restructuring is impending. If we do not want any revolutionary shocks, it is in our common interest to facilitate this process.

In this context, Russia’s Greater Eurasian Partnership initiative acquires a special meaning. The absurd sanctions policy pursued by the Western countries, which provoked the global economic crisis, is inspiring countries on the continent to rally together and find new formats and ways of cooperating in the financial, economic, transport and logistics, and other spheres.

By Greater Eurasia, we mean the formation of a continent-wide integration contour. Its legal and institutional framework can be formed by the multilateral platforms existing in Eurasia, agreements on free trade zones, and the entire interconnected contractual infrastructure on the continent.

Russia is putting a great deal of effort into developing the Greater Eurasian Partnership and is working to align the development plans for the Eurasian Economic Union and China’s Belt and Road Initiative. We are rapidly modernising the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur railways and increasing their capacity, building the North-South and Europe-Western China international transport corridors, and developing the transport and logistics infrastructure of the Caspian region. This will provide the infrastructural framework of the future Greater Eurasia.

The South Caucasus is Eurasia’s strategic transport hub located at the crossroads of trade and travel from East to West and from South to North. It is certainly important to implement joint logistics projects, including the further development of the North-South International Transport Corridor. In order to open it as soon as possible, we welcome the efforts of the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides to unblock all transport and economic links in the region.

All these issues have also been discussed as part of the 3+3 format Caucasus regional consultation platform established last year. The Transport Cooperation Agreement between the Caspian Littoral States will also facilitate the development of ties in the region. The agreement, enacted last year, is aimed at transforming the Caspian Sea region into a major international logistics hub.

Outside the Greater Eurasian Partnership agenda, I would like to note that we have always given priority to cooperation with the states in the South Caucasus. We are bound by a common history and multifaceted economic relations. In recent years, despite the tense global situation, cooperation with our South Caucasus partners has been only gaining momentum. In particular, in 2022, we recorded a significant increase in mutual trade, which has a positive effect on those countries’ economic performance.

Question: On November 17-18, Baku will host an Azerbaijani-Russian inter-regional forum. What does the Russian Foreign Ministry think about its significance in the context of responding to current economic challenges and building economic interaction chains that go beyond purely bilateral relations? I am talking about the economic context and transport-logistic issues. What is the current significance of relations with Azerbaijan for Russia in the context of partnership in a changing world?

Ivan Nechayev: Today, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is beginning his visit to Azerbaijan. His visit coincides with the 11th Russian-Azerbaijani Inter-Regional Forum.

The forum that is resuming its work after a two-year pandemic-related lull has proved its value as an effective mechanism that facilitates expanded and more active direct ties between Russian regions and Azerbaijan.

Over 70 entities of the Russian Federation maintain mutually beneficial cooperation with the Republic of Azerbaijan. Russian regions are interested in expanding contacts with Azerbaijan in various spheres, including industry, transport and shipbuilding, agriculture and investment projects.

Regarding the second part of your question, I would like to note that relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have withstood the test of time, and that they continue to expand. On February 22, 2022, the Declaration on Allied Interaction was signed in Moscow. Since then, our countries have attained an entirely new level of cooperation. We maintain very active contacts. Quite recently, we have held an entire series of events making it possible to unlock the potential of bilateral trade and economic ties still further. They include the 2nd Caspian Economic Forum in Moscow (October 5-6, 2022), the 15th Eurasian Economic Forum in Baku (October 27-28, 2022) and, of course, the current 11th Russian-Azerbaijani Inter-Regional Forum.

Question: My question concerns crude oil deliveries via the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline. In the evening of November 16, the media reported that oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia had resumed. Did the foreign ministries maintain any contacts? Notably, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry made a number of comments on the stoppage of oil deliveries. What is the position of Russia regarding these incidents? Could there be a repeat?

Ivan Nechayev: We have repeatedly noted at our briefings that it is necessary to ask economic operators about such matters regarding their operations. Our colleagues have a good press service. They have insider knowledge of the situation. They are always ready to meet you halfway and to answer your questions.

Indeed, deliveries have resumed via the Druzhba pipeline. Regarding the current overall situation, I can say that a hybrid war is underway. It is necessary to examine each issue separately. In the event of similar developments, we will study the situation and respond accordingly.

Question: It was reported several minutes ago that a Dutch court confirmed that the MH17 had been downed by a Russian-made missile. I am not sure that the Foreign Ministry can come up with a comment on this matter on short notice but if you can offer one, we would be glad to hear it.

Ivan Nechayev: We will review this ruling. Every nuance is significant in these matters. We will be ready to comment after we have reviewed the legal document.

Question: The Russia-ASEAN trade and economic cooperation roadmap and its action plan for 2021–2025 were updated last year. Could you specify the priority projects of this programme?

Ivan Nechayev: Deeper economic cooperation is one of the priorities of the Russia-ASEAN dialogue partnership that has become even more important amid the unprecedented sanctions pressure on our country. The Russia-ASEAN trade and economic cooperation roadmap and its action plan for 2021–2025 are exceptionally important instruments in this regard. The documents, updated during the regular consultations between the ministers of economy of Russia and ASEAN in September 2021, particularly focus on sustainable development, climate change and intellectual property.

We are actively working on knowledge-intensive areas under the programme of the Year of Russia-ASEAN Science and Technology Cooperation. For obvious reasons, food and energy security, creating new stable supply chains, forming a stable infrastructure for mutual payments have come to the front. Russia has proposed launching cooperation between statistics agencies.

As of late, Russia and ASEAN have implemented joint projects supporting small and medium-sized businesses, circular economy, agriculture, healthcare and innovative technology. There are initiatives concerning biotechnology, smart cities, development of remote territories, improving digital literacy of the workforce and promoting Russian animation technology on the ASEAN markets.

Question: “We have untapped potential in trade,” Russia's envoy to ASEAN Alexander Ivanov said in an interview with TASS a year ago. “Russia and ASEAN plan to adopt an updated plan to combat terrorism in 2022,” he said adding, “We are acting in the format of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), as Russia cannot act separately from the other EAEU countries here.” Could you comment on this, especially in light of the recent UN vote on Russian “war reparations” to Ukraine, including the stance taken by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan? Armenia, which chairs the CSTO, also abstained from voting. How can this be explained?

Ivan Nechayev: Indeed, ASEAN is interested in expanding ties with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), with a solid foundation for this provided by the Memorandum of Understanding between the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) and ASEAN on Economic Cooperation signed in Singapore in 2018, as well as the corresponding Cooperation Programme planned until 2025. Contacts between the EAEU and ASEAN maintain positive dynamics despite the geopolitical turbulence, aggressive pressure and threats of secondary sanctions from the West. At the moment, we are discussing the beginning of negotiations on a free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Indonesia, which will complement similar documents signed with Vietnam in 2015 and with Singapore in 2019.

At the same time, I would like to emphasise that the dialogue on the EAEU platform is exclusively economic in nature; the five member countries are not discussing any political issues. The EAEU member states have a similar approach to building relations with ASEAN.

To answer your question, I will say that this clearly illustrates the fundamental difference between Russia and the collective West led by the United States in their approaches to building interaction with their partners and to international relations in general. Washington and its allies, who have long since lost the ability to conduct professional dialogue and reach compromises, are accustomed to achieving their goals through brute force. The scale of the opportunism practiced by the United States and its supporters is striking: for example, developing states that do not want to disrupt their mutually beneficial ties with Russia literally have their arms twisted to make them support odious anti-Russian initiatives. In Russia, our unfailing belief in the equality of all states and the unfading importance of true diplomacy keeps us from stooping so low as to dictate our will to anyone through overt pressure.

Russia remains strictly committed to the fundamental international legal norms set forth in the UN Charter. As you know, one of the most important principles it stipulates is the sovereign equality of states. According to the UN Charter, any country, regardless of size, resources or influence, has the right to independently determine its national interests and plan its foreign policy accordingly.

You mentioned a number of our colleagues in the EAEU, the CSTO and the CIS in the context of the legally null and void resolution adopted on November 14 by the 11th Extraordinary Special Session of the General Assembly that called on Russia to pay “war reparations” to Ukraine. True, those countries didn’t vote No, but they didn’t support that politicised initiative either. Moreover, 94 other countries did the same. Accordingly, more than half of the UN member states have shown reluctance to have anything to do with that Russophobic document. Obviously, this was not the result that the collective West was longing for.

Question: We would like to ask you about the Foreign Ministry’s attitude to recognising Ukraine as state sponsor of terrorism. A draft law to this effect has been submitted to the State Duma. Will it be adopted? Where does the ministry stand on that?

Ivan Nechayev: Regarding the initiative on recognising Ukraine as state sponsor of terrorism, we believe that all nuances and the national interests of the Russian Federation should be fully taken into consideration.

The recognition of Ukraine as state sponsor of terrorism would lead to a revision of our long-time position of rejecting the doctrine of state terrorism. In this context, we would like to note that several countries of the “collective West” are using such terms as “terrorist state,” “terrorist regime” and “state sponsor of terrorism” against the “undesirable” countries, which do not comply with their distorted views of democracy and human rights. And then they use these labels to legitimise unilateral restrictions contrary to the imperative principles of sovereign equality and non-interference in international affairs set out in the UN Charter.

It is not surprising that allegations of “state terrorism” are being used against Russia in the context of the hybrid war being waged by the West. However, we believe that it would be wrong to imitate the unacceptable approaches of hostile states, which would amount to acting upon the pseudo-legal concepts formulated in the West.

Question: Can you explain Ukraine’s logic in bombing its own cities?

Ivan Nechayev: The question about the cannibalistic logic of the Ukrainian authorities, which are bombing their own cities, is not for the ministry.

I would like to remind you that for eight years before the special military operation Kiev had mercilessly bombed Donbass cities, killing their own civilians. It would be unwise to expect the logic of the Kiev regime to change now. Non-humans cannot become humanists. There should be no illusion about that.

Question: A dramatic aggravation and the admission made by many popular politicians that we were facing a much worse disaster makes one wonder:

– What should Russian compatriots and citizens do if the state of emergency is adopted in their countries of residence?

– What will be the position of their minor children who are not Russian citizens?

– What should those who live hundreds of kilometres away from the capital or airports do?

– Can the granting of Russian citizenship be expedited for our compatriots (and their children) who wanted this for a long time but, unfortunately, in vain, in case things get worse with unpredictable consequences?

– Since the Russian diaspora is very large, should we appeal to other countries for mutual assistance to our citizens and compatriots in a critical situation? We are talking about civilians who have no relation to arising critical or dangerous situations.

Ivan Nechayev: In case of a crisis situation in the country of residence, we recommend Russian citizens take precautionary measures, show restraint and remain vigilant, avoid public places, stock up on food and basic necessities, as well as monitor the announcements made by the Russian Foreign Ministry and the nearest Russian consulates and the instructions of local emergency agencies. We recommend Russian citizens explore the best routes to evacuation sites or safer regions, depending on the situation on the ground.

We have spoken about the matter of Russian citizens many times during our briefings. The procedure is clearly set out in the relevant law. Those who want their children to have Russian citizenship should go to Russian consulates in the country of their residence.

International experience shows that assistance to our citizens in emergencies is usually provided promptly by agreement with local authorities. In addition, issues of mutual assistance and crisis response are at the top of our dialogue with the foreign ministries of other countries, primarily friendly countries. For example, there is the Agreement on Cooperation Among CIS Member States in Evacuating Their Citizens from Third Countries in the Event of Emergencies (dated April 12, 1996).

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Briefing by Deputy Director of the Foreign Ministry Information and Press Department Ivan Nechayev, Moscow, November 17, 2022

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