EMBASSY INFORMS
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In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 18 July 2019 No. 347, starting from 1 October 2019 electronic visas are introduced for visiting Saint Petersburg and its surrounding region (Leningradskaya Oblast). E-visas may be obtained online at http://electronic-visa.kdmid.ru/.
What comes to my mind now is briefings by Mark Lowcock on, say, Yemen or Libya, where both the tone and presentation are completely different from those at briefings on Syria. Don’t you have the same feeling? It is not the first time such a thing comes to my mind.
As usual, today we heard another portion of invectives against Syria and Russia. Colleagues spouted figures, quotes and emotional testimonies. By the way, we know the price of some of those emotional testimonies. We remember leading Western Media, e.g. “New York Times”, inflate the tragedy of a Syrian boy Omran Daqneesh from Aleppo. However, after Eastern Aleppo had been liberated, this turned out to have been a staged episode. Later on, the boy’s parents confirmed this. Today my British colleague accused Russia of mocking at the Security Council. I do not intend to turn this meeting into a contest (by the way, I do not know what exactly she held for a mockery), but we remember a mockery at the Security Council that comes from those countries who are used to blaming Russia for everything.
Q: How would you comment on the statement made by the Foreign Office spokesperson regarding the detention of participants of the unauthorised rally in Moscow on 27 July?
A.: It is our understanding that our British colleagues have made no attempt to objectively assess the situation. In this regard we would like to point out that the rally in Moscow city centre was illegal. The people detained in its course committed a number of offences.
Question: How do you asses the EU visa restrictions imposed on Crimean residents?
Answer: A number of Western countries, not only the EU, continue their attempts to punish residents of Crimea for their will for self-determination expressed in a referendum in 2014. We consider these actions as a violation of fundamental personal rights of the Russian citizens living on the Crimean peninsula, particularly their inalienable right to freedom of movement. It runs contrary to the international standards in the human rights sphere, usually so jealously defended by European representatives.
The BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting has just ended. Its results are presented in the joint statement which was adopted and is being spread. I will emphasise several points which I think are important.
First, all the BRICS members expressly confirmed their commitment to the principles of international law, the goals and principles of the UN Charter, its central role in matters of peace, security and development. This statement has been worded very clearly, and bears special significance now when all principles of international law are under pressure from those who would like to replace them with some sort of rules. We had an informal and very straightforward conversation about that. We have a shared understanding that universally approved norms and principles of international law must not be allowed to fade away, especially those, as I have said, that are enshrined in the UN Charter.
At the outset, let me express gratitude to Jamila Afghani for her frank statement. Dear Jamila, we know too well, that when we help women, we help the entire Afghanistan. We are also thankful to our brave UN women, who stand at the helm of this global organization – First Under-Secretary-General A.Mohammed and Under-Secretary General R.DiCarlo – for their reports. It is very important that you visited Afghanistan and obtained first-hand experience. Your visit to Afghanistan, as well as the Security Council country visit to this State in January 2018 reiterated that the situation in the country remained not just complicated, but critical.
Heinous acts of terror (that take place i.a. in Kabul) concuss the country; casualties among civilians, (i.a. women and children) become more frequent. The toll among the Afghani military and police forces, whose selflessness in fight against terror we recognize and highly appreciate, is also growing. There is a need for coordinated measures to counter this malicious trend.
Q: After the incidents in Salisbury and Amesbury a group of countries, including Russia, are making proposals to update the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) control lists. How would you comment on the issue?
A: Unfortunately, the situation remains complicated. After Russia had been groundlessly accused in using “Novichok” nerve agent in Salisbury and Amesbury, we presented a set of proposals on updating the CWC control lists to the OPCW Technical Secretariat in order to make it more relevant and effective. The Russian initiative shows a much more complex and comprehensive approach than the Western one (proposed by the US, Canada and the Netherlands) as it suggests that all the “families” of chemicals related to the so-called “Novichoks” should be included into the control lists.
The 5th Russian-British Business Forum is due to take place on 27 November 2019 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London.
Question: How would you comment on the publications in British media regarding allegedly Russian and Syrian airstrikes on Maarat al-Numaan in the Syrian province of Idlib? Answer: We took note of further farfetched allegations in British media and would like to advise that these publications do not hold up to close scrutiny, as they are based on the information from anonymous representatives of the notorious White Helmets organization, which is financed by the US and UK.
Question: Mr Lavrov, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you. Cuba has long been considered a closed-off country, but, for Russia, it opened before and is opening now unlike for any other country. However, the Spanish-language RT channel is part of an open network in many Latin American countries, but not in the friendly nation of Cuba. How important is media presence on the island for Russia? What can be done in this regard?
Sergey Lavrov: I wouldn’t say that Cuba was a closed-off country. Europeans and Canadians have long enjoyed vacationing in Cuba and continue to do so. Americans have visited Cuba and, similar to many Russians, enjoyed vacationing there until completely unreasonable bans were introduced.
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