Theme

Vladimir Putin met with Great Patriotic War veterans, residents of besieged Leningrad and representatives of patriotic public associations at the State Memorial Museum of the Defence and Siege of Leningrad.

Before the meeting, Vladimir Putin toured the Spark of the Leningrad Victory exhibition in the company of Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District Alexander Gutsan and St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov.

Question: Considering the situation within the OSCE, does Moscow believe in the need to maintain its mission to this organisation? Could the question of suspending our membership arise?

Sergey Lavrov: Let me tell you right away that the situation within the OSCE has been quite challenging. Created as a platform for promoting equitable dialogue and cooperation, this organisation has been going through a deep crisis these past few years.

The West views the OSCE as a tool for promoting its own collective interests, and has turned it into a stage for waging its propaganda battles. In 2022, Poland with its openly anti-Russia positioning was the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. We believe that there was only one area where the Poles succeeded, which was to reduce the OSCE’s performance to nothing on their watch.

This has not come as a surprise for us. After all, the Western countries, since most of them are OSCE and NATO members at the same time, have a long track record of intentionally trampling upon the principles on which this Vienna-based organisation hinges, including the spirit and the letter of the fundamental documents on European security adopted by the OSCE, together with those adopted at the highest level. This includes NATO’s expansion and its drive to bring its military infrastructure closer to the Russian border, which is a grave violation of the commitment to refrain from reinforcing one’s security at the expense of others. We are now reaping the fruits of this selfish, short-sighted policy of our former partners. Our trust in them has suffered a major blow. One of the lessons is that if and when we ever start working together again, we will have to build new foundations because the past approaches are no longer working.

On December 26 the children's performance was organized at the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Karachi on the occasion of the New Year holidays.

On December 21 the Consul General of the Russian Federation Mr. Andrey Fedorov met with the citizens of Russia and former Soviet Republics living in Pakistan and the alumni of Russian universities at the Russian Cultural Centre in Karachi. Mr. Andrey Fedorov got to know the guests of the meeting and answered their questions.

On December 17 a "Family sports day" was organized at the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Karachi on the Occasion of the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays.

On December 13 the Consul General of the Russian Federation Mr. Andrey Fedorov participated in the launch ceremony of the book "The Russian-Ukraine Crisis" by Dr. Muhammad Ali Ehsan at the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology. The Russian Consul General delivered a speech on the occasion of the publishing of this book. Among other Honourable guests, former Governor of Sindh and former Minister of Interior of Pakistan Moinuddin Haider also took part in the event.

On December 6 the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Karachi Mr. Andrey Fedorov met with the Additional Inspector General of Police Mr. Javed A. Odho.

On December 2 the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Karachi Mr. Andrey Fedorov expressed his condolences to the Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Karachi Mr. Li Bijian in connection with the demise of the Former President of the People's Republic of China Jiang Zemin.

On November 30 the Consul General of the Russian Federation Mr. Andrey Fedorov met with His Excellency Mr. Hassan Nourian, the Consul General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Karachi.

On November 29 the Consul General of the Russian Federation Mr. Andrey Fedorov met with the Chairman of the Pakistan Steel Mills Dr. Saifuddin Junejo.