Dear ladies and gentlemen,

We have received many requests for interviews from various media outlets asking to clarify Russia's position during my presence at the 69th session of the General Assembly. However, given that I will be staying only a limited time this year, I hope that this format of interaction with the media is ok with you.

This session of the UN General Assembly convenes against the backdrop of a very challenging situation. We are witnessing systemic issues, so it is crucial for us that those systemic challenges, both natural and artificial, take centre stage. This is about combatting terrorism. There is no doubt that it is important to combat the symptoms of this scourge, but at the same time we should not neglect its root causes, as well as well-intentioned actions that in reality aggravate the terrorist threat.

By the same token, we must not limit ourselves to fighting the symptoms when it comes to dealing with issues on the European continent, including the Ukrainian crisis. The crisis of the European security framework did not result from developments in Ukraine. On the contrary, the developments in Ukraine reflect the long-standing contradictions that have accumulating in the Euro-Atlantic since the declared end of the Cold War. Broad declarations were made proclaiming the equality and indivisibility of security of all European countries. But it played out differently in real life. NATO continued to expand, moving its military infrastructure to the east. As a result, the solemn pledges to make indivisibility of security the foundation of European architecture remained ink on paper.

Of course, we are concerned with many other issues. It is crucial that when addressing every specific issue that we pay attention to their underlying causes. Otherwise we'll always stumble upon the lack of common approaches to the systemic challenges that the global community faces. We are not alone in advocating such an approach to the work of UN General Assembly and the United Nations in general.

We received quite a positive feedback to the proposal put forward by Russia at a meeting of the UN Security Council that was chaired by US President Barack Obama. When adopting such documents as resolutions 2170 and 2178, we proposed to convene representative forums bringing together Middle Eastern and North African governments, permanent member of the UN Security Council and other interested countries to conduct a thorough system-wide analysis of the causes that gave birth to global terrorism and continue to feed it. The threat of global terrorism is relevant to all of us. I think that such a discussion would be quite useful. Many structures have been established within the UN for fighting terrorism, and they should be used efficiently.

I would also like to mention the situation in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya and Afghanistan. The Middle East and North Africa are facing multiple challenges. On top of the general objective to fight the terrorist threat, it is important to agree on ways to sustain peaceful political processes. Countries should resolve internal issues through broad national dialogue involving all political, ethnic and confessional groups. Attempts to impose settlement scenarios inspired from abroad on any state should be excluded. I won't elaborate on any recent examples that provide further evidence that such attempts to settle a crisis at one's sole discretion while ignoring the situation in the country in question, fail to bring about lasting and sustainable solutions.

In conclusion, I can't fail to mention the Ebola virus. We must be united in addressing this issue. Russia actively supported the UN Secretary General position and his proposal on the international community's response to this threat. Russia is committed to contributing to international efforts in this respect. We have already sent assistance and medical staff to Guinea and are preparing to do the same with respect to Sierra Leon.

Three days ago, during his statement at the UN General Assembly, Ban Ki-moon called for strict compliance with the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. I think the fact that these principles should always be respected is evident, and in this case it is worth reiterating it.

Question: What does your country feel is Russia's role in the coalition to fight ISIS? What was your President's view of President Obama singling out Russia on Ukraine?

Sergey Lavrov: As for the coalition that is being formed, your question is phrased as if Russia has already joined the coalition. We are combatting terrorism continuously and consistently, regardless of any broad statements on the creation of coalitions. This is not a new idea for us.

Regarding the specific threats posed by the so-called Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda and other radical extremist and terrorist groups, Russia proactively and consistently assists the countries of the region that face such threats. This goes for the deliveries of Russian arms at the request of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Egypt and other countries in the region. We strongly believe that we should strengthen the ability of these states to overcome security threats, including the threat of terrorism.

We are satisfied that many other countries are now paying special attention to the objective to step up efforts to combat terrorism. We believe that any actions on the international arena, and particularly the use of force, including suppression of terrorist threats by force, should be taken in accordance with international law and be subject to the consent of the countries where such operations take place. This is an evident truth, and I think it would be hard to argue otherwise. It is important to start working in such a format, I'm talking about Syria, even if such actions have already been taken. This serves our common interests. Excluding the Syrian government from the fight against terrorism on Syria's own territory runs counter to international law and undermines the efficiency of the work, to say the least. Let us not repeat the mistakes that were made when convening a peace conference on the Syrian crisis. Back then, Iran was not invited for ideological reasons. Can a serious discussion be held against such a backdrop? I don't think so. In terms of international law, for pragmatic reasons and based on common sense an inclusive approach should be used so that all who can contribute to overcoming this challenge can work on the same team.

As for your question on the statement by President Obama that Russia is second only to the Ebola outbreak as a major threat along with terrorism, I don't think that the global community currently shares this perspective on the Russian Federation.

To be continued...