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international

voices are increasingly shaping global agendas.
Our work in Geneva, especially alongside
our partners within the “Group of Friends
in Defense of the UN Charter”, aligns with
this shift by promoting a more inclusive and
balanced international system. We are focused
on ensuring that multilateralism reflects the
realities of a multipolar world and respects the
cultural, historical, and strategic particularities
of all its participants.

Today, some political analysts say that the
geopolitical centre has moved to the East, and
some even say that the European days of glory
are over. The major BRICS summit conference in
Kazan certainly backs up this appraisal. Coming
from one of the "heavy weights" of the BRICS,
but viewing events from the West, you have a
privileged position from which to observe it and
its follow-up. What do you see coming out this
historic event generally and especially for the is the case of the former Soviet republics. This is an
role of Russia? objectively occurring process.
Over the past weeks, we have certainly witnessed
significant global events that will greatly influence The West has been proving time and again that
the future of international politics. Among them it is not just willing, but never hesitates to use
was, of course, the XVI BRICS Summit in Kazan, illegal sanctions against any country it sees as a
which brought together leaders and officials threat to its economic domination, violating the
from 36 countries, representing over 57% of global market economy principles it supposedly
the world’s population. The Summit made a champions. All countries see this, which explains
lasting impact, with the association receiving the growing interest in joining BRICS or seeking
more than 30 applications for membership or other ways of association.
special relations. It’s fair to say that BRICS’s
growing strength has become a driving force for For Russia, the Summit underscored our
a polycentric world order. critical role in this emerging order. As one of
the founding members of BRICS, Russia has
Our recent diplomatic engagements, including consistently advocated for a more balanced
the BRICS Summit in Kazan and the First international system based on equality,
Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa mutual respect, and the sovereignty of states.
Partnership Forum in Sochi, have led us to a clear The decisions made in Kazan, especially the
conclusion: countries of the Global Majority adopted Kazan Declaration, reflect our shared
increasingly recognize that confrontation and commitment to these principles.
hegemony are counterproductive. The Global
South and the Global East are asserting their right In a recent interview you were asked about the
to fully participate in international decision- Conference on Disarmament. It was successful
making processes across all areas of global life. in achieving the Comprehensive Nuclear Test
Ban Treaty (CNTB Treaty) in 1996 (almost 30
What makes BRICS and other Global Majority or years ago). Since then, there has been no other
Global East associations that do not include Western major achievement, rather very disturbing back-
countries stand out, is that they are not created for sliding. What can you say about the Conference
the purpose of struggling or fighting with anyone. today? Can its work be resuscitated?
They are established to collectively benefit from The question of whether it is reasonable to
their competitive advantages such as geographical
Fete des sciences preserve the Conference on Disarmament (CD),
location, shared history, cultural and humanitarian including due to the lack of “achievements” in
proximity, and coherence of economic systems, as recent years, is, in our view, unfounded. The CD

Library in Geneva
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