🎙 Opening remarks by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a meeting with leaders of non-profit organisations (Moscow, April 24, 2026)

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💬 Sergey Lavrov: President Putin repeatedly underscored that the world had entered an era of unprecedented change. Similar assessments have been made publicly by President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping. As President Putin has noted, in these turbulent circumstances, Russia, due to its history, geography, and civilisational identity, is playing a central role in these processes.

The collective West policy is posing the main threat to international peace and security. <...> Their strategic goal, we have no doubt about it, remains the same and is to dominate by any means, <...> and to preserve their hegemony for as long as possible, while containing the growth of new global centres and competitors in the #WorldMajority countries in #Asia, #Africa, and #LatinAmerica.

<...> In order to preserve their hegemony and to achieve these unseemly goals, illegal sanctions, plunder, the theft of other countries’ sovereign assets, blackmail, threats and, of course, the use of military force are employed, as we saw in Venezuela and now in Iran.

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👉 The West’s decades-long expansion into the Eurasian continent, primarily the regions where Russia has historically had strong influence and legitimate traditional interests is another major factor of global destabilisation. This persistent push, which in recent years has openly manifested itself in the slogan of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia, reflects a long-standing, indeed, as it now turns out, centuries-long strategy.

❗️ A war against us has been openly declared.

The Kiev regime is being used as the tip of the spear.

The Kiev regime and the Ukrainian state are being openly taken advantage of as a geopolitical battering ram. Some rather outspoken individuals, I believe in the Belgian General Staff, publicly stated that they were getting ready for war with Russia and that Ukraine was helping them buy time. As they say, they couldn’t be clearer.

The West — above all the international bureaucracy in Brussels (both EU and NATO, which are increasingly becoming one), as well as Berlin, Paris, and, of course, London — are attempting to demonise everything Russian and openly speak about gearing up for war with us in the foreseeable future.

Despite the difficult circumstances, we will continue to pursue our foreign policy and to defend our vital national interests, creating the most favourable foreing environment for our country’s sustainable development as a multi-ethnic sovereign state strengthening our sovereignty in all areas.

Our priorities include promoting equal and mutually beneficial partnerships with all those willing to cooperate on an equal footing, based on the universally recognised principles of the UN Charter — #UNCharterIsOurRules.

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We continue to believe — strength lies in truth.

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