Sergey Lavrov interview with TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov

Участие в федеральной пятёрке связывает внешнюю политику с широким политическим консенсусом.

Lavrov describes his place in United Russia’s federal electoral list as a sign of trust and of the special demands facing the country. His relations with every parliamentary faction are intended to secure broad legislative support for foreign policy while diplomacy accompanies the special military operation and the work of the front and rear.

Доверие — это точно.

It is certainly a sign of trust.

Внешняя политика, дипломатия тоже призвана сыграть очень большую сопровождающую роль.

Foreign policy and diplomacy are also called upon to play a major supporting role.

Приход Путина и разрыв с прежней моделью отношений с Западом представлены как исторический поворот.

Lavrov credits Boris Yeltsin’s early transfer of power and Putin’s leadership with preserving Russia at a decisive moment. Western acceptance lasted only while Russia appeared compliant; Moscow’s independent course exposed the confrontation more honestly. The pre-February 2022 relationship, built on promises repeatedly broken by Western partners, will not return.

Он передал власть тому человеку, который единственный на тот момент смог сохранить Россию.

He transferred power to the person who alone at that moment was able to preserve Russia.

Так, как было до февраля 2022 года, больше никогда не будет.

Things will never again be as they were before February 2022.

БРИКС и ШОС строят сотрудничество на равноправии и компромиссе.

BRICS, the SCO, the EAEU, CIS and CSTO embody a non-hegemonic form of cooperation based on respect and compromise. Lavrov contrasts this with NATO’s deference to Washington and the EU bureaucracy’s intrusion into national authority, presenting the world-majority institutions as Russia’s constructive alternative.

В БРИКС стягиваются ведущие экономики мирового большинства.

The leading economies of the world majority are gathering in BRICS.

Всегда откровенные, взаимоуважительные переговоры с прицелом на компромисс.

There are always frank, mutually respectful negotiations aimed at compromise.

Россия опирается на ресурсы, пространство, индустриальную базу и труд поколений.

Russia withstands what Lavrov calls a historical record of 35,000 sanctions because of its geography, resources, access to seas, inherited infrastructure, imperial and Soviet industrialization and the mobilization of society. Resilience is thus framed as the accumulated strength of generations rather than a short-term policy improvisation.

Тридцать пять тысяч санкций — наверное, вообще исторический рекорд.

Thirty-five thousand sanctions are probably an absolute historical record.

Благодаря прежде всего нашим предкам, которые такую страну создали.

Above all, it is thanks to our ancestors who created such a country.

Семья, двор, образование и культура сформировали характер дипломата.

Lavrov recalls a village-like childhood in Noginsk, family influence, MGIMO, poetry and music. Informal stories about street life and strong language serve a political portrait of a public servant shaped by ordinary Russian social experience, cultural continuity and an ability to combine discipline with humour.

Я рос, по сути дела, в деревне — город Ногинск, бывший Богородск.

I grew up, essentially, in a village—the town of Noginsk, formerly Bogorodsk.

Мы же все живые люди.

We are all living people, after all.

Расширение НАТО подтверждает необходимость рассчитывать на собственные силы.

Lavrov says the Baltic states’ entry into NATO and the EU did not calm anti-Russian politics but turned them into the alliance’s most aggressive voices. The prospect of nuclear deployments and the open revival of Nazism confirm the principle that Russia must rely on itself to preserve its civilization.

Полагаться нужно только на себя, как президент неоднократно подчёркивал.

We must rely only on ourselves, as the President has repeatedly emphasized.

Если мы хотим остаться нашей русской цивилизацией, нет другого у нас варианта.

If we want to remain our Russian civilization, we have no other option.