Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to media questions at a joint news conference with Foreign Minister of the Republic of Serbia Marko Djuric following talks, Moscow, February 17, 2025

Ladies and gentlemen,

We are delighted to welcome to Moscow Foreign Minister of Serbia Marko Djuric and his delegation. We held candid and trust-based talks, as we always do when we communicate with our Serbian friends.

Cooperation between Serbia and Russia is making strides systematically across all key areas. Importantly, our partners in Belgrade have not joined the sanctions campaign unleashed against the Russian Federation by the West. They are aware of the root causes that forced us into launching the special military operation after years of issuing warnings. We appreciate Serbia’s balanced and sovereign foreign policy which is based on its national interest, and believe that it is the key to successful bilateral relations as we move forward.

We operate through a number of mechanisms for expanding our ties. The Intergovernmental Russian-Serbian Committee on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation stands out as the most important of them. Its latest meeting took place in St Petersburg in November 2024. Its co-chairs met on February 4 in Moscow to review a wide array of topics, such as giving an extra boost to trade and economic cooperation, and expanding trade, which slightly contracted in the first 10 months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. In addition to trade and economic plans, investment, and cooperation in technology, they discussed cultural and humanitarian projects and cooperation in nuclear medicine. Quite an extensive range of topics, as you can see.

They discussed in detail energy cooperation. Russia is Serbia’s largest supplier of natural gas and meets up to 85 percent of its needs for gas. We have never once failed our Serbian friends in anything. We have always reliably supplied Serbia with energy.

Certain quarters in the West find our legitimate and mutually beneficial cooperation objectionable. They are not giving up attempts to re-align the market, as they resort to unfair competition methods and press ahead with the policies that most of the EU countries have adopted, such as pushing out cheap, accessible and reliable Russian gas in an attempt to replace it with US-made liquefied natural gas marketed at much higher prices. European leaders are already broaching this subject.

Today, we are facing a situation where those who are accustomed to unfair competition practices are trying to use restrictive measures to hopple Serbian Oil Industry, a joint Russian-Serbian enterprise and a flagship of the Serbian economy. It is literally being forced into giving up cooperation with the Russian investor. Considering this, we have come to an agreement with our Serbian friends where we would continue working as a team in order to keep our common interests out of harm’s way.

We have reiterated our commitment to expanding ties in other areas as well. We will be opening new areas of cooperation in healthcare, innovation and high technology, each of which has seen a robust legal and regulatory framework developed in recent years. We have reiterated our willingness to deepen cooperation, with account taken of the Republic of Serbia’s ambitious plans to modernise its transport and other infrastructure in connection with the specialised EXPO exhibition, which Belgrade will host in 2027.

Great emphasis was placed on discussing a date that is of great importance for all of us, namely, the 80th anniversary of Great Victory. On May 9, Moscow will host celebratory events with the attendance of high-ranking foreign guests. The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic has confirmed his attendance. We are grateful for the excellent hospitality accorded to Russian representatives during their visit to Belgrade on October 20, 2024, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of liberation of the Serbian capital from Nazi invaders.

We will continue working to preserve common cultural and spiritual heritage. We have agreed to further deepen humanitarian cooperation ties. Last year, the 5th Russian-Serbian Cultural Forum was successfully held in Belgrade. Russia Today TV channel broadcasts in Serbia to an audience of over 1.5 million viewers. Its coverage extends to Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, since a new TV channel RT Balkan went live in December 2024.

The Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Centre (RSHC) in the town of Nis is successfully operating. It opened in 2012 and has since then provided, on multiple occasions, effective recovery efforts during natural disasters and other emergencies. The ongoing, with the participation of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, construction at the Centre of a new training ground outfitted with Russian equipment will soon complete. Once completed, the RSHC will be a one-of-the-kind regional platform for training civil defence specialists.

We discussed regional and international priorities. On the world stage, in conjunction with our Serbian friends, we are guided by the principles of the UN Charter which we apply consistently. We stand for creating a more just and equitable world order, and implementing in practice the fundamental principle of sovereign equality of states, which is enshrined in Article 1 of the UN Charter. We discussed practical aspects of joint work on other multilateral platforms as well.

We reaffirmed Russia’s willingness to assist in protecting the legitimate rights of Serbia with regard to Kosovo. We will advocate prioritising this issue at the UN Security Council. We stand with our Serbian friends in that UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which is of fundamental importance for Kosovo settlement, remains fully valid and relevant.

We discussed the situation in southeastern Europe. In a broader context, we support the Serbian leadership’s policy of building constructive and neighbourly relations with all Balkan countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, with regard to which it is imperative to strictly implement the Dayton Accords approved by the World Majority.

We believe that this policy pursued by Belgrade is the most important factor behind maintaining regional stability. Today, we have reaffirmed our position, that our Ministry and the Russian leadership have repeatedly made clear, to support the efforts of the Serbian leadership and President Vucic to prevent destabilisation of the situation in that country. He cited specific facts of gross interference by foreign countries in Serbia’s domestic political processes. We condemn such practices and insist that the principles of non-interference in internal affairs be strictly adhered to by all, first and foremost, by our Western colleagues, who have long been trying to use publicly funded NGOs, including the USAID funds, to destabilise the situation in the countries where they want to have more influence going their way and to ignore the core interests of the peoples of the countries in question.

I’m satisfied with the outcomes of the talks. Minister Djuric and I agreed to maintain communication and to be in touch on as-needed basis.

Question: According to the Kremlin, following the instructions of President Putin, you are heading to Riyadh to take part in Russia-US talks.

Sergey Lavrov: That is true.

Question: What are your expectations for these talks?

Sergey Lavrov: Whenever we go to talks at the suggestion of our partners, our priority is to listen to what they have to tell us.

When President Putin and President Trump spoke by telephone, they agreed it was imperative to put behind the period of abnormal relations between the two great powers during which we, in fact, did not communicate except on isolated technical or humanitarian issues. The presidents agreed that it was important to resume the dialogue on all issues that could be addressed with the participation of Russia and the United States. The Ukraine settlement, the situation in the Middle East, and a number of other regions around the world that are in a state of turmoil were mentioned as well.

We will listen to what our US dialogue partners have to say. We will be ready to respond and to report back to our respective leaders, who will decide on further steps.

Question: Can you confirm Russia’s participation in the EXPO? What is the importance of taking part in that event for Russia?

Sergey Lavrov: Today we have gratefully accepted the invitation to take part in EXPO 2027 in Belgrade. Foreign Minister of Serbia Marko Duric has reaffirmed the invitation. I am going to hold him to his promise to assign the best area in central Belgrade to the Russian pavilion.

We wish our Serbia brothers success in hosting that important and meritorious event.

Question: Could you comment on the results of the Munich Security Conference? What has caused the hysterical statements by Western leaders, who insisted that the EU must take part in the talks on Ukraine?

Sergey Lavrov: I can only say about the results of the Munich conference that everyone must be held responsible for their actions. When you violate justice for years, stamping on your own principles of equality, fair competition, presumption of innocence, inviolability of property, freedom of speech and information, when all these principles are mercilessly trampled underfoot, others’ assets are plundered contrary to the norms of international law, and the Nazi Kiev regime is nurtured and supplied with weapons for killing its own citizens, this will not go unpunished. They did that in the hope of escaping scot-free under a nuclear umbrella. But this will not happen. You will receive what is due for what you have done, as the Bible says.

As for these countries’ striving to take part in the talks on Ukraine, they had this opportunity many times before.

In February 2014, the EU, in particular France and Germany, signed an agreement between President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and the armed opposition, guaranteeing its implementation. The agreement provided for creating a transition national unity government and holding early [presidential] elections. The process would have only taken five or six months, but the opposition trampled down on the agreement next morning.

We appealed to its guarantors, the European neighbours – Germany and France. They shyly replied that what happened, happened. Democracy sometimes takes unusual forms in the course of its development. That was their first chance.

Their second chance was the Minsk agreements. The leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine spent over 17 hours checking every comma in a document on the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis through granting a special status to a certain area in Donbass as part of the integral Ukrainian state. That plan was unanimously approved in a UN Security Council resolution.

But the Ukrainian party violated that agreement within days of signing it. Instead of a ceasefire and troop withdrawal, it bombed Donbass. Instead of restoring the economic integrity of Ukraine, it imposed a water blockade on Crimea, and so on. Later, when Mme Merkel and Mr Hollande “retired” and spoke with journalists more freely, they openly admitted that they never planned to honour anything. They said that they only needed time to arm Ukraine. These were their chances.

They have made new calls at the Munich conference. For example, President of Finland Alexander Stubb, a close neighbour that was once a neutral state and called “for everything good and against everything bad,” stated that what they needed was a ceasefire, which they would use to build up Ukraine’s military.

So, the Europeans’ “philosophy” has not changed. That is why I do not know why they should sit at the negotiating table. Why should they be invited if they will try to push through crafty schemes such as a ceasefire, while hatching plans, as they like and usually do, for continuing the war?

Question: The European parliament’s draft law on Serbia calls against relaunching RT Balkan. How does this relate to its attitude to Serbia and, in a broader sense, to European values?

Sergey Lavrov: Regarding the European parliament’s stance against the relaunching of RT Balkan, first, that television channel has been relaunched.

We are grateful to the relevant Serbian agencies and authorities for their assistance in settling this problem.

Second, regarding the European parliament’s argument that the channel’s operation would contradict European values, you can find the answer in the minutes of the Munich conference, in particular, the statement made by US Vice President JD Vance.

Question (retranslated from English): The Trump Administration has made it clear that in order to achieve a lasting peace and a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, both sides will have to make enormous concessions and compromises. Considering this, what territories is Russia ready to give up?

Sergey Lavrov: Are you talking about Denmark and Greenland?

Compromises were reached more than once during the Ukraine crisis, primarily thanks to the efforts of the Russian side.

There was an agreement on achieving a settlement after the Maidan protests in February 2014. At that time, Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland discussed with the US ambassador to Ukraine the names of the government members to be appointed after the coup. Back then, in 2014, she designated the place that the United States had assigned to the European Union when it comes to deciding the future of Ukraine. Remember? A compromise was reached, and the morning after (I just mentioned this) the opposition carried out a bloody coup in violation of every existing agreement.

The second compromise was known as the Minsk agreements approved by the UN Security Council. They became more than a compromise, but an international law. It too was trampled on, primarily by the Ukrainian junta and Berlin and Paris who acted as guarantors of the Minsk agreements. They have openly admitted this.

The United States was watching the unfolding developments contentedly from across the ocean, as it supplied arms to the Kiev regime and supported it in every way.

We were close to strike a compromise in Istanbul in April 2022. President Putin spoke about it in detail many times.

It is still unclear which US representative from among those who are discussing ways to deal with the Ukraine crisis will get President Trump’s mandate  to discuss Ukraine on behalf of the White House. They are also talking about compromises. It all sounds like a scientific dispute like the one we saw at the Munich Conference.

Indeed, they are now talking about territorial concessions. President Putin encourages everyone to look back at the past. Territorial concessions to what is now called Ukraine were made by the Soviet leadership at the time when the Soviet Union was formed. Vast swaths of land that had been developed by the Russians for centuries, where cities, factories, and ports had been built and manufacturing industry and agriculture had been developed were made part of the Ukrainian SSR for reasons that President Putin mentioned on multiple occasions. All of that was done on the assumption that the ideals of brotherhood, justice and equality would be respected by the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic as well as by all other Soviet republics.

It worked just fine up to a certain point. The Ukrainian people contributed to our common Great Victory, Victory of all Soviet peoples over Nazi Germany, but then something went awry. The nationalist sentiment was brewing in Ukraine, first quietly and then quite openly, especially after the Soviet Union crumbled and ceased to exist.

This nationalist, to the point of being Nazi Banderite, sentiment of those who collaborated with Nazi invaders grew stronger. People were not so shy about openly expressing it. This sentiment was becoming part of public consciousness. Work was underway to recruit supporters and to create clandestine and later overt combat formations, which flaunted SS division insignia.

Ultimately, emboldened by the US administration, these forces carried out the coup in 2014. First thing they did was they announced their plans to abolish the status of the Russian language. When people in Crimea and Donbass said, “Don’t touch us, and we won’t touch you, even though you grabbed power illegally, just leave us be,” they were declared terrorists and a war was unleashed against them with the use of the army, aviation, artillery, and tanks. Numerous international conventions and treaties prohibit the use of the army against one’s own people in internal conflicts.

The coup did take place. We tried to avert the tragedy of the Ukrainian people (you are aware of the Minsk agreements), but failed. Petr Poroshenko and Vladimir Zelensky came to power as “presidents of peace.” They lied to their people and keep lying to this day. If you go over what those who work with Zelensky and call themselves “the Government of Ukraine”, “Office of the President” have to say, you will see words like “sub-humans,” “Rusnya,” “species ”or“ they should be killed.” Ukrainian officials, such as former Ambassador of Ukraine to Kazakhstan Petr Vrublevsky, said on camera that their main goal was to kill as many Russians as possible, so that their children have less “work” to do.

Long before the special military operation, Zelensky, in an August 2021 interview, when asked how he felt about Ukrainians who are steeped in Russian culture and history, said they had no future. He also said that if they really feel part of Russian culture, they should, for the sake of the future of their children and grandchildren, make off to Russia.

The Ukrainian armed forces are acting even worse than Hitler’s murderers. Look at the atrocities they are committing in the territories. With these Nazi attitudes on display, do you expect anyone to even discuss the issue of ceding territories? How should we cede them? With or without the Russian people? Should we just leave the rare-earth metals there and go?

There are people out there who have ideas about the United States helping achieve the settlement. We agree that assistance of that may well be provided, especially since the United States has played a major role in the Ukraine crisis from day one. I mentioned earlier that then Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland formed the putschist government several days before the coup.

If we are serious about diplomacy, we’d be better off if we first look into the roots of the issue and see why the Russian language was banned in Ukraine in all spheres of life, why the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church is banned there (this represents a gross violation of numerous conventions and Article 1 of the UN Charter), and why none of the numerous initiatives that came to us from different parts of the world mentions the human rights enshrined in the UN Charter. The only thing they are saying is that territorial concessions must be made. Why? To have Russians in these territories destroyed the way they are being destroyed now in the Kursk Regions and elsewhere in the Russian Federation? I will probably leave it at that.

Question: So, you don’t think territorial compromises are possible?

Sergey Lavrov: I just answered that question.

Maria Zakharova: We’ll have it translated in English for him. It may be a language issue.