Russia has invited Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to participate in the BRICS summit, which will be held in the city of Kazan from October 22 to 24, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced, as quoted by Reuters. Lavrov made this statement during an official visit to Saudi Arabia, quoted by BTA.
Last year, the bloc of developing countries invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates to become its members. The move is intended to accelerate the organization's goal of changing the world order, which it considers outdated. According to two Reuters sources with direct knowledge of the matter, Riyadh is still considering the invitation to join.
The United States aims to maintain its monopoly over all processes in the Middle East, Lavrov said, quoted by TASS, after the meeting of the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Persian Gulf. “We have convinced ourselves more than once that such a position leads to failure,”, he added, commenting on reports that the US, Qatar and Egypt want to offer Israel and “Hamas” ultimative ceasefire agreement in an "either-or" format.
Such ultimatums are an “invitation to the bloodshed to continue”, Lavrov stressed, accusing the US of blocking initiatives by Russia and other countries to regulate the conflict. The roots of the problem lie in the fact that for 80 years the issue of creating a Palestinian state has never been resolved, added the Russian first diplomat.
Lavrov accused the West of having no intention of concluding an honest agreement on Ukraine, TASS notes. The Russian Foreign Minister defined the initiative of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as an ultimatum and emphasized that “the fact that the West seizes on this ultimatum means only one thing – that the West does not want to reach an honest agreement”. Russia has never seriously considered the “Zelensky formula”, Lavrov added.
Lavrov pointed out that most Western proposals “start with the words that hostilities must cease and international law must be respected, bearing in mind the guarantee of Ukraine's territorial integrity”. But for Moscow, the issue is not about the territories, the Russian foreign minister emphasized.
„We never wanted a foreign land, we just wanted the people who are an integral part of the Russian world, Russian culture, Russian language, history, religion, to be treated humanely, as required by international law, numerous human rights conventions and for the rights of national minorities, and especially the UN Charter, Lavrov said. According to him, none of the presented peace initiatives for Ukraine take into account the problem of guaranteeing the rights of Russian speakers.
„Today I also spoke on this topic with the colleagues from Brazil, from India, because they show a certain and understandable approach for us, interested in contributing in some way to overcoming the crisis,“, Lavrov said.