Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s greetings on Russian Language Day

Friends,

This June 6, we celebrate the 225th birthday of Alexander Pushkin, the great Russian poet. The UN Russian Language Day is observed on the same day.

Russian culture and science created their universally acclaimed masterpieces in the language which served as the mother tongue for Alexander Pushkin and Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Ivan Turgenev. The role the Russian language plays in terms of enabling people of various ethnic backgrounds to communicate internationally can hardly be underestimated. Today, over 250 million people speak this language around the world. The fact that various multilateral structures have designated Russian as their official or working language demonstrates just how relevant it is in today’s world. Russian Language Day has been listed in the UN’s International Days and Weeks calendar as part of the programme to promote multilingualism and cultural diversity.

The Russian language’s broad dissemination around the world, as well as our common past and far-reaching economic and people-to-people ties have come together to create a solid foundation for reinforcing integration processes across the Eurasian space. I would like to place a special emphasis on the establishment in October 2023 of an International Organisation for the Russian Language, which was proposed by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. All countries without exception are free to join it.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to civil society activists, our Russian compatriots living abroad and the many friends Russia has around the world for making their contribution to preserving a Russian-speaking space and promoting our Motherland’s cultural and historical heritage.

I am convinced that marking Russian Language Day, which is timed to coincide with the jubilee of our great poet, helps promote international cultural and educational cooperation and maintain an atmosphere of friendship and trust among nations.

SERGEY LAVROV