Mr Torkunov,

Friends,

First of all, I would like to join the Rector of MGIMO University of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Anatoly Torkunov, in welcoming the freshmen here. You are starting a new stage in your lives, a largely unexplored landscape, but I'm sure that with MGIMO’s traditions and with the help of your teachers and other students who have been here a year or more, you will be able to overcome this period of change successfully and work through the challenges during your first year and get ready for new achievements.

I would also like to welcome the ambassadors from the home countries of many MGIMO students. I hope that their participation in today's event confirms the high appreciation of the quality of a MGIMO education, which has gained a reputation in Russia and the world.

We at the Foreign Ministry are very pleased that MGIMO, which is considered the Ministry’s school, enjoys such respect. The figures just cited by Mr Torkunov are very impressive. I think that those who chose MGIMO have made a good choice. Diplomatic work is very interesting and in demand. Whatever occupation you choose, be it pure diplomacy, international jurisprudence, economics or journalism, I am sure that you will not be bored.

The situation in the world today does keep us busy, and we all know this. What is happening actually reminds me of tectonic shifts. Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, some said it was the end of history and that a neoliberal model of the economy and political life would dominate around the world. It seemed that the trends in global development were leading toward globalisation, with the universal spread of interdependence, interpenetration and openness. It seemed almost like the borders were about to disappear, and humanity would live according to a pattern and likeness similar to what American philosopher Francis Fukuyama meant by the “end of history” after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But life has proved to be far more versatile. Globalisation and a pervasive interdependence began clashing with people’s reluctance to forget their roots, their dedication to stick to their cultural and national identities. Examples of this are multiplying before our eyes. Therefore, the task of politicians is to seek compromise between the expediency and the inevitability of taking advantage of the new industrial revolution, especially the digital revolution, on the one hand, and people’s concern not to lose their roots and preserve the traditions that their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers left them. So the problems are really serious.

Along with our colleagues from the CSTO, the CIS, the SCO, BRICS and many of our other partners abroad, we try to make progress in searching for agreements and the reconciliation of these two perfectly objective and real trends to globalise everything. This process is dictated by the development of the global economy and, at the same time, the preservation of people’s national traditions, cultural identity and values. Many things are said about values, but they can differ. All people’s values must be respected, without trying to make everyone equal and accepting the values offered by the neoliberal Western community. But these values are now being questioned by the Western community, too. The search for compromise and a balance of interest will decide the fate of humanity, and this process is ongoing. There will be many problems, difficulties, philosophical clashes and probably a lot of examples of struggle, which is not always fair and just, along the way. But this is life, and we are in favour of settling everything through a dialogue.

There is a small group of countries led by the US, as we can see, that does not want a dialogue but wants to use dictate, ultimatums and blackmail instead of diplomacy. We see this every day. Now everything is being revised, including the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear programme, the Paris Agreement on Climate and the North American Free Trade Agreement, but this has not been completed yet. We are already facing the problem of the future of the WTO, which the US openly calls unjust and obsolete. The methods used by Washington now cannot be called anything but an ambition to dominate everything. If something goes wrong, diplomacy is thrown out and sanctions are used, with US law being extrapolated to the entire planet. The exterritorial use of unilateral illicit coercion measures is becoming a serious problem both for developing states and the Western countries that are the US’s allies. We find no pleasure in watching these points of conflict grow and multiply. Let me stress again that we are interested in stable peace, stability near our borders and in overcoming the conflicts and crises that may in some way affect the security of our citizens and our country through talks and a search for sensible compromises. We are ready for compromises like this.

We are ready to contribute as much effort as possible to settle any conflict or crisis, such as Syria, where Russia was one of the originators of UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which now serves as the base for the Syrian settlement process while the remaining terrorists are eliminated and humanitarian problems are solved, or Ukraine, where Russia played the key role in developing the Minsk Agreements that remain the only way to settle the crisis in eastern Ukraine; but, unfortunately, the settlement based on the Minsk Package of Measures does not depend solely on us. It is improbable that Kiev will change their destructive course of sabotage and undermining everything the Russian, German, French and Ukrainian leaders agreed on in February 2015 before the election takes place in Ukraine. Let me stress again that we do not have other colleagues. Those who want to dominate at any price, go against history, because new centres of economic power and growth have been getting stronger in the world for several decades, and political influence comes with this. One cannot disregard these centres. Such attempts take place, but they are weak. They will result in nothing good and most likely will return to those who try it, like a boomerang.

I see prospects in the initiatives being implemented and discussed in the Eurasian space. You know about our Eurasian project and China's Belt and Road Initiative. Last May, the Eurasian Economic Union and China reached an agreement on economic cooperation. This is a very important foundation for what Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Greater Eurasia project, saying we have to utilise geopolitical and geo-economic advantages in our common Eurasian space, without making theoretical schemes that will work for certain participants and then imposing them on others.

We base our activities in the EAEU and the SCO on a practical approach and make an effort to promote specific projects that call for implementation. Through practical steps coordinated by all participants, we expedite the potential for further integration and speak in favour of these processes taking place with the participation of the EAEU, the SCO and the ASEAN member states. I should note that as regards these processes, we always keep our door open to the EU, where the opinion has been expressed that without involvement in the Eurasian integration processes it will be increasingly difficult for them to sustain competition, something that is becoming more acute in today's world. More and more often  unfair competition tactics are being used.

I should note another phenomenon of the past eight years – the G20. The annual summits prove that this is a promising association, primarily because its work - just like in the other ones I mentioned that Russia is actively involved in - is based on the principle of consensus. Nothing can be imposed there but everything has to be agreed upon - maybe not quickly or without some holdouts and compromises, but everything has to be agreed on. It is not accidental that the G20, in addition to economic, macroeconomic, financial issues, and the international monetary system, has been paying more attention to certain foreign policy issues. I think this reflects the awareness of the G20 member states - which include the leading countries in the world's major regions - that here where unilateral decisions cannot be imposed on them, they want to promote a political agenda with a coordinated approach that is suitable for everyone. 

There are broad and challenging prospects now. I have mentioned only a few problems with an emphasis on the core points of the differences that are arising in the world and that MGIMO graduates will soon have to deal with. But I am confident that the freshmen and those who are continuing will only gain from delving into issues with the help of your wonderful teachers and staff from the Foreign Ministry, who take pleasure in giving lectures and holding seminars.

Question: Over the past few years so-called digital diplomacy has become more and more popular. Social media networks are turning into an important tool of information and explanatory work. Do you use social media networks, and do you have your own accounts on leading social networks?

Sergey Lavrov: You are absolutely right. Social media networks are part of our personal life, and they are also becoming an important aspect of our professional life because it appears that no profession, all the more so diplomacy, can do without social media networks. One of diplomacy’s tasks is to spread information and to explain the activities of a country. The Foreign Ministry has been actively using social media networks over the past few years. We have accounts in leading social networks, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and VKontakte. The Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department has a special section which deals with digital information technology. We prioritise the circulation of foreign-language content. The Foreign Ministry has both Russian-language and English-language accounts, we also have a Spanish-language account on Twitter, as well as Arabic-language accounts on Twitter and Facebook. The Foreign Ministry’s official website is currently available in all official UN languages, including Russian, English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and German. This is not the limit. There is high demand for information in other languages, European languages, first and foremost, as well as in other languages. We will try and do this, but, as you understand, this calls for certain resources. These questions are not resolved very quickly.

I personally have no social network accounts, but I’m kept in the picture when it comes to what’s going on there.