🎙 On September 17, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, met the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, who arrived in Russia to participate in the IV Eurasian Women's Forum (St. Petersburg, September 18-20).

☑️ Key issues of humanitarian response in the Middle East, the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, Europe and Asia were discussed. The parties thoroughly exchanged views on topical aspects of the ICRC activities in Russia.

❗️ Ms. Spoljaric’s attention was drawn to the numerous facts of Ukraine's violation of the norms of international humanitarian law, including the treatment of POWs and civilians.

🤝 Agreements were reached to further strengthen Russia-ICRC cooperation.

💬 During Ms. Spolarich's visit to Moscow, she also held meetings with the Russian High Commissioner for Human Rights, Tatiana Moskalkova, the Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, and the President of the Russian Red Cross, Pavel Savchuk.

⚡️ On the UN General Assembly’s resolution on Palestine

On September 18, the 10th emergency special session of the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution in support of the second advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of the Jordan River, including East Jerusalem).

✅ A total of 124 states (including Russia) voted in favour of the resolution.
❌ 14 voted against (Israel, the United States, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malawi, Paraguay and several island states).
🤷‍♂️ 43 nations (mostly EU members) abstained.

The document provides detailed conclusions and recommendations of the International Court of Justice on policies and practices in the OPT, and a number of concrete measures to ensure the implementation of that decision. It cites, in particular, the illegal nature of Israeli presence and demands that it cease immediately all new settlement activity, evacuate all settlers from the OPT, and make reparation for the damage caused to all the natural and legal persons concerned.

The resolution calls on all UN member states and international organisations not to recognise as legal the situation arising from Israel’s unlawful presence in the OPT.

The resolution includes the court’s vital opinion that Israel’s policy and practices amount to the annexation of large parts of the OPT and constitute a direct violation of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

We would like to note that the vote on that UN General Assembly resolution took place amid an unprecedented escalation of violence and bloodshed in the zone of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is the fourth UN General Assembly decision aimed at protecting the Palestinian people and its fundamental right to self-determination, including its right to a sovereign and independent state within the 1967 borders, with a capital in East Jerusalem.

☝️ In this connection, we would like to state again, with deep regret, that the US-dominated UN Security Council has not adopted similar vital statements. As you may know, Washington has recently exercised its veto power on five occasions, often unilaterally, to block UN Security Council draft resolutions on a ceasefire and on Palestine’s admission to the UN.

❗️ We view the adoption of this UNGA resolution as a crucial step towards international recognition of the illegality of Israel’s practices. It will also help enhance broad efforts to coordinate practical measures aimed at ensuring compliance with international law, ending the longest occupation in modern history, and implementing the two-state solution.

🎙 Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question regarding Zelensky’s statements

❓ Question: Yesterday, Zelensky whose presidential term expired on May 20, held a news conference with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen during which he stressed the need to strengthen Ukraine as far as possible so that the second “peace summit” could be held already in 2024. According to Zelensky, it could take place as early as November 2024 with Russian representatives present. How would you comment on this statement?

💬 Maria Zakharova: Statements by the “expired” Zelensky reflect nothing more than wishful thinking.

Russian representatives did not take part in any meetings during the “Burgenstock process,” nor do they intend to in the future.

This process has nothing to do with a peace settlement and represents yet another instance of deceit by the Westerners (Anglo-Saxons) and their Ukrainian puppets. The so-called second summit pursues the same goal: to enforce the completely unviable “Zelensky formula” as the sole basis (which apparently has no alternative) for resolving the conflict, persuading the Global Majority to support this formula while presenting Russia with an ultimatum demanding its surrender.

❗️ We will not take part in these “summits”.

However, we do not reject the resolution of the crisis through political and diplomatic means. We are open to discussing serious proposals that take into account the situation on the ground and emerging geopolitical realities, as well as the relevant initiative put forth by President of Russia Vladimir Putin on June 14.

☝️ Achieving a fair and stable peace settlement is impossible without Russia and consideration of its interests.

However, Kiev and the West are not thinking about peace. They need war. This is confirmed by the gangster-style incursion into the Kursk Region by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as by Zelensky’s persistent pleas for permission to carry out strike deep inside Russian territory using NATO’s long-range weapons. This constitutes a continuation of terrorist attacks against our country.

❌ We will not engage in dialogue with terrorists.

🏔️ Осенью 1799 г. российские солдаты и офицеры под командованием великого полководца А.В.Суворова совершили знаменитый «переход через Альпы», навечно вписав свои имена в историю беспримерным героизмом и самопожертвованием. А ровно 225 лет назад, 25 сентября 1799 г., произошло одно из наиболее ярких событий «Швейцарского похода» - победа российских войск над французами в битве за «Чёртов мост» в швейцарском ущелье Шолленен.
 
🪶 По итогам сражения генерал-фельдмаршал А.В.Суворов в своём донесении Российскому Императору Павлу I рапортовал:

«Войска Вашего Императорского Величества прошли через тёмную горную пещеру, заняли мост, удивительной игрой природы из двух гор сооружённый и проименованный ‘Тёйфельсбрюкке’. Оный разрушен неприятелем. Но сие не останавливает победителей, доски связываются шарфами офицеров, по сим доскам бегут они, спускаются с вершины в бездны и, достигая врага, поражают его всюду…»

 
☦️ В сентябре 1898 г. на месте этой знаменитой битвы, уже у заново отстроенного «Чёртова моста» был установлен мемориал в честь погибших сподвижников А.В.Суворова – высеченный в скале 12-метровый крест, у которого из года в год проводятся различные памятные мероприятия.
 
💐 Вчера, несмотря на ограничения со стороны швейцарских властей властей, у «Суворовского креста» прошла торжественная церемония возложения венков, организованная Посольством России в Берне при содействии Посольства Белоруссии в Берне, в которой также принял участие заместитель Постоянного Представителя России при Отделении ООН в Женеве А.В.Летошнев.
 
🤝 По завершении поминальной литургии и официальной части мероприятия возложить цветы к монументу и отдать дань уважения подвигу русских воинов смогли российские соотечественники и неравнодушные жители Швейцарии, байкеры из «Ночных волков» и «Ночных валькирий», а также представители швейцарской ассоциации «Колокольный звон дружбы».
 
📺 Яркие моменты – в нашем традиционном видеоотчёте!

🏔️ In the autumn of 1799, Russian soldiers and officers, led by the legendary military commander Alexander Suvorov, set out for their famed “Alpine crossing”, forever inscribing their names in history through extraordinary heroism and self-sacrifice. Exactly 225 years ago, on September 25, 1799, one of the most dramatic moments of the “Swiss campaign” unfolded – the victory of the Russian forces over the French at the "Devil’s bridge" in Switzerland’s Schöllenen Gorge.
 
🪶 Following the battle, Field Marshal General Alexander Suvorov reported to Russian Emperor Paul I:

“The troops of Your Imperial Majesty passed through a dark mountain cave and seized the bridge, miraculously formed by nature between two mountains and named "Teufelsbrücke". The enemy had destroyed it, but this did not stop the victors. The planks were tied together with officers' sashes, and across these planks they ran, descending from the heights, reaching the enemy and striking them from every direction...”

 
☦️ In September 1898, at the site of this famous battle, a memorial was erected by the reconstructed "Devil’s bridge" in honor of Suvorov’s fallen comrades – a 12-meter cross carved into the mountain.

💐 Yesterday, despite restrictions from Swiss authorities, a solemn wreath-laying ceremony was held at the "Suvorov Cross" organized by the Russian Embassy in Bern with the support of the Belarusian Embassy in Bern. The event was also attended by Alexander Letoshnev, Deputy Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva.
 
🤝 After the memorial service and the official part of the ceremony, Russian compatriots and Swiss friends, bikers from the "Night Wolves" and "Night Valkyries", as well as representatives of the Swiss association "Freiheitstrychler" were able to lay flowers at the monument and pay tribute to the heroism of Russian soldiers.
 
📺 Watch the event's highlights in our traditional video report!

⚡️ Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview for a documentary titled "The UN from the 20th to the 21st Century" (Moscow, September 25, 2024)

Key points:

• Less than a year after the victorious powers established the UN based on the noble principles formulated in its charter, it became clear that the West, acting contrary to these principles, intended to launch a war against the Soviet Union, and not merely a cold war but an all-out war. These plans hatched by the then "Anglo-Saxons" [nations of the Anglosphere led by the US & UK] have long become public knowledge.

• Once NATO was created, the Soviet Union circulated a large document which demonstrated the detrimental effect of that and the danger of building walls between the East and the West, especially in Europe, and called for respecting the #UNCharter and for working towards this. Our call was not heeded.

✊ However, we kept fighting for justice and the implementation of the principle of sovereign equality of nations. Decolonisation was a bright stage and a major embodiment of that principle. The Soviet Union was the main initiator of the 1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Following its adoption, the number of UN states increased by 80-90 members.

• They tell us that the main goal today is to ensure the territorial integrity of Ukraine. It is a misleading interpretation of the UN Charter, where the right of nations to self-determination is put before territorial integrity.

• Even before demanding respect for territorial integrity, the UN Charter demands respect for human rights without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion <…> Now that Zelensky’s Nazi regime, which the West nurtured, has banned both the language and religious rights of a large number of its own population, the West has put away the banners it was waving for decades.

❗️The top priority now is to ensure the achievement of the initial goals and principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and as a whole, rather than selectively or occasionally.

• The reform of the UN Security Council is not a one-off event. It’s a process which has been ongoing since the time the United Nations came into being <...> Nevertheless, it relies on principles that must be preserved at all costs. The main principle is that the Security Council reform should be based on a broad-based agreement among states. It does not say “consensus,” but it does state “broad-based agreement among states.”

🌍 🇮🇳🇧🇷 We have invariably supported the legitimate aspirations of India and Brazil to secure permanent seats in the Security Council. However, African aspirations must be met as well. Africa has common collective positions, which we respect. And we would have like that.

• Our position implies providing additional seats for Asia, Africa, and Latin America. We are open to some of these seats being permanent, but we need to achieve general agreement before we can move forward. It is a complicated process. I don’t see any chance for bringing this process to a swift and expedited completion any time soon.

• Since the UN was created, there has never been a time, a region, or a situation that involved the United States in one way or another, where the country would actually respect that principle. Every time, everywhere they acted as a hegemon, or like a "bull in a china shop".

• When they wanted to punish Russia, the West abandoned all the principles which it was feeding to us and which it declared sacred. The same is happening to the principles of the UN Charter. The West is trampling and destroying them without a moment’s hesitation.

➡️ Read in full

#UNGA79 #UNCharterIsOurRules

🇷🇺🇺🇳 On September 25, in New York, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, held a meeting with the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, on the sidelines of the high-level week of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly.

🔥 The discussion focused on the severely escalated situation in the Arab-Israeli conflict zone, with an emphasis on the humanitarian response tasks in the Gaza Strip. The key role of UNRWA in providing comprehensive assistance and support to Palestinians both in the occupied Palestinian territories and in neighboring Arab countries was highlighted. The importance of preserving the Agency's historical mandate to ensure the fundamental right of return for refugees and their descendants was underscored.

❗️ The parties reaffirmed the imperative for an immediate and universal ceasefire, particularly in the Gaza Strip, as a necessary condition for establishing sustainable and safe humanitarian access to those affected and in need, the release of hostages and forcibly detained persons, as well as the resumption of the peace process on a widely recognized international legal basis, including the two-state solution.