🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to questions during a meeting with employees of the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan and faculty and students of the Institute of International Relations (Ashgabat, June 25, 2025)

💬 Dear Colleagues, Friends,

It is a pleasure to have an opportunity to speak before active and future fellow diplomats, faculty, and students of international relations here in hospitable Ashgabat. Each time I visit Turkmenistan, I know I am among friends. Our relations have reached the level of deep strategic partnership. 

Key talking points:

• #RussiaTurkmenistan cooperation can serve as a compelling example of relations between countries in a multipolar world, where the global balance continues to shift due to the strengthening of power centres beyond the historical West. 

• Representing diverse civilisations, cultures, and religions, the countries of the Global South and Global East have achieved impressive successes in various fields relying on national traditions and international cooperation. They not only contribute to addressing regional challenges in line with the “regional solutions to regional problems” concept, but also engage in addressing key global issues. The consolidation of multipolar principles in international affairs is having a direct impact on multilateral diplomacy. 

• To ensure sustainable progress, Eurasia and the entire international community rely on a solid legal foundation, primarily, the UN Charter. This document is ideally suited for a polycentric world. The principle of sovereign equality of states enshrined in this code of international conduct implies equal rights for all countries without exception and regardless of the size of the territory, population, military or economic might, or political system.   

• Speaking about Africa, it is experiencing a second wave of liberation after the era of decolonisation that brought political freedom to the former colonies. African countries have seen that they were taken advantage of when they supplied raw materials but the added value created during their transformation into products remained in the West.

• I would like to highlight the positive role of associations such as the #SCO and #BRICS, which have established themselves as key components of the polycentric architecture. The Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter in New York has its feet firmly on the ground. I should also note that the G20, which includes BRICS countries and their like-minded partners and members of the Western G7, holds significant positive potential. 

• Another key principle aimed at safeguarding peace and stability is that of equal and indivisible security, which precludes the enhancement of one state’s or group of states’ security at the expense of others. This principle is enshrined in numerous consensus-based international documents adopted at the highest level, including those within the OSCE framework.

• It was only after exhausting all peaceful political means to resolve the Ukrainian crisis that we were compelled to adopt military and military-technical measures to ensure the security of our state, protect our citizens, and defend our compatriots, whose rights have been systematically eradicated by the regime that seized power in Kiev following the 2014 anti-constitutional coup, orchestrated with Western support.

• The Middle East remains volatile today. The growing military escalation surrounding Iran, which poses a serious threat not only to regional but also to global security, is of particular concern. Russia has resolutely condemned the US’s missile and aerial strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, that followed Israel’s unprovoked attack on the Islamic Republic.

• Global security is of paramount concern, particularly at this juncture, when the notorious Doomsday Clock continues to tick ever closer to midnight. It is imperative that we prevent such an outcome. We are resolutely engaged in efforts to avert catastrophe.

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