Lavrov's Remarks At BRICS Ministerial Summit

Sergey Lavrov delivers remarks at a stand-alone online meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations onTuesday.

The minister expressed Russia's solidarity with India and the Indian people, and readiness to continue to provide assistance in the fight against the pandemic. Only through joint efforts will we be able to overcome the current crisis for the benefit of our peoples, Lavrov stressed.

The burden has increased not only on national health systems. The pandemic has exacerbated negative trends in international relations, increasing the potential for conflict and the risk of collapse of the architecture of strategic stability. National selfishness, the desire to ensure their dominance at any cost and ignorance of the interests of other countries undermine the foundations of the multilateral system created after the Second World War. The cornerstone of this system is the observance of international law, that is, the UN Charter, and not the so-called "rules" invented by Western countries. The challenges facing the international community and sustainable global development are growing in number and complexity. These are the threats of terrorism, transnational crime, including in the digital sphere, climate change and the growing gap between rich and poor. Lavrov is sure that these problems can only be solved collectively.

In this context, Russia supports the Indian initiative for the BRICS foreign ministers to coordinate a powerful joint signal to the world in favor of strengthening and reforming the multilateral system of international relations on a solid basis of international law, with the central role of the UN as the most universal and comprehensive organization in the world.