Opening remarks at Ambassador Yury Fedotov’s meeting with UK media
The United Kingdom remains an important partner for Russia. This partnership goes back to the history of the two world wars. Today, it is based on the common goals of the two countries, both permanent members of the UNSC, as well as G8 and G20 member states. In this context, Moscow and London bear great responsibility for international security, sustainable development and protection of the Earth’s environment. We share common goals related to the consequences of the global financial crisis. We have moved closer to solving a number of pressing regional and trans-border problems, i.e. Afghanistan, the Middle East, non-proliferation of WMD, etc.
For each other, our countries remain lucrative trade and economic partners. New horizons were opened for our interaction as at almost the same time Moscow and London confirmed their commitment to an economically-oriented diplomacy aimed at modernizing the foundation of economic growth, expanding the sales market, eliminating budgetary disproportions and creating new jobs. I hope that the revitalization of political dialogue between Moscow and London that we are witnessing now is the harbinger of these changes.
On the other hand, being an optimist does not mean one should be blind. We know that our relations are burdened by a ballast of well-known irritants. Strictly speaking, they do not get in the way of investment co-operation, for example, as long as there is political will. It is enough to remind ourselves that in 2008, at the peak of the political crisis triggered by London in relation to the Litvinenko case, our economic co-operation was at its record high – 30.8 billion USD of accumulated British investments into the Russian economy and 22.5 billion USD of trade turnover. The trouble is that at any time, if the political situation demands it, somebody could go and step on these sore spots. The earlier we remove these points of irritation the better it would be for both sides. Moscow is ready to resolve all the accumulated problems in a non-politicized professional way. The response to this rests with the new British leadership. We are ready to develop genuine partnership relations, however, it is of vital importance that the sides take each others’ opinions into account and show mutual respect.
The refusal of the British side to co-operate in combating terrorism and the limitations put by the British side on visas lead to complex problems in adjacent fields. I will touch upon just one aspect though which, as I see it, is important, - the anti-terrorist activity.
The first meeting between President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and British Prime Minister David Cameron on the fringes of the G20 Summit in Toronto on 25 June 2010 was enough to sense the positive potential for the development of both their personal relations and intergovernmental co-operation. This potential will be further realized during the working visit to Moscow by British Foreign Secretary William Hague that is planned for October. It might be followed by a return visit by the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov. All this will contribute to more frequent contacts between the leadership of foreign ministries, economic and other bodies. I hope that the result is that we will accumulate enough “ingredients” for a fully-fledged Russian – British summit capable of lifting our relations to a new quality level.
The ups and downs of the bilateral relationship did not hamper our coordination with regards to global and regional agenda. Being active international players and UN Security Council permanent members, Russia and UK need constant discussion on a very broad range of issues. One can sometimes forget that we do have similar or coinciding stance on many of them. Examples include joint statements on non-proliferation, Middle East, Afghanistan which were adopted during David Miliband’s visit to Moscow last November. Our leaders and foreign ministers have had exchange of opinions on these topics during the G20 summit in London, G8 meetings, at the UN General Assembly and other formats. Consultations between our foreign ministries on Afghanistan, Middle East, arms control, UN agenda, European security, CIS and others have been frequent, with a brief interruption after the conflict in South Ossetia, and successful. Russian Deputy foreign ministers often visit the Foreign Office, including when they attend conferences and other events in Britain.
The trade and economic co-operation between Russia and the UK has always been the key component of our relations. The advantages of working on the capacious Russian market are evident to the pragmatic Britons. For its part, London’s status as an international financial centre remains attractive for our companies.
Last year the UK-Russia Intergovernmental Steering Committee on Trade and Investment (ISC) resumed its work. This autumn its next meeting will take place in Russia under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Russia Aleksey Kudrin and the UK’s Secretary of State for Business, Innovations and Skills Vince Cable. The specific areas of co-operation discussed in this format are truly relevant and should in many ways coincide with our priorities of modernizing our country’s development set out by President Dmitry Medvedev, and the new UK Government and Foreign Office’s ambitions to reinvigorate British business abroad, particularly in emerging markets. This includes issues related to small and medium businesses, high technologies, financial services as well as Olympic experience and business climate.
Indeed, the global financial and economic crisis has had a negative effect on the volumes of our trade with the majority of foreign states. And the UK is no exception. However, it has managed to keep its important place among our business partners and the volume of supplies is slowly starting to recover. Thus, in 2009 against the back ground of recession the trade turnover was 22.6 billion USD which is 44% less than the 2008 result. However, during the first six months of this year this figure rose by a significant 15% and reached 6.9 billion USD. It should be noted that trade between or countries has a good solid basis. The same goes for investment co-operation.
We have made some progress in scientific exchanges – bilateral co-operation treaty has been extended until 2016, and an agreement between the British Academy of Sciences and the Russian Endowment for Fundamental Research has been signed. In the last 2 years we have also had increased co-operation in nanotechnologies.
Substantial progress was achieved in the modernizing of our consular service. Russia’s first ever visa application centre started functioning in January 2009, which made applying for a Russian visa comfortable and hassle-free. There are no queues, waiting time does not exceed 10-15 minutes, not more than 0.05% of visa applications are rejected, as compared to 5-7% of Russian applicants who are refused UK visas. In our view, there was lack of co-operation on consular matters. It has been repeatedly stated that Britain was not ready to continue visa facilitation dialogue with an aim to sign a bilateral agreement, or to lift the restrictive visa measures for Russian official visits. Similarly, there has been no progress with the 43 extradition requests submitted to the British side in the recent years – no one has been handed over to Russia.
In the past 5 years Russia-UK cultural co-operation has been very intense and remained on the rise despite the political problems. It has contributed to better understanding of Russia in Britain and helped to defuse, at least in part, the tensions in the bilateral relationship.
The goodwill of both sides has made possible such unprecedented events as the exhibition of painting masterpieces from four leading Russian museums at the Royal Academy or the exhibition of the Moscow Kremlin treasures at Victoria&Albert museum. Both were critically and publicly acclaimed.
Tours of Bolshoy and Mariinsky theatres have become regular and successful fixtures. In the last 2 years they were joined by the Mikhaylovsky theatre. Together, their performances have become some of the most important events of the summer scene.
As you know, a number of renowned Russian conductors, musicians, singers and dancers work in Britain today, exhibitions by Russian artists are a frequent sight at UK’s museums and galleries, Russian publishing houses are very much present at book fairs here – all this means that there is a growing market for Russian culture in Britain, and the climate for cultural ties is favourable.
Some major annual events set up by Russians who live in the UK have already become a tradition. I am talking about “Russian winter” and “Russian Maslenitsa” outdoor festivals, an annual festival of Russian cinema, “Pushkin in Britain” poetry event, Russian language and literature week at the London book fair. Originally they were focused on our compatriots and as such had support from our Embassy, but as time goes by we see more and more British participants and visitors involved.
The 65th anniversary of the Victory in the Second World War this year has been an excellent opportunity to remind our nations about the wartime alliance. The most important celebrations were held in London, at the Imperial War Museum and aboard HMS Belfast, and a gala concert at the Royal Albert Hall gathered war veterans from both countries.
As far as our Embassy is concerned, though it cannot be constantly open to public for obvious reasons, we are aspiring to make it an “open house” showcasing the best of Russia’s cultural exports. The Embassy has hosted an array of receptions to introduce to the British audience renowned and young Russian performers, artists, designers and launch bilingual editions of poems by Russian classics Pushkin, Lermontov, Tyutchev and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. I and my colleagues have given many public lectures at British schools and universities, and we have welcomed students from UK institutions who are interested in our history and culture. We have also been engaged in dialogue with students and all those interested in Russia in cyberspace via our recently launched forum, YouTube and Twitter channels.
To say that the 9th of May is a very special day in Russia would be a gross understatement. It is about life and humanity’s true mission on Earth. For it is not as much about Victory, which was granted by God to the people that were on the right side of history, as about its price, the sacrifices that made it possible. As is said in the Bible, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John, 15:13).
Russia and the United States are the most advanced states in terms of nuclear energy use. We have put an end to the Cold War and the arms race, including the nuclear one. Today, our coun- tries have taken a common stand for the strengthening of the nuclear nonproliferation regime and have intensified their cooperation in combating nuclear terrorism.
Russia expressed its full support for the proposal to hold a nuclear security summit (NSS) put forward by President Obama in 2009. The first summit took place in 2010 in Washington. We reaffirm our political commitments stated in its communique. Russia has signed and ratified the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and its amendment, as well as the Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, adopted by the international community at Russia's initiative. We call on other states that have not yet done so to expedite the completion of the necessary internal procedures for accession to these key international instruments.
I am glad to welcome you at the London presentation of the Ulyanovsk Region. We are continuing the series of meetings with heads of leading Russian regions under the aegis of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce initiated last autumn by the Russian Embassy. We have already covered the Republic of Sakha and the Saratov Region.
It seems that the latest Chatham House report on Russia cries out for comments by our Press Office. The authors, unfortunately, displayed an utterly biased attitude towards the subject and abysmal lack of intellectual honesty, leaving an impression that Russian politics is done in London. For the sake of comparison, the report “Engaging with Russia” to the Trilateral Commission in July 2006, represented a genuine attempt at honest analysis.
We have already entered the era of truly globalized world with porous and transparent national borders, encouraging more cultural, economic and social exchanges between people. That is further enhanced by Internet networks, encompassing nowadays the whole planet. All this creates a new type of space for unrestricted transnational intercourse.
We have a very special occasion today. We are here to mark and discuss the forthcoming publication in English of the diaries of Ivan Mikhailovich Maisky, prominent Russian diplomat, who was representing the interests of the Soviet Union in the United Kingdom during the extremely challenging and difficult period of the World War Two.
Tweet Follow @russianembassy