Honor and dignity of Russia and its citizens will never be subject to any compromise on the part of Russian diplomats, who will keep faithfully fulfilling their duty, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
“This year we are celebrating our holiday against the backdrop of the hybrid war that the United States and its allies have unleashed on our country,” the minister said, congratulating Russian diplomats on their professional holiday, the Diplomats Day. “There is no doubt that Russia will withstand this time of trials and will become even stronger after overcoming them.”
“The Foreign Ministry team has always faithfully and fully done its duty to the Motherland and our people. And this time will be no different,” Russia’s top diplomat continued. “We will continue to do everything necessary to protect our national interests and create a favorable environment for Russia’s stable development and for raising the living standards of its people. The honor and dignity of our Motherland and all our citizens have never been and will never be subject to any compromise.”
Lavrov went on to say that “the large-scale Russophobic campaign for which the collective West has been cultivating the Nazi regime in Kiev for many years has directly affected our diplomats.”
“Many of our colleagues are now working in extreme conditions, often risking life and limb,” he said. “In this context, I would like to make special mention of our foreign offices, including their senior staff. They are putting out truthful, objective information about Russia, its domestic and foreign policy in the media of the foreign countries where they serve.”
According to Lavrov, the tectonic shifts in global politics and the economy that have accelerated since the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, “have drawn a clear dividing line between the narrow circle of unfriendly states and the rest of the world, the global majority that is seeking closer ties and mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia.”
In those circumstances, Russian diplomats are succeeding in not only preserving but also deepening equitable cooperation with the states of the Greater Eurasia, Africa and Latin America, he continued.
“The ability of each of us to adapt quickly to the profound changes taking place in the world is what guarantees our further success. None of us should stand still, without exception. We must continuously strive for self-improvement, shedding obsolete stereotypes, expanding our professional horizon, mastering new areas of foreign policy and actively using cutting-edge ICT [information and communications technologies],” Lavrov added.