Brest Staples: Russia and Belarus adopted a document on multipolarity
US President Joe Biden is trying to leave as heavy a legacy as possible for the next US administration with his decisions on Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov following a joint meeting of the Russian and Belarusian Foreign Ministers' Collegiums in Brest. The meeting took place against the background of a new round of escalation of the conflict in eastern Europe, provoked by the decision of the United States and its allies to allow the AFU to use long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory. The expert community believes that the outgoing Biden administration may approve the transfer of the THAAD missile defense system to Kiev. In addition, a scenario of conflict escalation to a direct clash between the NATO bloc and Russia cannot be ruled out.
Sergey Lavrov's visit to Brest
On November 22, Sergei Lavrov took part in a joint meeting of the Collegiums of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Russia and Belarus. The event took place in Brest, the hero-city, which was the first to repel Nazi attacks in June 1941. Holding the meeting here was especially symbolic: both countries will celebrate next year the 80th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War.
From left to right: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov
However, Sergei Lavrov's work program began not with meetings with his Belarusian colleagues, but with a visit to the memorial complex "Brest Hero Fortress. In the morning, the motorcade of the Russian minister arrived at its Kholmsky gate, where he was warmly greeted by Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov. Having briefly inspected the gate, the diplomats went to the Eternal Flame to participate in the ceremony of laying flowers.
The Brest Fortress has always remained a link between the peoples of Russia and Belarus, Ryzhenkov noted in his conversation with Lavrov. Later, the ministers went to the fortress defense museum, where they were to have a meeting with the young activists of Belarus. The meeting with the diplomats was attended by students of the two largest universities of the city - Brest State University named after Pushkin and Brest State Technical University. Many of them study at the faculties of history and political science, and some of them would like to get a job in the civil service in the future.
- The visit of the Russian Minister to Brest is a huge event for us. He is such an important person. Everyone wants to meet him. There are about 30 people here in the hall, but, of course, there were many more who wanted to come. The reception was selective," one of the students told "Izvestia.
Both ministers shared their memories of how they became diplomats. They were also asked about the current geopolitics, including the relations between Russia and Belarus. Asked what event should be remembered and popularized to strengthen the Union State, Sergei Lavrov said he believes it is important to remember all history.
Meeting with Belarusian students at the Brest Fortress-Hero Memorial Complex
"One should share everything with the motherland: pride, sorrow and shame - there have been such things," the minister said. - All events are important to remain a continuer of that history, which should be uninterrupted. Here we have a close mutual understanding, and we will not allow history to be rewritten, forgotten.
By the way, the history of the Union State is already impressive: in December the integration union of Russia and Belarus turns 25 years old. On this occasion, Minsk will host a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State, which is to be attended by Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko.
Meeting of the Collegiums of the Foreign Ministries of Russia and Belarus
The meeting in Brest was a reminder that Russia and Belarus have been facing common foreign policy challenges and threats for centuries. And they came mainly from the West. Today, the Union State is facing serious pressure from the NATO bloc and the European Union, which has imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia and Belarus.
Sergei Lavrov, in particular, noted that Moscow and Minsk are developing a common mechanism of approaches to the regional and international agenda. Thus, a document entitled "Joint Vision of the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the XXI century" was signed following the meeting of the Collegiums of the Foreign Ministries of the two countries. In addition, the countries adopted a declaration on enhancing the role of international law and guidelines on the qualification of sanctions, as well as ways and means of countering them.
It is worth noting that the Brest talks took place against the backdrop of another round of escalation around the Ukrainian conflict. This week, Washington authorized Kiev to use anti-personnel mines, which goes against the Ottawa Convention, which Ukraine signed in 2005.
In addition, on November 19 and 21, the AFU struck Russian rear areas in the Bryansk and Kursk regions with long-range U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles. Earlier this week, the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden and the UK authorities authorized the use of these weapons. Commenting on the Ukrainian army attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the regional conflict in Ukraine provoked by the West has acquired elements of a global character.
Storm Shadow long-range missile
Sergei Lavrov said at the final press conference: by allowing to strike deep into Russia, Biden seeks to leave as bad a legacy as possible for the next Donald Trump administration, which will start on January 20, 2025.
"I don't rule out that this desire, in Russian, pardon me for the jargon, to muck around, it's manifesting itself in the current environment," he said.
Russia responded to the actions of Ukraine and Western countries: on November 21, the Russian Armed Forces hit the Yuzhmash plant in Dnepropetrovsk with the latest medium-range Oreshnik missiles. There are no means of countering such weapons today, the Russian president noted. Dmitry Stefanovich, a researcher at the Center for International Security at the IMEMO RAN Institute of International Relations, believes Moscow's reaction is logical.
- In general, Russia consistently uses more and more long-range and destructive weapons in combat operations (although one can only guess about the combat power of the Oreshnik in non-nuclear configuration), so there are no particular surprises here. Perhaps the signal about the impossibility of guaranteed coverage of even certain areas or facilities on Ukrainian territory by air defense and missile defense forces has also become important," the expert told Izvestia. - We may see discussions about the need to supply, for example, THAAD missile defense systems, but it is absolutely unclear where to remove them from.
The analyst does not rule out a scenario in which the escalation of the conflict reaches a direct clash between the NATO bloc and Russia, which will further change the nature of hostilities and will have a detrimental effect not only on Ukraine.
On November 19, an updated Russian nuclear doctrine was approved. The Russian Federation now reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if weapons of mass destruction are used against it or its allies, as well as in the case of aggression against Russia and Belarus with the use of conventional weapons that pose a critical threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the states. The content of the updated doctrine is fully synchronized with the documents on security, which will be signed at the meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State, said Sergei Lavrov in Brest.
