Russia's policy is perceived in the world with respect, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is convinced. "The policy that the President has defined and is pursuing, and which, on his instructions, we are conducting, despite some episodes like Libyan, brings results," he said Day of diplomatic worker in an interview with the TV channel "Russia".“My answer to those who say why we don’t fight for our positions is this: we won’t fight for our positions by sending an expeditionary force to the region and creating ourselves“ Afghanis ”. Never and for no reason. We will maintain relations with all countries of the region, working with legitimate authorities ", - said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an interview, the text of which leads the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"We will work with the opposition and encourage all of its groups to ensure that the dissatisfaction here and there, there, for example, the long term of one-family rule or the lack of civil liberties, as happens in many countries of the region (there are monarchies), served as an incentive for evolutionary transformations ", - he stressed.
Speaking about the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, Lavrov said that Russia does not plan to send its contingent to these regions.
Speaking of Mali, Lavrov noted that "the French are now quite easily, practically" parade march "pass through Mali and occupy the positions already left by the terrorists. Soon they will release the entire territory of this state. The question is, where did those guys go? which no one could cope with? They, for sure, will “resolve” the neighboring countries, and there they will have to make expeditionary decisions. ”
“I’m depressed by the inability of our partners to tear their heads from one point on the map and look at the entire region. We offer them such a dialogue,” the Russian minister said.
At the same time, he noted that Russia supported the mission of the French in Mali, since "it is legitimate."
"The current leadership of this African state directly appealed to France with a request to ensure the restoration of the territorial integrity of the country," the minister said.
He also stated that "in Mali, France is fighting against those whom she has armed in Ghadafia against Gaddafi in violation of the embargo imposed by the UN Security Council."
The Russian minister also noted that the current "Libyan authorities are sending us direct signals that they are interested in restoring work on projects that have begun to be carried out under Muammar Kadaffi."
Speaking about Syria, Lavrov recalled that in Munich he met on the margins of the Security Conference with the head of the National Coalition of Syrian Oppositional Forces, Ahmed Al-Khatib.
“We contacted other representatives of the opposition, including the Syrian National Council, which is considered an implacable opponent of Bashar al-Assad and the regime in general. There was not a single opposition figure who would not say that he does not think about the future of his country, this region without active involvement of Russia. These countries, at least, these politicians, are more comfortable to have multi-vector ties, not one point of support - it is always not very stable - but several, thus ensuring a balance, "he noted.
"The same thing happens with Egypt," he said.
The minister continued: “Take the example of Iraq. In 2003, we were categorically against what the Americans were doing there at the head of the coalition. Now the Prime Minister of Iraq comes to us, the president of this state talks to us. They want to develop economic cooperation, create conditions for work in the country of our oil, energy and other companies. Baghdad is interested in buying Russian military products. And this is Iraq, which is now headed by a government that has come to power, by and large, in America anski bayonets! "
"The United States should be taught to equality and mutual respect"
The US needs to be accustomed to doing business on the basis of equality and respect for mutual interests, Lavrov said.
"The USA will not change overnight. They should be taught that things can be conducted only on the basis of equality, a balance of interests and mutual respect," he said.
I cannot give any vivid examples of "schooling." But Barack Obama said that they could not do anything alone. In fact, his words were packed into beautiful phrases, but the point was that they could not do anything alone and will not be able to ", - he said.
According to Lavrov, "they get used to changing their imperial status for a long time and gradually."
At the same time, the minister drew attention to the difference that exists between the approaches of the former administration of George W. Bush and the administration of Barack Obama.
“Under the administration of Barack Obama, the newly elected vice president, Biden, at the beginning of 2009, put forward the term“ reset ”, which we perceived as an understanding by the new democratic team in the White House of the counterproductiveness of how the previous administration of George W. Bush viewed cooperation with Russia. Further practical Washington's steps confirmed that we have the right feelings, "he said.
"We stopped seeing arrogant actions that directly contradicted Russian legitimate interests in our immediate environment and in other parts of the world. This does not mean that the new American administration refuses to promote its interests (as she sees them) in Central Asia, Transcaucasia and, in principle, around the Russian Federation. This does not mean that the new US administration (although it is no longer new, but the “new old”) abandons its plans for missile defense, but the tone and style of negotiation and dialogue are essentially from they changed with the arrival of Barack Obama. This is always a plus. In addition to the tonality, the practical impact of these conversations has changed at all levels, "said the head of Russian diplomacy.
"They (the USA) are already physically unable to solve any problems, although they remain the largest and most powerful military, economic and financial power. Not without reason, Obama, speaking at the end of January of this year with a message to Congress, said that the United States will seek to solve any problems are necessarily in cooperation with international partners, "said Lavrov.
"The United States could not and cannot alone do anything in Afghanistan"
“It’s true that in the coalition they have little that they can do: the terrorist danger has not gone away, and the drug threat has increased significantly, if not by an order of magnitude,” the minister stressed.
"They cannot solve the problems associated with the spread of terrorism, WMD, drug trafficking, organized crime," he added.
Speaking about the problem of drug trafficking from Afghanistan, Lavrov said: “I saw evidence that Americans secretly participate in these processes illegally from their command. We not only take such things, but also study and develop them. In situations where information about the involvement of anyone else to drug trafficking is confirmed, we solve such issues directly and honestly, without trying to “sweep up” them under the carpet.
Lavrov is looking forward to meeting with the new US Secretary of State
Sergei Lavrov announces an agreement to meet with new US Secretary of State John Kerry over the coming weeks.
“I know that in the near future he is going to visit the Middle East region as his priority, and this is understandable. We agreed that we will meet in the very next weeks.
According to the minister, he does not expect radical changes in US foreign policy.
"The course remains the same, its main focus does not depend on personalities. Personalities give one or another context. But the course to ensure that the United States remains the dominant power in the world is unchanged," said the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
At the same time, as Lavrov noted, it is becoming more and more difficult for Washington to pursue such a course, as the Americans are increasingly confronted with situations when they have to look for coalition partners.
“Coalitions of interests. These can be one-time coalitions, like, say, in Afghanistan and Iraq. These can be coalitions that are formed on the basis of existing structures, such as the G8, which is cluttered with various dialogue mechanisms with Africa and other countries. maybe something else, "said Lavrov.
Russia has the right to demand information on adopted children from the United States on the basis of the Consular Convention in force since the last century.
International adoption in Russia does not come from a good life, it is necessary to restore order in this area, the head Sergey Lavrov is convinced.
"I, as a citizen and as a minister, entirely for the fact that, first of all, we understand what is happening in our home. International adoption is not from a good life," he said.
“I did not oppose the law of Dima Yakovlev.” I argued in favor of the agreement on cooperation in the field of international adoption, which we concluded with the Americans after two years of difficult negotiations, continued to operate, ”the minister said.
According to him, "The United States is the only country from where absolutely outrageous reports are received about how many families treat our children."
“I deliberately said“ many. ”Yes, sometimes the figure of 60 is given to thousands of adopted children, among which there are only 19 cases of children's deaths. But, firstly, every life is valuable, especially a child’s life. Secondly, 19 is only those who died, "- said the Minister.
At the same time, he did not agree with the playful replica of the presenter that the Americans are “fiends”.
“Not the foul state of hell.” I cannot give such emotional characteristics, and I can only be guided by statistics. In the US, there are many problems with family violence regardless of whether it’s an adopted child, adopted from Russia or from another country, ” Lavrov.
According to him, "it is not by chance that a whole number of states that have relations with the Americans in this area are experiencing serious problems."
He also drew attention to the fact that, when adopted in the United States, Russian children immediately received an American name and surname, which made it difficult to track their fates. At the same time, children formally remained citizens of the Russian Federation, although the Americans recognized only their American citizenship, the minister specified.
"We have changed the state of affairs thanks to the agreement I already mentioned," Lavrov said.
According to him, “one can understand the desire of the authors of the law (on banning Americans from adopting Russian children) to“ freeze ”new adoptions for American parents, because the said Agreement entered into force, but the US Department of State and other American authorities were not interested in its implementation” .
"But we signed the Agreement for this purpose, and it states that the laws of the States are in place, but the federal government takes the responsibility to seek access to children adopted in one state or another, to seek compliance by the states," Lavrov said.
"The agreement could be useful in order for us to have the moral and legal right to demand information from the American authorities," the minister noted. According to him, "it is important to have a legal basis in order to constantly raise these issues."
"We have retained such a base in the form of the Consular Convention, signed between our countries in the last century, but still in force today," Lavrov concluded.
Russian diplomats are following the "Polonsky case" and asking the Cambodian side to make a court decision faster
"In any case, we are obliged to defend the rights of every Russian citizen and monitor how the process is developing. We ask the Cambodian authorities not to delay it artificially, but, unfortunately, as they tell us (and we also see this), sometimes our citizens they themselves voluntarily or involuntarily delay the process, "said Lavrov.
According to the minister, the detained Russian citizens either refuse to hold regular meetings with those who are conducting the investigation, or behave quite defiantly towards the staff of this penitentiary institution.
“So we want to resolve this problem as soon as possible, but for this we still advise them to approach the conversation with the Cambodian side more constructively, too,” the minister stressed.
According to Lavrov, after Polonsky published an appeal to the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry on the Internet, the staff of the Russian embassy met with a businessman.
"It was said that everything is fine. He chose to rely on some of his local business partner and his lawyers. We watched the Cambodian government investigating or investigating this issue," Lavrov said.
According to the minister, the Russians were examined in prison by a doctor.
“From the“ letter of S. Polonsky, ”posted on the Internet, we understood only one thing - that he needed a doctor. The doctor, who had already been there a couple of times by that time, went again sometime in late January and examined S. Polonsky and two of his comrades. Their state of health does not inspire fear. That's, in fact, that's all, "said Lavrov.
Russian diplomats promptly reacted to the death of Dolmatov in the Netherlands
Lavrov denied the sluggishness that is periodically heard against Russian diplomats, including in connection with the death in the Netherlands of the opposition leader Alexander Dolmatov.
“What is the sluggishness here, I honestly do not understand,” he said.
The minister recalled that Dolmatov died January 17.
"In the evening, we were informed about this from the Extradition and Repatriation Department. And the next day, on the morning of January 18, notes were sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice of Holland, demanding an urgent investigation and reporting what happened to our citizen." said the minister.
After that, he said, "we repeatedly reminded about this both at the Foreign Ministry and at the Ministry of Justice, including the need to complete the formalities as soon as possible so that we could send the body back to the Motherland."
"The body was transferred from the administration of extradition and repatriation and after that, roughly January 29, sent to the funeral home, which was chosen by the Dutch authorities," - said Lavrov.
He said that on the same day the Russian ambassador in The Hague asked the Minister of Justice to send the necessary documents to send the body to Russia.
"Documents from the Dutch side came in the morning of January 31. They were translated to 18: 00 of the same day. This is quite a serious work - approximately 10 pages of a narrow legal text. Our consular officers did it in a few hours, though the funeral home, which otherwise would be engaged in this transfer, requested a week for this job, "the minister stressed.
He reported that on January 31 the documents were translated in the evening, and on February 2 the body was sent home in the evening.
Responding to questions from the presenter, Lavrov stressed that the Russian embassies abroad are assisting any citizens of the Russian Federation, regardless of their political preferences. “You mentioned the term 'oppositionist'. Alexander Dolmatov is a citizen of Russia. It doesn’t matter what his political views were. For us it’s important that a citizen of Russia died,” Lavrov said.
Russian Foreign Ministry would like to increase the consular staff in countries where there are many Russian tourists
Russia seeks to increase the consular presence in countries with a high tourist flow of Russian citizens, where often there is a need for consular assistance to Russians in difficult situations, said Sergey Lavrov.
"This is Egypt, Turkey, Thailand, there have been cases in the Dominican Republic. By the way, in all these points we are sharply increasing, or rather, we want to dramatically increase the consular presence - but there are financial problems. For example, in Antalya - while Turkey is visited annually approximately 3 million of our tourists, and we have only three consular workers there, "said Lavrov.
According to him, according to statistics, every five-thousand tourist is asking for help or is in a difficult situation.
Used materials of Russian news agencies.