Eurasia Press & News
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during an informal and open meeting aims at exchange views on the issues that concern the media and the international community in general, has assertively asked foreign journalists to cover political and economic developments related to Russia both objectively and comprehensively.
Speaking to a cross section of foreign media outlets represented in the Russian Federation, he explained that “turning the information field into an arena of confrontation does not facilitate the creation of an environment demanded by the present situation.”
According the information made available by the ministry, there are 271 foreign media offices from 57 countries in Moscow and other cities. These media organizations and foreign correspondents mostly come from the United States, Europe and Asia, with only a few from Latin America. Africa media is relatively unknown, except for Morocco and Egypt.
“We have been acquainted with many of you for a long time and met repeatedly at news conferences, during interviews and at different unofficial events. Our dialogue has always been very useful. The frank assessments that we hear from you via your questions help us to plan our information work and sometimes contain prompts for the positions we promote in the world arena,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov noted that the Russian side has no intentions of imposing its point of view on others. “In turn, we hope that you will cover every angle of the events in an objective way too,” the top diplomat emphasized, and gave the assurance that Moscow is always ready for discussions.
“Yet, of course, we cannot take as a given (moreover, to agree with) the current wave of what is called fakes, the wave of labeling using the old Cold War ideological cliches,” he stated, adding that turning the information field into an arena of confrontation does not facilitate the creation of an environment demanded by the present situation.
Lavrov has described the attempts to use the issue of vaccination against the novel coronavirus for geopolitical insinuations as regrettable and stated that Moscow was prepared to promote impartial media coverage of this subject.
“The coronavirus pandemic has shown it is an imperative of our time to stop using any occasion for fueling confrontation and hostility. Even when it comes to the vaccination issue, we can see that sometimes the wish prevails to try to use this theme, which is crucial to the whole of humanity, first and foremost, from the standpoint of ensuring each person’s right to life, for the sake of geopolitical insinuations. This is regrettable.”
Nevertheless, an overwhelming majority of foreign journalists valued their reputation, he said before finally adding: “We read much of what your editors publish. I see your striving to analyze and understand and to delve into the essence of events. In doing this you can always count on us as your sincere and active assistance and support,” Lavrov said.
This early March meeting was very special and exclusive. The last time the Foreign Minister interacted largely with the media was January 18, 2021 when he answered various questions after the traditional news conference on the foreign policy outcomes of 2020.
