EMBASSY INFORMS
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions at a news conference on the results of Russian diplomacy in 2018 Moscow, January 16, 2019 Question: How would you comment on the Daily Telegraph publications alleging that British authorities have established full details of the assassination attempt of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and describing their current life in England?
Answer: We are dealing with yet another media leak, unofficial and unverifiable. It provides no new facts on the Salisbury incident, let alone evidence. The circumstances of the incident remain as confusing as ever. Question: How would you comment on Jeremy Hunt’s speech in Singapore, in which he named Russia’s actions on the international arena as the prime example of a threat to the rules-based international system? Answer: Such rhetoric of British officials is not new. It again combines manipulation of international norms with distortion of facts. As stated repeatedly, Russia does not accept the concept of a “rules-based international system”. The international order is based on international law, i.e. legally binding norms that have been agreed on and accepted by all states. By substituting “international law” with obscure “rules”, the UK and other Western countries aim to shed the responsibility for their unlawful behaviour, while assuming the right to randomly blame other countries of breaking “rules” to which they had never signed up. Question: How could you comment on the statements by the UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in a “Sky News” interview on President Assad’s future and the role of Russia in the Syrian peace settlement? Answer: We have taken note of Mr Hunt saying that “regretfully” Bashar al-Assad “is going to be around for a while and that is because of the support that he’s had from Russia” and “Russia may think that it’s gained a sphere of influence [but] you’ve also gained a responsibility”. Question: What is the main outcome of the year for you?
Sergey Lavrov: It is difficult to highlight something specific. If we speak about foreign policy, I cannot make an evaluation myself. We have tried to do everything that is necessary in order to fulfill the instructions of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, to implement the foreign political course set by him. It is not for me to judge how successful we were. This should be left to the people to decide, of course, and to the leadership of the Russian Federation. Question: Could you comment on the statement by Ambassador Yakovenko regarding the forthcoming restoration of the number of Russian and British diplomats, which was subsequently denied by the UK Foreign Office? Answer: We saw the rebuttal by the British side. Here are the facts. In December Russia and the UK have, for the first time since March, issued a number of visas for future employees of the diplomatic missions of the two countries, on the basis of reciprocity. Question: How would you comment on Theresa May thanking the UK Armed Forces for “protecting our waters and our skies from Russian intrusion” in her Christmas Message? Answer: We were utterly surprised by the Prime Minister’s rhetoric. An uninitiated reader may fall under the impression that Russia has made attempts to violate the UK air space or territorial waters. This has never happened. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with the international news agency Rossiya Segodnya, December 24, 2018 Question: Today’s publication by the “Times” contains personal information of 8 employees of the Sputnik bureau in Edinburgh, as well as calls to seize their assets in UK as belonging to the“Kremlin propaganda machine” by Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP. How can you comment on that?
Answer: Despite being a member of an opposition party, Mr Cole-Hamilton seems to understand intimately the political strategy of the Conservative Government towards Russian media in the UK. Pressure from all sides, ranking from ungrounded accusations to visa and banking problems is the new reality. Few opportunities to hinder the work of our media in the UK have been missed, in defiance of the UK international obligations and the civilized rules of media freedom. Question: How do you assess the UK Government position regarding the creation of so-called “national army” of Kosovo? Answer: The decision by Pristina to transform the Kosovo Security Force into full-fledged “armed forces” is a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which is the fundamental international legal act defining the modalities of the Kosovo settlement. Let me remind you that the resolution only allows the deployment of only international contingents in Kosovo. Question: How would you comment on the United States’ new sanctions against a number of Russian nationals, including those allegedly involved in the Salisbury incident?
Answer: We have not been surprised by such a decision as the US government has been following the policy of unlawful sanctions against many nations, including Russia, for a long time. In the absence of any official information regarding the British investigation into the Salisbury incident, Washington continues to exploit the alleged poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal to press on with their sanctions campaign. This is not the first occasion when the United States makes decisions in the context of the Salisbury case regardless of whether any updates on the investigation have been made publicly available. The only logical explanation for this fact is that Washington may have played the leading part in orchestrating this entire provocation. Question: How would you comment on the publication by “Bloomberg” claiming that Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the UK would adopt a strategy it had not used since the Cold War to combat the threat from Russia? Answer: In this particular case the media have referred to a statement that Mr Williamson did not actually make. However, this whole situation shows that a certain part of the British establishment is determined to treat Russia as its main adversary for the years to come. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda, Moscow, December 17, 2018 Question: BBC has admitted that its correspondent was specifically searching for facts of “Russian meddling” during the riots in Paris upon the instructions of her superiors. How could you comment on this? Answer: It is indeed noteworthy that instead of independent impartial journalism BBC employees are instructed to find at any cost “facts” in support of a certain interpretation of events. As the saying goes, if facts do not correspond to the editorial policy, too bad for them. Such behaviour by BBC, which is mainly financed by British taxpayers, ought to be assessed by the British public and the regulating authorities. It may also be of interest for OSCE. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey as guarantors of the Astana format held the trilateral meeting and consultations with the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Syria Mr. Staffan de Mistura in Geneva on 18 December 2018.
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