Latest news with #Sergey Lavrov
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
EU-US trade deal ‘heavy blow' to European industry: Russia
Russia on Monday criticized a trade deal reached between the European Union and the United States, saying it would deal a 'heavy blow' to European industry. 'Such an approach will lead to the further de-industrialization of Europe, to the flow of investments from Europe to the United States, and of course, this will be a very heavy blow,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a youth conference near Moscow.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Russia restores direct flights to North Korea
Russia has inaugurated a new regular air service between Moscow and Pyongyang, highlighting the deepening relationship between the two nations. The inaugural flight, operated by Nordwind, departed Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport with over 400 passengers, with plans for one monthly flight. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently visited North Korea, meeting Kim Jong Un and encouraging Russian tourism to the Wonsan-Kalma beach resort. North Korea is slowly easing pandemic restrictions and reopening its borders, with the Wonsan-Kalma resort central to its efforts to boost tourism and improve its economy. The new air link underscores the expanded military and other ties between Russia and North Korea, including Pyongyang's supply of weapons for Russia's military action in Ukraine.
Russia Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Tehran's new war plan: Build an anti-NATO
What if the next global security pact wasn't forged in Brussels or Washington – but in Beijing, with Iran at the table? This is no longer a theoretical question. At the mid-July meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers in China, Iran made it clear: Tehran now views the SCO not just as a regional forum, but as a potential counterweight to NATO. In doing so, it signaled a profound strategic pivot – away from an outdated Western-dominated system and toward an emerging Eurasian order. The summit highlighted the increasing resilience of multilateral Eurasian cooperation in the face of growing global turbulence. Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who also met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping – an encounter that underscored the strength of the Moscow-Beijing axis. On the sidelines, Lavrov held bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of China, Pakistan, India, and notably, Iran. His talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi focused on diplomatic solutions to the nuclear issue and emphasized deepening strategic coordination. The Iranian side used the platform with purpose. Araghchi expressed his appreciation for the SCO's solidarity amid Israeli aggression and stressed that Iran views the organization not as symbolic, but as a practical mechanism for regional unity and global positioning. India's full participation also contradicted predictions in Western circles that geopolitical tensions would paralyze the SCO. Instead, New Delhi reaffirmed its commitment to the platform. The implication is clear: unlike NATO, where unity depends on compliance with a central authority, the SCO has proven flexible enough to accommodate diverse interests while building consensus. For Russia, the SCO remains a cornerstone of its Eurasian strategy. Moscow serves as a balancing force – linking China with South and Central Asia, and now, with an assertive Iran. Russia's approach is pragmatic, multi-vector, and geared toward creating a new geopolitical equilibrium. The heart of the summit was Abbas Araghchi's speech – an assertive and legally grounded critique of Israeli and American actions. He cited Article 2, Section 4 of the UN Charter, denounced attacks on Iran's IAEA-monitored nuclear facilities, and invoked Resolution 487 of the UN Security Council. His message: Western aggression has no legal cover, and no amount of narrative control can change that. But beyond condemnation, Araghchi delivered a concrete roadmap to strengthen the SCO as a vehicle for collective security and sovereignty: A collective security body to respond to external aggression, sabotage, and terrorism A permanent coordination mechanism for documenting and countering subversive acts A Center for Sanctions Resistance, to shield member economies from unilateral Western measures A Shanghai Security Forum for defense and intelligence coordination Enhanced cultural and media cooperation to counter cognitive and information warfare These are not rhetorical gestures – they are blueprints for institutional transformation. Iran is operationalizing a new security doctrine built on multipolarity, mutual defense, and resistance to hybrid threats. While NATO is structured around a rigid hierarchy dominated by Washington, the SCO embodies a post-hegemonic vision: sovereignty, equality, and civilizational plurality. Its member states represent over 40% of the global population, possess vast industrial capacities, and share a collective desire to break the unipolar mold. Tehran's bet is clear: the SCO offers not just a geopolitical shelter, but a platform for advancing a new global logic – one rooted in strategic autonomy, not dependency. The sophistication and clarity of Araghchi's initiatives suggest that Tehran is preparing for the long game. Behind closed doors, the summit likely featured discussions – formal and informal – about deepening SCO institutionalism, perhaps even rethinking the organization's mandate. Araghchi made that vision explicit: 'The SCO is gradually strengthening its position on the world stage... It must adopt a more active, independent, and structured role.' That's diplomatic code for institutional realignment. The Western response was immediate. Within days of Iran's proposals, the EU imposed new sanctions on eight individuals and one Iranian organization – citing vague claims of 'serious human rights violations.' Israel, by contrast, faced no new penalties. It is geopolitical signaling. Tehran's push to turn the SCO into an action-oriented bloc is seen in Brussels and Washington as a direct threat to the current order. The more coherent and proactive the SCO becomes, the harsher the pressure will grow. But that pressure proves Iran's point. The rules-based order is no longer rules-based – it is power-based. For countries like Iran, the only path to sovereignty is through multilateral defiance and integration on their own terms. Iran is not improvising. It is positioning itself as a co-architect of a post-Western security order. Its vision for the SCO goes beyond survival – it is about shaping an international system where no single bloc can dominate through sanctions, information warfare, or coercive diplomacy. This strategy has implications far beyond Tehran. If the SCO embraces Iran's proposals and begins to institutionalize them, we could be witnessing the early formation of the 21st-century's first true alternative to NATO. The West may dismiss this as fantasy – but in Eurasia, the future is already being drafted. And this time, it's not happening in English.
Al Mayadeen
15-07-2025
- Business
- Al Mayadeen
NATO's defense spending surge may cause its collapse: Lavrov
NATO's surge in defense spending will only damage the alliance and push it toward collapse, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned, calling for greater pragmatism in its approach, as he addressed reporters following the Collective Security Treaty Organization's Council of Foreign Ministers meeting. "He can probably see – since he is such a wise sage – that the disastrous increase in spending of NATO countries will also lead to the collapse of this organization," Lavrov said, responding to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski's claim that Russia's military build-up would lead to its downfall. "Meanwhile, Russia – as President [Vladimir Putin] said the other day in Minsk after the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting – plans to reduce its military spending and be guided by common sense, rather than imaginary threats, as NATO member states do, including Sikorski," Lavrov pointed out. Following the NATO Summit held in The Hague on June 24-25, the alliance's member states have agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, as outlined in the adopted communique, with plans to allocate at least 3.5% of GDP by 2035 based on NATO's agreed definition of military spending. An allocation of 1.5% of GDP will be dedicated to safeguarding critical infrastructure and networks, enhancing civil preparedness and resilience, fostering innovation, and bolstering the defense industrial base. Eager to claim credit, Trump hailed the agreement by all 32 NATO member states to work toward spending five percent of GDP on defense, calling it "a great victory for everybody." During closed-door discussions, diplomats revealed that Trump stressed the importance of US leadership while pushing allies to direct their expanded defense budgets toward purchasing American-made weaponry. With NATO leaders unanimously praising the agreement as "historic," Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever observed that Europe's "long break from history" had ended, emphasizing the continent's urgent need to assume full responsibility for its defense amid escalating geopolitical tensions.
Times of Oman
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Times of Oman
Will nuclear powers help keep nukes out of Southeast Asia?
Kuala Lumpur: As global powers vie for influence in Southeast Asia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is renewing its push towards nuclear disarmament. The ASEAN has long urged China, the US, the UK, Russia, and France to sign the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ) accords. Adopted by ASEAN in 1995, the SEANWFZ (also known as the Bangkok treaty) aims to keep the region free of "nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction" while allowing for civilian use of nuclear energy. Following the ASEAN Regional Forum in Kuala Lumpur last week, the bloc's current chair Malaysia urged nuclear powers to "recognize the need to completely eliminate nuclear weapons." Beijing has already confirmed it will endorse SEANWFZ, according to Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan. "China made a commitment to ensure that they will sign the treaty without reservation," Hasan told reporters on the sidelines of an ASEAN diplomatic event last week. Will US and Russia also join SEANWFZ? Hasan also indicated that Russia, which owns the world's largest nuclear arsenal, will sign the agreement as well. While Moscow has yet to comment on the issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Malaysia in early July for a series of high-profile meetings. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also in Kuala Lumpur last week for several multilateral and bilateral talks. However, it remains unclear if the US intends to sign the SEANWFZ. Both Washington and Moscow are keen to secure their influence in the region, including in the field of nuclear energy, as several ASEAN states are looking for outside partners to develop civilian nuclear programmes. A fading global order Partnerships with Washington, however, may not be as reliable as they once were. President Donald Trump's administration is pursuing a mercurial and shifting foreign policy, leaving Southeast Asia with the general sense that the rules and norms of the international order are crumbling, and the US' credibility and interest in the region are fading fast. Most Southeast Asian countries have reacted by advancing relations with Russia and China over the past few months, recognizing that Lavrov, Russia's top diplomat, may be correct in saying that the international community is fragmenting into a "multipolar world order." This leaves room for China to expand its diplomatic clout at Washington's expense. By endorsing the SEANWFZ, Beijing wants to show that it "cares about ASEAN at the same time as the US is potentially tariffing Southeast Asian states and trying to use them to isolate China, which they don't want to do," Joshua Kurlantzick, senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, told DW. "China loses nothing because there's little likelihood anyway it would need to use nukes in Southeast Asia," he added. Also, Beijing can now emphasize the contrast between its own policy and the AUKUS pact involving the US, the UK and Australia. The agreement between the three nations allows for the use of nuclear-powered submarines in the Asia-Pacific. China deploying submarines in South China Sea Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington, told DW that "China will absolutely not abide by the terms of the SEANWFZ." The SEANWFZ treaty commits its signatories not to move nuclear weapons through the region or its waterways. In recent years, however, China has been accused of "bunkering" its submarines in the South China Sea, a contested maritime area that several Southeast Asian states dispute with Beijing. In 2023, the Reuters news agency reported that China had begun to keep at least one nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine at sea at all times, with many patrolling the waters from Hainan to the South China Sea. Last year, the US military asserted that Beijing was preparing to deploy floating nuclear reactors near the artificial islands it has reclaimed in the South China Sea. Beijing wants to portray itself as reliableChina is believed to possess hundreds of operational nuclear warheads, and — according to the Pentagon — continues to expand its nuclear arsenal. "But that Beijing is willing to be the first outside nuclear power to sign the SEANWFZ is diplomatically smart and at least pays lip service to ASEAN centrality," Abuza noted, referring to the concept that ASEAN should be at the heart of broader Asia-Pacific diplomacy. "China is doing everything it can to portray itself as the responsible stakeholder in the region, committed to rules and norms. Beijing wants to paint Washington as the disruptor of the status quo and economic growth in the region," Abuza said. For political scientist and founder of the weekly ASEAN Wonk newsletter Prashanth Parameswaran, proper non-proliferation efforts would require more than just signing the SEANWFZ treaty. The vision of a regional nuclear-free zone has "historically carried normative weight" among some ASEAN states, including Malaysia, he told DW. However, Parameswaran points out that "no one in the region is under the illusion that this alone will necessarily restrain what nuclear powers will do or reverse the worrying state of the nuclear non-proliferation regime more generally."
