On Monday, January 18, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hosted an online press conference on the performance of Russian diplomats in 2020 and spoke about the main challenges they faced.

For three hours, the head of the foreign policy department answered questions from Russian and foreign journalists.

Harassment of Russian journalists abroad

Answering the question about the detention of Russian-speaking journalists in Latvia because of cooperation with the MIA Rossiya Segodnya, Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow made representations to the UN and OSCE on "undeniable facts of gross violation of freedom of the media."

“We want to use the mechanisms that exist in the relevant conventions and which require the respective country to correct such violations,” the Foreign Minister said.

He added that the Foreign Ministry is taking serious steps to protect the rights of Russian journalists and employees of Russian-language media abroad.

“We will continue to seek sanctioned actions from international structures, but at the same time we want to raise non-governmental organizations, they have every reason to go to the courts ... We are already working with international lawyers, we will use the Fund for the Protection of the Rights of Compatriots, which we have and which will be ready to help journalists, ”Lavrov added, pointing out that complaints can be sent to the European Court of Human Rights.

On December 3, 2020, the State Security Service of Latvia detained seven media workers who collaborated with the information portals Sputnik Latvia and Baltnews.

They were accused of violating the EU sanctions regime, introduced personally against the general director of MIA "Russia Segodnya" Dmitry Kiselyov.

Criminal cases were opened against all journalists, and they face up to four years in prison.

On January 13, 2021, RT, as part of Maria Butina's project # Don't Throw Our Own, launched a large-scale information campaign in support of the detainees.

At the moment, three episodes have been released, the main characters of which are journalist and public figure Vladimir Linderman, former editor of the portal Baltnews.lv Andrei Yakovlev and journalist Alla Berezovskaya.

IT giants and censorship

Another topic of questions for the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation was the latest actions of the administrations of the largest technology companies in the United States.

In particular, they talked about blocking the personal accounts of the current US President Donald Trump.

“Let's hope that American society will not allow elites to use the most obvious censorship, flagrant violation of the constitution and international obligations in their fight against each other.

But this is a problem in American society.

If it does not cope with this problem, then we must all be prepared for the consequences of such a failure of the American state, and the consequences will be very serious on the world stage, ”Lavrov said.

According to him, "half a dozen people who have created their own technological empires" determine their actions only by corporate norms and "do not give a penny to the constitution of their states."

The West is rapidly losing its tolerance for diversity and this is causing serious concern, the head of the foreign ministry added.

After January 6, when a large-scale rally of Trump supporters took place in Washington, which escalated into the storming of the Capitol and riots that resulted in the death of five people, Facebook, Twitter and Google blocked the accounts of the head of the White House on their social networks.

In addition, the largest conservative social network, Parler, has been removed from the App Store (Apple's application) and Google Play.

Sergey Lavrov also said that he was aware of the threats of blocking the Telegram messenger.

“It will be interesting,” he said.

Earlier, The Washington Post reported that the American non-profit organization Coalition for a Safer Web has sued Apple to remove Telegram from the App Store.

Relations with the USA

US policy toward Russia during the administration of President Joe Biden, whose inauguration is scheduled for January 20, is unlikely to undergo a change, but "the manners may be a little more polite."

This opinion was expressed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“It can be seen that the line on the dominance of the American state and the American way of life, the American understanding of the life of other countries will continue.

Containment of both China and Russia will certainly figure on the foreign policy agenda.

They are already discussing how to make sure that Russia and China do not unite so much that they will feel more powerful than America itself, ”Lavrov said.

He also called Joe Biden a "disarmament and arms control specialist."

In this regard, Moscow will await "concrete proposals" to extend the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START III), which expires on February 5.

In addition, Lavrov expressed the hope that the US President's team will be "professional, not propaganda."

Thus, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the presence of diplomats in the Biden administration who worked under Barack Obama could make it possible to start work “without swinging.

“People are familiar.

On the one hand, this allows, if there is a reciprocal desire, if there is a desire to respond to the numerous proposals on the Russian-American agenda that we have made and which remain on the table, to start negotiations without a long break and without swinging.

On the other hand, it gives us an opportunity to roughly imagine what line the old and new members of the foreign policy team of the new US administration will pursue, ”he said, commenting on the possibility of appointing Tony Blinken to the post of US Secretary of State, while Victoria Nuland will become his deputy.

The situation with Navalny

Western politicians happily seized on the news of the arrest of Alexei Navalny upon arrival in Moscow, said Sergei Lavrov.

He stressed that the West believes that in this way they will be able to divert attention "from the deepest crisis in which the liberal model of development finds itself."

According to him, the whole situation with Navalny has acquired an artificial foreign policy sound.

“I am convinced that we should not look for external reasons to justify our own actions or to divert attention from our own deepest problems and crises, but, on the contrary, play honestly and look for opportunities to solve our internal problems in honest and equal international cooperation,” - said the Russian Foreign Minister.

He added that there is a tendency in the West, the essence of which is to resolve their internal political problems, as a result of which they find external enemies, which are Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela.

In addition, the head of the foreign policy department emphasized that Moscow had not received documents from its Western partners indicating that Navalny was poisoned.

“From the point of view of the Foreign Ministry, there is only one question left - gentlemen, Germans, French, Swedes, fulfill your international obligation, present the results of those analyzes that, according to you, contain something, moreover, unknown, since it is on the OPCW lists does not appear, a warhead, ”he stressed.

Lavrov added that the West acted in a similar way, without providing answers on the case of Alexander Litvinenko and the situation with the Skripals.

“They don't give us anything about Navalny.

Listen, if you want to know the truth, then be polite people and be law-abiding.

Live up to your commitments.

Do not resort to methods of diplomatic rudeness, declaring that "we will not give you anything, you are poisoners by definition."

We won't talk like that.

This is precisely the foreign policy dimension for which the Foreign Ministry is responsible in this whole story.

Our partners cannot behave like that, ”the Russian minister said.

He noted that not a single unfounded accusation against Moscow has ever been confirmed by evidence, whether it is alleged interference in the American elections, the crash of the Malaysian Boeing, the Skripals case or the Navalny incident.

“In every case that I mentioned, and in other cases in which we are accused of something specific, we have never received evidence that would confirm these unfounded accusations.

We have heard only one thing: "highlighted like", "no one else has motives", or "only you have such opportunities, and therefore you are to blame, and we do not need to prove anything."

They do not just give facts on which, in general, decent people always base their discussions, ”he said.

According to him, the Russian side has always been determined to discuss all the existing claims at the negotiating table, and "not to dog each other."

“We are still interested in solving any problems through dialogue, but to break into the closed door, which the West is holding together and locked, is somehow, you know, beneath our dignity,” Lavrov said.

COVID-19

During a press conference, Sergey Lavrov said that he had suffered a mild coronavirus infection, while, on the advice of experts, he intends to be vaccinated.

The Russian Foreign Minister also pointed to the openness in the issue of cooperation on the vaccine against COVID-19.

According to him, the proposals of the Russian Direct Investment Fund are receiving a positive response.

In particular, Moscow is discussing this topic with colleagues from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

“Not so long ago, President Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also touched upon the prospects for Russian-German, Russian-European cooperation in the production and improvement of vaccines.

I think this is the right path, the path that rests on the desire to consolidate our efforts, rests on the solidarity of mankind, "he said.

Meanwhile, Lavrov stated that the United States and its allies were trying for their own purposes to take advantage of the situation that arose due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Unfortunately, not everywhere and not always such a desire for solidarity, for joint work in a pandemic was manifested.

Some of our Western colleagues, primarily the United States and its closest allies, tried to use the situation to build up their methods of pressure, blackmail, ultimatums, illegitimate actions, the introduction of restrictive unilateral restrictions, but also in other forms of interference in the internal affairs of many countries.

Including, by the way, our closest neighbor - Belarus, ”the minister explained.