18 July 201615:41
Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions at a joint news
conference following talks with Foreign Minister of Portugal Augusto Santos
Silva, Moscow, July 18, 2016
Ladies and
gentlemen,
We are pleased
to welcome Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal Augusto Santos Silva and his
delegation to Moscow. We had a busy day of productive talks, which took place
in a businesslike atmosphere, which allowed us to discuss a wide range of
important bilateral issues and the most pressing international issues.
Portugal is
our long-time partner. Unfortunately, our bilateral cooperation is going
through a difficult phase for well-known reasons. We are concerned about the
continuing decline in our trade. However, we agreed that these difficulties
must be dealt with. The current situation can be quickly overcome.
Following the
elections in Portugal in October 2015, there is now a new government and a new
president in that country. Elections to the State Duma will be held in Russia
in September. We look forward to resuming contacts between the parliaments of
our two countries after these elections. We know that a Parliamentary Group of
Friendship with Russia has already been set up in the parliament of Portugal.
Our parliament traditionally has a similar mechanism. I am confident that it
will be part of the new State Duma as well.
In addition,
we have resumed a political dialogue between foreign ministers. Our deputies
have already met and held productive consultations.
Today, we
discussed separately the fifth session of the Russian-Portuguese Joint
Commission on Economic, Industrial and Technical Cooperation held in Lisbon in
June. The participants adopted a decision designed to help restore trade,
economic and investment cooperation between our countries in areas such as high
technology, infrastructure, housing, transport, agriculture, and
nanotechnology.
We took note
of the intensified direct contacts between our respective businessmen. A
business forum attended by 70 corporate leaders from Russia and Portugal took
place this year.
We plan to
continue to improve the legal framework underlying our relations. We agreed to
put together and sign in the near future an agreement on economic and technical
cooperation, which will supersede the existing one signed in 1987. We agreed to
"give a nudge" to the process of agreeing a number of other
documents, including on matters relating to cooperation in the sphere of
education and mutual recognition of education certificates.
We focused
particularly on the humanitarian and cultural sphere, which continues to expand
dynamically, involving more and more participants who take part in festivals
and exhibitions of fine art. This year, the town of Porto – the hometown of the
Foreign Minister of Portugal – is hosting the Year of Russian Music.
We also
expressed our gratitude to our Portuguese colleagues for supporting the study
of the Russian language in Portugal. Our guests were pleased to note the
growing interest in the Portuguese language in Russia.
We discussed
at length the need to improve the situation in Europe as part of our
conversation on international politics. Russia is interested in relations with
the countries of Europe and the EU that are based on the principles of
equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, and that are focused on the common
strategic goal of all European countries. We see a growing awareness in the EU
that this is the only possible approach and that resolving major international
issues is possible only through joint efforts.
We approach
our relations with NATO from the same standpoint. We are willing to do some
serious work together on military and political security in the Euro-Atlantic
region and Europe, and to coordinate our capabilities and interests as we
search for answers to real, rather than artificially created, dangers. Clearly,
terrorism and related activities are one such a common threat for us.
At a recent
meeting of the Russia-NATO Council, Russia confirmed its willingness to resume
dialogue between militaries on an equal footing. A number of specific proposals
were made that are currently being considered by our NATO colleagues. Of
course, increasing NATO activity on our borders and moving military
infrastructure closer to Russia is not conducive to promoting our cooperation
in combating terrorism, or other areas. We also discussed this at the recent
Russia-NATO Council meeting. In this regard, I would like to emphasise that
Russia will always be able to uphold its interests and ensure the safety of its
citizens.
We talked
about Ukraine. We told our partners about the work that we are doing in order
to ensure the implementation of the Package of Measures for the Implementation
of the Minsk Agreements of February 12, 2015 and its political section, which
depends entirely on the actions of the Ukrainian government. We also discussed
this in the Normandy format between the representatives of Russia, France,
Germany, and Ukraine. I discussed the same issues at the recent talks with US
Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Russia. We share an
understanding that we need to move in tandem in order to improve security. In
this respect, we have specific proposals for disengaging the opposing sides and
ensuring OSCE monitoring of storage facilities with heavy weapons. In addition
to security measures, it is imperative to have the Ukrainian government and
parliament meet their obligations regarding the adoption of relevant laws
concerning the special status of Donbass, amnesty, amendments to the
constitution and holding, in coordination with the Donbass authorities,
elections in the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
Regarding
other current issues, we exchanged views on the efforts of the international
community to overcome the crises in Syria and Libya, and discussed ways to step
up our cooperation in fighting ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra. We touched on our
cooperation in the UN.
Overall, we
are very pleased with the outcome of the talks, which confirmed our mutual
willingness to promote cooperation. Once again, we noted our appreciation of
the balanced foreign policy of Portugal, including its European policy. Of
course, we congratulated our Portuguese friends on their victory in the
European Cup. We are looking forward to seeing them at the FIFA Confederations
Cup to be held in Russia next year.
The Foreign
Minister has kindly invited me to come to Portugal on a return visit, which I
will gladly do next year.
Question
(to both ministers): What do you think about recent events in Turkey and
the measures taken by the Turkish authorities after the failed coup?
Sergey
Lavrov: As you may be aware, President Vladimir Putin and
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a telephone conversation yesterday.
President Putin made clear that Russia maintains its principled position that
anti-constitutional coups are unacceptable, whether in Turkey, Ukraine, Yemen,
or anywhere else. For us, it is also important that in yesterday's conversation
President Erdogan confirmed that everything will be done to ensure the safety
of the Russian citizens in Turkey. Now, as we are bringing home our tourists,
we can feel the full cooperation of the Turkish authorities.
With regard to
the current situation, our position that all issues must be resolved
exclusively by constitutional means applies as well.
Question:
To what extent can such unprecedented events as a several-hour blockade of the
NATO airbase in Incirlik worsen or improve the situation surrounding the
Russian military’s anti-terrorist campaign? Will Russia revise its assessment
of the reliability of its partner?
Sergey
Lavrov: With regard to what happened in Turkey, in
particular, at the air base in Incirlik, this issue probably has more to do
with the activities of the coalition led by the United States, of which Turkey
is part of.
We can be held
accountable for the mechanisms created with our participation, and the
conditions for the Russian Aerospace Forces activities in the Syrian Arab
Republic, which are based on an agreement signed by us and Damascus following
the direct request by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for Russia’s assistance
in Syria’s fight against terrorism. There are no issues with regard to
fulfilment of this agreement.
Question:
What about Russian citizen Sergei Pozdnyakov, whom Italy refused to extradite
to Portugal? Was this issue raised during the talks?
Sergei
Lavrov: No, it wasn’t. I can also say that we haven’t
received any formal requests on this issue from the Portuguese authorities.
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