�� Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to media questions at a joint news conference following talks with Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Kenya Musalia Mudavadi (Moscow, March 16, 2026)

Key points:

• I have held substantive and beneficial talks with my Kenyan counterpart Musalia Mudavadi. <...> We reaffirmed mutual commitment to promoting political dialogue and spoke in favour of expanding practical bilateral projects.

#RussiaKenya: We highlighted energy (including nuclear energy), telecommunications, agriculture, and geological exploration and mining, as well as advanced technologies, including space exploration, as promising areas of cooperation.

• We reiterated our support for enhancing Africa’s role in international affairs, including in decision-making on key items on the global agenda, including within the UN and its Security Council.

• We shared our assessments of the state of affairs in the Middle East in connection with the armed aggression of the United States and Israel against Iran, and the deep crisis besetting Palestine. There is no sign of improvement in sight.

• We also stressed the importance of an immediate cessation of any actions in the confrontation between the United States and Israel against Iran that harm civilians and civilian infrastructure.

***

From the Q&A session:

❓ Question: Moscow is ready and willing to act as a mediator to achieve peaceful resolution of the conflict in the Middle East. What risks to global security could hostilities in this region pose if they are not halted? How might they affect the stability of global energy markets?

�� Sergey Lavrov: The plotters of the strikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran (as was the case in June 2025, the strikes were launched during talks) assumed they would achieve their objective of making that country completely subservient to them within 24 or even fewer hours. They now know how mistaken they were.

Of course, Iran is defending itself. It is responding to aggression by striking military infrastructure in the region that belongs to the countries that attacked it. Unfortunately, the GCC countries are also affected as a result.

We call for an end to hostilities and for a return to the negotiating table, if talks have any credibility left.

<...>

I’d be hard pressed to say anything definitive about the prospects of this conflict. Recently, US President Donald Trump stated that Iran had been defeated. On the same day, a representative of the Israel Defence Forces said: “We have thousands of targets ahead. We are ready, with plans through at least the Jewish holiday of Passover, about three weeks from now.”

So, it’s hard to tell what this crisis may end with if the sides don’t stop it immediately, do not come to their senses, and do not start working on agreements that, this time, will not be thwarted by anyone.

❗️ There’s need for guarantees. I fully understand that Iran needs them.

Read in full

#RussiaKenya