🇷🇺Sergey LavrovRussian Federation · UNGA 81 speech

Mr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, over the last few days, Over the last week, from the rostrum and in the corridors of the General Assembly, the following idea was heard many times: There are tectonic shifts underway in global politics. A fairer, multipolar world order is emerging before our very eyes. The countries of the global South and East are asserting themselves as sovereign centers of development. They're taking responsibility for ensuring security in their own regions. They're demonstrating a commitment to international law. They're refuting external pressure. They're showing interest in the prosperity of all states, not just a select few. Such a constructive philosophy is also the basis for Russia's foreign policy. and it is supported by our countless friends. It is the bedrock of cooperation at the CIS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BRICS, and in other global majority fora. Yet this is not to everyone's liking. The Western minority, which dominated for 500 years thanks to others' resources, continues to try to maintain its privileges and to impose its own rules on everyone else. The West continues to use brute force, to act unpredictably, to engage in all sorts of ventures, putting at risk the life and prosperity of millions, if not billions, of people on our planet. As President Putin said, the dictatorship of one hegemon is spiraling out of control. It's dangerous for everyone else. At the start of this year, in contravention of all norms, including moral norms, the US invaded Venezuela, resulting in the abduction of President Maduro and his spouse, held in an American prison without trial. And this despite the fact that international law clearly states that the highest ranking public officials of any state should enjoy immunities. We insist that the Venezuelan leader and his spouse be liberated immediately and that such excesses do not come to be repeated. It is unacceptable the fact that force was used to kill the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and members of his family, members of the military and political leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We're particularly disquieted by the fact that the US and Israeli aggression, which began in June of last year also seeks to target the civilian infrastructure in Iran and civilian nuclear infrastructure under IAEA safeguards. This dealt an irreversible blow to the authority of the agency and the entire nuclear non-proliferation system. Repeated armed confrontations in the Persian Gulf and the Hormuz Strait are ongoing, despite the fact that this is dealing a blow to global navigation and trade. We need the prerequisite for the settlement of this crisis. We need trust in the relationships between the Gulf states, the Arab states and Iran. We need stable regional architecture. This is what drives our concept for collective security in the Persian Gulf. Russia, together with other responsible states, stands ready to constructively contribute to stabilizing this strategically important region. We stand convinced that it's time to resolve the main issue in the Middle East, ensuring Palestinian statehood on the basis of countless UN decisions. Almost a year ago, the Security Council approved the peace plan for the Gaza Strip, but peace does not reign there. Older persons, women and children continue to perish. The humanitarian situation is critical. The situation in the West Bank continues to deteriorate, where Israel is stepping up its settlement activities. If the situation continues, it won't be possible to set up a Palestinian state. There won't be any room. But if that were to be the case, Israel's security would also be constantly under threat. Experts understand this full well. The UN and all its member states absolutely need to think outside the box so as to buck these unfavorable trends in the Middle East and nearby areas. I'm not just referring to Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, and other countries in Africa where conflict rage. We need urgent measures to be taken to address the terrible humanitarian situation in Cuba, which is under extreme, unprecedented pressure on the part of its northern neighbor. We stand in solidarity with the Cuban people and its government. We insist that the U.S. lift its siege on the island of freedom and lift all restrictions on trade with Cuba, striking it off the list of that vile list, list of state sponsors of terrorism. This is a stark example which requires the attention of the international community, but there are many other issues as well. The use of force and double standards espoused by the West are destabilizing the situation all over the map. In the Balkans, the EU is flagrantly ignoring UN Security Council Resolution 1244, compelling Serbia to accept the fact that it has lost Kosovo, part of its history. And Belgrade is basically being forced to impose sanctions against Russia in exchange for nebulous prospects of Euro integration. There are attempts for Bosnia and Herzegovina to be unitarized, the Serbs to be unitarized and forced to give up their constitutional powers, which were guaranteed by the Dayton Agreement, together with the Security Council. In this spirit of running Russia out of international law and security, there are reckless actions being taken in Ukraine. In order to supposedly constrain Russia, the US has destroyed the European security system and created a Russophobic regime in Kyiv. Understanding how vain this is, Europe is doing everything it can to thwart peace talks in which the Trump administration is interested. The West is pumping the Ukrainian regime full of weapons, helping Kyiv to target drones and missiles to target them at civilians and civilian infrastructure. The West aspires to inflict strategic defeat on Russia, but these aspirations will result in the warmongers being led into a strategic dead end, colleagues. A year ago, we marked the 80th anniversary of the victory over German Nazism and Japanese militarism. Next week, on 1 October, we will be marking the 80th anniversary of the completion of the work of the Nuremberg Tribunal. This was a historical trial which unequivocally shamed Nazi criminals. proclaiming what they did was illegal and immoral, that the Nazi ideology was inhumane. And yet, 80 years ago, the lessons of Nuremberg were not learned by everybody. The EU's leadership, according to their statements, are contaminated with the virus of racial superiority. They espouse Russophobic, extremist ideas. One of the manifestations of this is the fact that they support the Ukrainian regime In fact, they support them even when Kyiv glorifies Nazi collaborators and criminals up to the elbows in the blood of Russians, Belarusians, Jews, Ukrainians, and others. And at the same time, here, the West, here at the UN, they're voting against Russian resolutions, including the resolution condemning the glorification of Nazism. Germany, Japan, and all NATO countries are voting against it. This comes as no No surprise. We wish to underscore the outcome of the Second World War is the basis for the post-war world order. It's enshrined in the UN Charter. The former Axis powers ratified this document, and thus they recognized their responsibility for these countless atrocities, a result of Nazi ideology and practices. And today, when they turn a blind eye to Ukrainian Nazism, well, they are undermining the basis of the UN-centric world order. consigning to oblivion the responsibility of Nazi Germany, including responsibility for the genocide of the Soviet people. And in fact, in doing so, Germany is also Kyiv's main sponsor. Thus, Chancellor Merz is stating that Germany must once again be a leading military power in Europe. Does Berlin understand what this could lead to? Didn't they not learn the lessons of World War II? The Ukrainian regime is undermining a cornerstone of the UN Charter, not respecting human rights nor fundamental freedoms irrespective of race, sex, language or religion. Is there any other country apart from Ukraine where they banned a language? You can end up in prison for speaking Russian in Ukraine. In the EU, where they say that they espouse European values, they are staying silent. They're not condemning this practice on Ukraine's part. This leads us to conclude that Nazism and flagrant violations the Ukrainian regime of the freedom of expression, information and worship that this is, in fact, the bedrock of European values. In 2022, we began a special military operation to protect people in Donbas and Novorossiya, to protect them from elimination by the Kyiv regime. Russia continues to fight for their security and their rights, fully in keeping with the letter and the spirit of the UN Charter. Our fight for truth and justice will be seen through to the end. The objectives of our special military operation will be achieved and threats to our security will be eliminated. Peace will reign again. This will happen despite anything that might happen, including the inability of the current leadership of the UN to espouse the only correct position in this situation surrounding Ukraine, a position of defending the principles enshrined in the UN Charter as a whole, in full, in their interrelated nature. We believe that the new Secretary-General who we will elect before the end of the year, will meticulously uphold its mandate, as well as the principles of impartiality and equidistance enshrined in the Charter; that the new SG will represent the entire international community instead of serving the interests of some States; that the new SG will not undermine the intergovernmental nature of the UN system, nor dilute the prerogatives of the Security Council and its permanent members. Our principled approach is the following: UN Security Council reform cannot involve any additional seats being allocated to Western countries, especially to Germany and Japan, who are now on the path to militarism and revanchism. We are in favor of broadening the representation of Asia, Africa and Latin America. We support Brazil's and India's candidatures for a permanent seat. And at the same time, I wish to emphasize this, we must satisfy the interests of the African continent in keeping with the Asylwini Consensus and the SET Declaration. Ladies and gentlemen, through its foreign policy, Russia is trying to fix the situation in the world, working together with our allies and strategic partners, the BRICS, the SCO, the Eurasian Economic Union, the CIS, and the CSTO. We are promoting an agenda which we can all get behind, a unifying agenda, concrete ideas and projects. Today, what's coming to the fore is the topic of international information security. Clearly, the UN should play a central role in these discussions, not other narrow fora. In October of last year in Hanoi, at Russia's behest, the UN Convention against Cybercrime was open for signature. We welcome the establishment of the first standing global UN mechanism which seeks to help implement the Convention. The UN shoulders a special responsibility given the fast-paced development of AI technologies. Generally recognized rules for the use of AI should be underpinned on an equal foundation with the participation of all countries. The start of the work of the Global Dialogue on AI Governance and the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, we believe these are steps in the right direction. Russia supports China's initiative, that is the establishment of a global organization on AI cooperation. In the middle of the previous century, the USSR helped peoples in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to free themselves from colonial dependence. Further democratization in international affairs is impossible unless we eradicate neocolonial practices which remain evident. A key milestone on this path was the adoption by the General Assembly of a resolution proclaiming the 14th of December an International Day against colonialism in all of its forms and manifestations. We would be delighted to see supporters of this fight against neocolonialism, to partake in an international inter-party movement. The first assembly of the For Freedom of Nations Summit will take place in Russia in the coming months. Colleagues, ensuring lasting peace is only possible if the main players in the global stage stop competing. This is only possible if we meticulously uphold the charter and the principle of equal and indivisible security. This principle, I'd like to remind you, means not to further the security of one state at the expense of the security of others. Also, no countries nor any groups of countries should try to dominate the security sphere. This applies first and foremost to NATO, which is trying to broaden its destructive influence far beyond its geographical realm, for instance, in Asia. The values of broad-based cooperation on an equal footing formed the foundation of President Putin's initiative on the establishment of a great Eurasian partnership and an architecture of security on the entire Eurasian continent. Yesterday here in York, Russia, Belarus, and like-minded countries adopted a declaration on our intent to develop a Eurasian charter of diversity and multipolarity for the 21st century. We call on all of those who wish to be part of this pan- continental architecture of peace and development to contribute to making this initiative a success, which aims to complement and harmonize work on existing mechanisms in the spirit of the geopolitical realities in this nascent multipolar world. I thank you.