Remarks to the Press by Chargé d'Affaires a.i. Dmitry Polyanskiy
Dmitry Polyanskiy: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I think that right now you’ve just seen a very vivid illustration of absolutely pathetic uselessness of European diplomacy. And you understand now better why European diplomacy has to seek crumbs from bigger tables in a desperate quest for something anti-Russian. In fact, they just tried to take out of the mothballs a conflict, which is not actual today to the extent for the Security Council to discuss it, with the only aim to undermine the ongoing efforts of normalization of relations between Russia and Georgia.
I can remind you that today, our trade turnover with Georgia is $2.5 billion. We are the second trade partner of Georgia. We also had 1.5 million Russian tourists who visited Georgia last year. So this testifies to the absolutely clear desire of our both nations to reestablish mutual ties and to normalize our relations. But of course, there are those who are not interested in such a scenario, those who wanted to make out of Georgia just a pawn in their geopolitical interests. They think that they have succeeded with Ukraine. But the Georgian leadership had enough wisdom to reject such a nefarious scenario, which makes our European colleagues restless, they try to do everything they can to step on the same rake and to lead this country into the same tragedy as they have already led Ukraine into.
Of course, we will resist such efforts. We are interested in good and neighborly relations with Georgia. We are also interested in the creation of favorable security climate in Southern Caucasus. We are interested in making relations between Georgia, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia normal, and in signing treaties on non-aggression and non-use of force between these countries, which is very important given the very tragic history of these conflicts in that very troubled region.
So that’s, in a nutshell, what I wanted to say. I don’t think I should dwell in details of this mothball topic. So that’s it. If you have any questions, I’m ready to take them.
Q: Mr. Ambassador, a question not on Georgia. What are Russia's hopes and expectations for today's meetings between President Trump and President Zelenskiy of Ukraine and top European leaders?
Dmitry Polyanskiy: Well, this is not our meeting, as you know. Our meeting has taken place quite recently and was in the center of the world’s attention. So, it's a bilateral matter, of course, first and foremost, between the U.S. and other countries. But what everybody hopes for is that this meeting will go in the same way as the meeting with Russia, which, as President Trump himself acknowledged, opened an opportunity for a long and lasting peace. And we welcome very much such a scenario. We hope that the Ukrainian leadership will – instead of thinking about saving their own skin – think about their people who don't want to fight and who are ready for peace – fair, just, and long-lasting peace. That's what Russia is trying to achieve in Ukraine for many, many years.
Q: Can I ask you about also a different subject, the UNIFIL mandate and its renewal and where Russia stands and what do you want to see?
Dmitry Polyanskiy: We are about to discuss this topic in the afternoon, as you know. It's not the easiest situation given the very troubled context in the Middle East in general, and in Lebanon as such. We are very much supportive of our Lebanese brothers and sisters. We are taking on board, first and foremost, what they want from this mission. We think that it plays a very important role and it needs to be maintained and maybe tailored to certain interests, but first and foremost, bearing in mind interests of the Lebanese host of this mission. That will be our starting point today, and we'll see what will come out by the end of the month. We are ready to engage all our partners in discussing this issue in bigger detail.
Q: So, do you think the mandate should be renewed for another year for UNIFIL?
Dmitry Polyanskiy: Yes, we think so. But of course, we will discuss the details with our colleagues. This is a normal process.
Q: And regarding Ukraine and the Security Council. So, do you anticipate that before the end of the month the Security Council will convene in some form a briefing about Ukraine to discuss the latest developments?
Dmitry Polyanskiy: We're never against discussing Ukraine. We are always open for this, but we have the impression that it is becoming more and more painful for our Western colleagues to call for such meetings because the core of the nefarious policies in Ukraine is becoming more and more obvious. We are not presiding over the Security Council. It's up to the presidency to take such decisions. But we are always ready to discuss Ukraine. And we were from day one. Just nobody wanted to listen to us. And then we got this hot stage of the Ukrainian crisis. I don't know whether they will take any lessons from this in the future. It seems unlikely, given today's discussion.
Thank you very much.
