Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement at a joint news conference following talks with Foreign Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Jeenbek Kulubaev, Cholpon-Ata, June 29, 2025

Mr Kulubaev,

Colleagues,

I would like to begin by saying the words of deep gratitude for inviting me to visit Kyrgyzstan on an official visit which is taking place at Lake Issyk-Kul rightfully considered the jewel of the Republic and all of Eurasia.

I met with President Sadyr Japarov to discuss matters that are usually reviewed at the level of heads of state to outline strategic areas of cooperation. President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov saw each other in Moscow on May 9 during the celebration of our common Victory over Nazi invaders, a victory made possible by all the peoples of the Soviet Union. Today, we noted in particular the contribution of the Kyrgyz SSR.

We agreed to jointly combat the distortion of history and bring up the younger generation in the spirit of respect and loyalty to the memory of their heroic forefathers.

Today, I also had a meeting with Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan Jeenbek Kulubaev for substantive narrow-format discussions followed by a meeting with the participation of the delegation members. We had an in-depth discussion of the entire range of Russian-Kyrgyz interaction in the context of the goals set by the presidents and outlined plans for expanding it. We look forward to reporting the proposals that we had agreed upon to our respective heads of state.

As my colleague and friend pointed out, very soon, on July 27, we will be marking the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration on Eternal Friendship, Alliance, and Partnership between the Russian Federation and the Kyrgyz Republic. We will mark this anniversary properly by holding special events which, I’m sure, will be warmly received by the citizens of our respective countries.

We reviewed trade, economic, and investment cooperation, in which Russia is among Kyrgyzstan’s leading partners. As of late 2024, growth exceeded 22 percent, and trade in 2024 grew significantly to $4 billion. The heads of state have set the goal of taking this figure to $5 billion.

We noted in particular that the share of national currencies in payments for mutual export and import transactions has reached 98 percent. Russian direct investment in that country’s economy is growing, with Russia being one of the leading investors in the economy of Kyrgyzstan.

We welcomed the important coordinating role of the Intergovernmental Russian-Kyrgyz Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, and Humanitarian Cooperation. Its 26th session will be held in Kyrgyzstan this year.

We discussed enhancing cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, primarily education. Both sides emphasised the importance of launching a major joint project initiated by the presidents to build nine comprehensive schools in Kyrgyzstan with instruction provided in Russian. The project will be funded from the Russian budget. We reiterated mutual commitment to the earliest possible modernisation of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University named after first President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin, including the construction of a new campus. The actual work will start soon.

We discussed labour migration as well. Many widely attended and substantive meetings on this matter have been held over the past couple of weeks, including the Deputy Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan’s visit to the Russian Federation to participate in substantive consultations with the participation of the Interior Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Digital Development of Russia.

We attach great importance to making sure that foreign citizens residing in our country comply with the rules of stay and take timely actions to keep in line with the regulations governing their legal status based on the relevant EAEU provisions and domestic regulations outlined in the Presidential Executive Order, which entered into force in January 2025.

We are interested in having more labour migrants in our country, and you are well aware of it. Our Kyrgyz friends also have an interest in ensuring that people who come to work in the Russian Federation feel comfortable here. To achieve this, everyone must regulate their legal status which can be done if they follow the EAEU and Russia’s regulations.

We reviewed international issues as well. Our positions on most issues overlap or are close. We strive to achieve universal respect for and strict adherence to all principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interconnection. We will continue to coordinate our actions within the CIS, the CSTO, the EAEU, and the SCO, as well as other platforms.

We provided a positive assessment of our cooperation within the Central Asia - Russia format, and expressed gratitude to President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov and Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev for the detailed information about Bishkek’s current efforts as part of its CSTO chairmanship.

Russia provides every bit of assistance its allies may need. We stand ready to support our Kyrgyz friends during their upcoming SCO chairmanship which starts in September 2025. Kyrgyzstan’s watch in the SCO will coincide with another big date, the 25th anniversary of this organisation. We share the view that it is essential to consolidate our efforts in fighting terrorism and extremism. We had a substantive discussion on strengthening security in Central Asia and the broader Eurasian region.

We drew our colleagues’ attention to Russia’s initiative on forming a Greater Eurasian Partnership to serve as the socioeconomic foundation for efforts to establish equal and indivisible security architecture in Eurasia. We view these processes grow and expand based on close ties among various integration associations operating on our common continent, including the EAEU, the CIS, ASEAN, and the SCO, and a number of other regional organisations that are increasingly present in the international arena.

Among international issues, particular attention was paid to the situation in the Near East and the Middle East, the Palestinian issue, and the developments surrounding Iran. We expressed gratitude to our friends for their balanced and objective position regarding what is happening around the efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict. We are convinced that in order to find a robust solution, the root causes of the crisis must be eliminated, as President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly emphasised. First and foremost, this means eliminating security threats to Russia that arose in the wake of NATO’s eastward expansion and the attempts to draw Kiev into the North Atlantic Alliance, with plans to establish military infrastructure directed against the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

It is equally important to stop the Kiev regime’s criminal activity aimed at outlawing everything Russian, including the rights of Russian and Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine that are guaranteed by that country’s Constitution, but have been legislatively eradicated in part concerning the Russian language across all levels of education, in the media, culture, and many other areas.

Considering this, we are astounded to hear the mantras coming from the European capitals. Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz co-authored an article stating that Europe must arm itself, that Russia is the main threat, and that it wages imperialist wars invading Georgia in 2008, Crimea and Donbass in 2014, and Ukraine in 2022, and that Vladimir Putin’s goal is to undermine European security. I think the above quotes are more than enough for anyone with even a minimal understanding of what is happening in Europe and who follows the events to realise that these figures are completely out of touch with reality and these leaders are openly trying to return to the times when France and Germany sought to conquer all of Europe, primarily the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. It is sad to see them go back to those instincts.

Particularly unacceptable is the recent statement by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said that Ukraine must be made strong and that one must not fall for Russian “tricks” such as calls for talks, because otherwise, Europe would be repeating the experience of the 1930s when the leading European powers tried to appease the aggressor in the form of Nazi Germany. That’s quite a comparison to make by someone who wants to be taken seriously as the Chancellor of the Federal Republic.

I don’t recall the German language ever been banned in the Czech Republic, Poland, or any other European country that was invaded by Nazi Germany. Nor was German culture banned or monuments to Goethe, Schiller, or Kant torn down. That didn’t happen. The fact that Mr Merz has confused things looks like a serious matter to me, and continuing conversation with Europe without proper clarifications is pointless. The German Nazis and the Ukrainian neo-Nazis share one common trait which is how they treat those they seek to subjugate. The Nazis burned Jews simply because they were Jews. Ukrainian neo-Nazis burned Russians in Odessa on May 2, 2014 simply because they were Russian. I suggest that Chancellor Merz reflect on these parallels.

As President Putin recently made clear, we will by all means continue to pursue a just settlement in Ukraine and to remain open to a candid dialogue. But we are not going to be drawn into dishonest schemes some European leaders are trying to drag us into.

We will keep close cooperation between our foreign ministries. During the official visit of Foreign Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Jeenbek Kulubaev’s visit to Russia in January, we signed a Cooperation Programme between our respective foreign ministries for 2025-2027 which is being implemented.

Thank you for the warm welcome and, as always, for a candid dialogue that is based on trust.