Sergey Lavrov meeting with MGIMO students and faculty, 7 September 2026

Торкунов представляет набор олимпиадников, участников СВО и рекорд иностранцев из 60 стран при 90 странах в университете.

Rector Torkunov frames the meeting as the traditional solemn opening of the year despite 1 September state duties. He reports a strong intake: record All-Russian Olympiad winners, gold-medal and honours graduates, students linked to the special military operation, network programmes with regional universities, and a record foreign cohort from sixty countries across a ninety-country campus community.

именно сегодняшний день является таким торжественным открытием нового учебного года, двадцать шестого-двадцать седьмого учебного года.

It is precisely today's meeting that is the solemn opening of the new academic year, twenty-six–twenty-seven.

мы приняли очень большую группу, рекордно большую группу иностранных учащихся. … у нас сегодня 90 стран представлены в университете.

We have admitted a very large, record-large group of foreign students. … Ninety countries are represented at the university today.

Лавров шутит о цензуре второго куплета гимна МГИМО и поздравляет первокурсников и Торкунова.

Lavrov opens with a light rebuke that the rectorate censors a second verse of the MGIMO hymn he wrote, then congratulates first-years, continuing students, and faculty, and marks Torkunov's recent birthday. He stresses that such meetings give him and MFA staff who work with MGIMO a useful impulse.

во втором куплете такая дотошная цензура … усмотрела намёк на то, что студенты не лишены маленьких … шалостей.

In the second verse such meticulous censorship spotted a hint that students are not without small … mischiefs.

для меня, я вас заверяю, это всегда очень хороший импульс передаёт и мне, и моим сотрудникам.

For me, I assure you, this always transmits a very good impulse both to me and to my staff.

Исторический лейтмотив: искреннего желания жить вместе на равных не было.

Lavrov's historical frame: from Ivan the Terrible through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, after October 1917 especially, no one wanted Russia strong; many preferred not to deal with it honestly. Occasional personal ties among monarchs did not produce lasting sincerity grounded in historical, political and economic necessity to live together without plots that rebound on their authors.

никто никогда не хотел видеть нас сильными. Многие даже не хотели с нами откровенно общаться.

No one ever wanted to see us strong. Many did not even want to deal with us frankly.

искренности вот такой основывающейся на сознании исторической необходимости … жить вместе … Не было такого на протяжении всей нашей истории.

Sincerity based on awareness of historical necessity … to live together … There was none of that throughout our entire history.

Ленд-лиз, поздний второй фронт, план Черчилля и ядерные планы США 1949 года.

Lend-Lease and northern convoys mattered in 1941–42 when Hitler seemed unstoppable; the second front opened only in summer 1944 after allies watched which way the pendulum swung. Soviet historiography soft-pedalled non-allied facts to honour Elbe brotherhood — which Putin still values — yet Churchill already invented Operation Unthinkable, and by 1949 Americans planned to bomb nearly three hundred Soviet cities until the Soviet bomb cooled them.

ещё не успели замолкнуть пушки Второй мировой, а Черчилль уже изобретал операцию Немыслимое.

The guns of the Second World War had not yet fallen silent when Churchill was already inventing Operation Unthinkable.

в сорок девятом году … американцы планировали разбомбить около почти 300 наших городов. И только появление российской ядерной бомбы успокоило … американцев.

In forty-nine … Americans planned to bomb nearly three hundred of our cities. Only the appearance of the Russian nuclear bomb calmed … the Americans.

«Конец истории», иностранные советники и ваучерная приватизация.

After Soviet crisis came perestroika and Fukuyama's "end of history"; many rushed into Western embraces without checking their quality. Ministries, corporations and the Central Bank filled with foreign advisers who shaped privatisation — from the voucher-as-Volga advertisement to trading vouchers for a bottle of vodka.

открылась новая эра, когда было объявлено … что мы больше не враги … и что все мы теперь одним миром мазаны.

A new era opened when it was announced … that we are no longer enemies … and that we are all now tarred with the same brush.

начиналось с рекламы по телевидению, что вот вам ваучер — это Волга. Потом за ваучер давали … бутылку водки.

It began with television advertising that your voucher is a Volga. Later for a voucher they gave … a bottle of vodka.

Возврат к корням; отказ Клинтона от равноправного членства России в НАТО.

Yeltsin's December 1999 handover to Putin answered a popular need to return to roots after the 1990s anomaly muffled civilisational foundations. Putin sought good relations with the West on equal terms, not as a second-class guest at the G8. His early offer to Clinton of equal NATO membership for Euro-Atlantic stability was killed by Clinton's advisers — the first jolt about what role the West assigned Russia in its post-history liberal-democratic design.

выборы, которые закрепили потребность всего народа … вернуться к своим корням.

Elections that locked in the whole people's need … to return to their roots.

Клинтон сказал, что он подумает, а вечером … сказал: «Вы знаете, господин президент, мои советники сказали, что не получится».

Clinton said he would think, and in the evening … said: "You know, Mr President, my advisers said it won't work.

Факты и вопросы о истинном отношении Запада; верность своим корням.

Putin's 2007 Munich speech stated facts and asked whether that was the West's true attitude. Contradictions then grew not because Russia sought a fight but because Russia insisted its legitimate interests — aligned with the UN Charter and international law — be heard and taken into account. That alone caused a "mutiny on the ship": the West had declared history ended while Russia simply kept faith with its roots and civilisation.

Мы просто сохраняли верность, преданность своим корням, своим предкам, своей истории, своей государственности, своей цивилизации.

We simply kept faith and devotion to our roots, our ancestors, our history, our statehood, our civilisation.

это уже одно вызвало неприятие, бунт на корабле.

That alone already caused rejection, a mutiny on the ship.

Оранжевый сценарий, ассоциация с ЕС, ультиматум «с русскими или с Европой», правительство победителей.

The Ukrainian crisis ripened in 2004 when the West cancelled a second round and forced an illegal third that its candidate won. Ukraine was shaped as the tip of Western armed force against Russia. When Yanukovych asked to delay the EU association agreement because of the Russia–Ukraine free-trade zone and Russia's WTO-won protections, Brussels forced an either/or — with Russians or with Europe — and Maidan followed; February 2014's national-unity deal was ripped up overnight into a "government of victors."

из Брюсселя кричали: «Вы должны определиться, украинцы, с кем вы? С русскими или с Европой».

From Brussels they shouted: "You must decide, Ukrainians, who you are with — the Russians or Europe.

объявили, что создали правительство совсем не национального единства, а правительство победителей.

They announced they had created not a government of national unity at all, but a government of victors.

Минск как выигрыш времени для войны; срыв стамбульских договорённостей.

Minsk agreements approved by the Security Council were later admitted by Merkel, Hollande and Poroshenko as a device to buy time for war against Russia. After the special military operation began, Ukraine brought Istanbul proposals Russia accepted; then Boris Johnson and others told Kyiv to keep fighting. Lavrov presents a long pattern of dislike of Russia's size, wealth and multi-national character.

они все трое … заявили, что ничего не собирались мы выполнять. Нам надо было время … выиграть, чтобы подготовиться к войне против России.

All three … stated that they never intended to implement anything. We needed to win time … to prepare for war against Russia.

им сказали там Бориса Джонсона … «Не, не надо, воюйте».

Boris Johnson and others told them … "No, don't — fight on.

Забвение колониализма; японский тезис о Хиросиме из-за СССР.

The West tries to forget five hundred years of colonial extraction and genocide while blaming Russia for "conquering" Europe after liberating it from Nazism that much of Europe fought alongside. Lavrov cites with astonishment a Japanese scholar arguing Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened because the Soviet Union violated Yalta by expanding influence — a claim he refuses even to classify.

пытаются забыть про эти 500 с лишним лет доминирования Запада, который выжимал все соки.

They try to forget those five hundred-plus years of Western domination that squeezed out all the juices.

не было бы Советского Союза, не было бы Хиросимы и Нагасаки.

Had there been no Soviet Union, there would have been no Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Устные и письменные обещания обесценены; договоры 2021 отвергнуты.

Oral no-expansion promises to Gorbachev were dismissed as merely oral; the 1999 OSCE written pledge against domination of the Euro-Atlantic was waved off as a political declaration — while legal security guarantees were said to be available only inside NATO. Russia’s 2008–09 and December 2021 draft treaties with the US and NATO were haughtily rejected, after which the special military operation sharply accelerated a historical process of West versus Russia and West versus the rest of the world.

юридические гарантии безопасности можно получить только в рамках НАТО.

Legal security guarantees can be obtained only within NATO.

Мы предложили заключить два договора — России и США и Россия и НАТО. Высокомерно были отвергнуты.

We proposed concluding two treaties — Russia–US and Russia–NATO. They were haughtily rejected.

Блокировка реформ МВФ и ВТО; Африка, Латинская Америка, БРИКС.

The West will not yield due weight to rising centres. China, India and other BRICS members are denied IMF quotas and votes matching their economic weight; US veto is artificially preserved; WTO dispute settlement against China is blocked. Eurasia, Africa’s second awakening for resource sovereignty, and Latin America under Lula’s BRICS push for alternative payments all mark the same shift.

Запад не хочет отдавать им причитающееся.

The West does not want to give them what is due.

одна из её первых инициатив в рамках БРИКС: давайте искать … альтернативные формы платежей.

One of her first BRICS initiatives: let us seek … alternative forms of payments.

Свыше 90% торговли вне доллара; арест резервов и «теневой флот».

Most Russia–partners trade already runs outside the dollar; Russia has moved over ninety percent of its trade into national currencies or reliable substitutes (yuan, UAE dirham). The process is unstoppable; the West answers with aggressive sanctions and seizure of state reserves — open theft — including against the so-called shadow fleet, as Putin again noted after the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan.

мы практически 90 с лишним процентом всей нашей торговли перевели уже либо в национальные валюты, либо в надёжные долларозаменители.

We have already moved over ninety percent of all our trade into either national currencies or reliable dollar substitutes.

Прямое воровство и грабёж. … Запад сейчас занимается грабежом и в отношении активов, в отношении так называемого теневого флота.

Direct theft and robbery. … The West is now engaged in robbery regarding assets and the so-called shadow fleet.

Попытки омрачить выборы в Думу; убийства в Белгороде, Курске, Брянске.

Upcoming State Duma elections are a five-year landmark the West seeks to cloud. Inside Russia, characters helping the West include terrorists hired for the Ukrainian Nazi regime. Talk of "discomfort" is answered by naming Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk, where people are killed almost daily — a central task for the military and industry, as discussed when Putin met war correspondents on Moscow Day.

в Белгородской, в Курской, в Брянской … там людей убивают каждый день почти.

In Belgorod, Kursk, Bryansk … people are being killed there almost every day.

Запад делает всё, чтобы омрачить это событие … поставить под вопрос справедливость выборов.

The West is doing everything to darken this event … to call into question the fairness of the elections.

326 участков в 152 странах; перераспределение кадров; победа над нацизмом — в генетическом коде.

Polling stations open in 152 countries (326 stations, 61 in unfriendly states); Western sites fell by sixty-plus after consulate closures — Bonn cited as a German pretext. Staff are redeployed to partners who seek a balance of interests. Like-minded states want mutually beneficial deals, not rare-earth ultimatums. Front-line outcomes decide influence; Lavrov bows to SVO participants and student veterans. MFA’s core task is political-diplomatic support for the operation and a just end on Putin’s 2024 terms so Nazism’s metastases in Europe are not left in power — anything else would betray 1945.

открываем избирательные участки в 152 странах, а всего этих участков 326.

We are opening polling stations in 152 countries, and there are 326 stations in all.

оставить у власти режим, который перезахоранивает … прах нацистских преступников, означало бы … предать тех, кто победил нацизм в сорок пятом.

Leaving in power a regime that reburies … the remains of Nazi criminals would mean … betraying those who defeated Nazism in forty-five.

Не «разворот», а двуглавый орёл; харакири Европы; банк развития ШОС.

Asked about Asian energy export diversification, Lavrov says it is already underway for years — not a pivot east but the two-headed eagle looking west and east since the 2000s. Europe cuts social benefits while claiming it must suffer for Ukraine’s "European values," which Lavrov equates with Nazism, language bans and the attack on the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Europe pays $800–900 per thousand cubic metres of US LNG; price caps try to pry buyers away; OPEC+ keeps agreed limits; BRICS New Development Bank is being reformed and an SCO development bank planned off Western chains.

Да и не было разворота на восток. … орёл смотрел каждой головой … на запад, на восток.

And there was no pivot to the East. … The eagle looked with each head … west and east.

Европа сама себе делает харакири и с гордостью объявляет: «Да, мы должны страдать».

Europe is committing harakiri on itself and proudly announces: "Yes, we must suffer.

Китай, Индия, АСЕАН; всемирная организация по ИИ; пять комиссий с КНР.

Five-to-ten-year priorities sit in long-term deals with China, India, Central Asia, the CIS, EAEU, Union State and ASEAN: energy including nuclear, agribusiness and fertilisers, high technology. The US built "Pax Silica"; China launched a world AI cooperation organisation with Russia as a founding member. Five China–Russia deputy-premier commissions go into detail MFA need not track day to day.

Китайцы … объявили о создании Всемирной организации по сотрудничеству в области искусственного интеллекта, где и мы являемся … учредителями.

The Chinese … announced creation of a World Organisation for Cooperation in Artificial Intelligence, of which we are … founders.

с Китайской Народной Республикой … существует пять межправительственных комиссий под управлением вице-премьеров.

With the PRC … there are five intergovernmental commissions under deputy premiers.

Концепция прибрежной безопасности; нормализация Иран–СА; выборы в США и Израиле.

Russia’s role away from its borders is to support what regional states themselves can agree, including adversaries. For over twenty years Moscow floated a littoral Gulf security concept with confidence measures and optional LAS, OIC and UNSC P5 involvement; readiness came only as war intensified. China-brokered Iran–Saudi normalisation and updated Russian concepts point toward lasting arrangements; Mecca-framework ideas (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey) leave doors open; Israel openly opposes until Iran is "crushed"; US and Israeli election cycles must be caught for talks.

Россия предложила странам Персидского залива … одобрить концепцию безопасности прибрежных стран залива.

Russia proposed to the Persian Gulf states … to approve a security concept for the littoral states of the Gulf.

благодаря инициативе китайской стороны, но и при нашем активном поощрении нормализовались отношения между … Иран и … Саудовской Аравии.

Thanks to the Chinese side’s initiative, and with our active encouragement, relations between … Iran and … Saudi Arabia were normalised.

День борьбы с колониализмом; уход от долларовых цепочек; доверия Западу не будет.

There is no single recipe for being respected — force, refusal to talk, or honest bargaining when legitimate interests collide — but one must defend dignity without needlessly wounding others’. The West mostly bargains by ultimatum smelling of colonialism. UNGA made 14 December a day against all colonialism; United Russia’s inter-party freedom-of-nations movement continues. On unilateral sanctions, international-law instruments will not bind the West; the exit is leaving dollarised chains. Russia did not abandon the dollar — the dollar abandoned Russia. Biden was accused of wrecking dollar trust via sanctions, then Trump accused BRICS of fleeing the dollar; either way Russia builds tools no declared enemy can disrupt. Pre–February 2022 relations with the West will not return in the lifetime of those present.

От доллара мы не отказывались, нам отказывали в долларе.

We did not refuse the dollar; they refused us the dollar.

таких отношений с ними, которые были до февраля 2022 года, больше не будет никогда.

Relations with them of the kind that existed before February 2022 will never exist again.

Стих о Посольском приказе; живое воспитание против гаджетов; быть приличным человеком.

Asked what is permanent in interstate relations, Lavrov cites his "Posolsky Prikaz" poem: serve the country, learn to get along and trade, live respecting others’ deserts, teach others to respect Russia. Continuity, elders, memory matter more amid gadgets; MGIMO’s school and preschool work and planned boarding centres stress live personal teaching — not asking Gigachat what a bisector is. Advice when projects fail: concentrate alone if that fits, or mentorship and small brainstorming groups; individuality was never crushed when he and Torkunov were students.

и учились, как жить по заслугам других, уважая, и учили других, как Россию всегда уважать.

And they learned how to live respecting others’ deserts, and taught others always to respect Russia.

Главное … быть приличным человеком.

The main thing … is to be a decent person.

Зонтик Евразии; СВМДА; хартия многополярности с Беларусью.

China’s four global initiatives (including global governance and AI) are useful. Putin’s ASEAN–Russia idea of a Eurasia-wide umbrella open to all continental states — unlike Africa’s AU or CELAC — still lacks a settled framework; CICA reform toward Eurasian criteria has Tokayev’s support. Horizontal SCO–EAEU–ASEAN memos, Greater Eurasian Partnership interlocking Belt and Road, North–South corridor and Northern Sea Route build material foundations. OSCE is discredited; the aim is Eurasian security architecture without extra-regional players. Belarus’s annual Eurasian security conference will host a draft Eurasian Charter of Multipolarity and Diversity for the twenty-first century; past sessions drew Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia — slower than Macron-style excluding summits, but more durable.

на самом крупном … евразийском континенте … нет рамочной организации, открытой для всех без исключения стран Евразии.

On the largest … Eurasian continent … there is no framework organisation open to all Eurasian countries without exception.

★ Multipolarity мы подготовили вместе с ними хартию, евразийскую хартию многополярности и многообразия в XXI веке.

Together with them we prepared a charter — a Eurasian charter of multipolarity and diversity in the twenty-first century.