Sergei Lavrov

“If you think that a coup to overthrow the elected government is a coup everywhere, then you should remember how elections in Ukraine took place in 2004, how elections in Georgia took place in 2003, when the elections results have been torn and thrown away by revolutionary action.”

“A second opinion never hurts, not only in medicine, but also in politics.”

“We firmly oppose the use of violence in the course of current transformations in Arab States, especially against civilians. We are well aware of the fact that the transformation of a society is a complex and generally long process, which rarely goes smoothly.”

“Hours before the Georgian invasion, Russia had been working to secure a United Nations Security Council statement calling for a renunciation of force by both Georgia and South Ossetians. The statement that could have averted bloodshed was blocked by western countries.”

“I know that Britain and the United States and others ship arms in the Middle East, 10 or maybe 100 times more than the Russian does.”

“The international community unfortunately did take sides in Libya, and we would never allow the Security Council to authorise anything similar to what happened in Libya.”

“Syria is a multi-confessional state: in addition to Sunni and Shia Muslims, there are Alawites, Orthodox and other Christian confessions, Druzes, and Kurds.”

“What we did say is that it is up to the Syrians themselves to decide how to run the country, how to introduce the reforms, what kind reforms, without any outside interference.”

“Shouldn't the General Assembly adopt a declaration on the inadmissibility of interference into domestic affairs of sovereign states and nonrecognition of coup d'etats as a method of the change of power?”

“We are convinced that the only way to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue is through negotiations.”

“Assertions that Russia has undermined efforts to strengthen partnerships on the European continent do not correspond to the facts.”

“We have looked into the general problems with adoption in the United States, and we discovered - on the basis of the reports written by American NGOs - we discovered that not only Russians but kids from other countries and the American-born kids have been subject to very unfortunate behavior on the part of their adopted parents.”

“We feel no isolation. But, having said that, I want to emphasise in particular that we do not want to go to extremes and abandon the European and American directions in our foreign economic cooperation.”

“I don't think you can perpetrate war crimes with defensive weapons, with air defense systems.”

“Even the state TV channels are not monolithic in their pro-government line, and the views they express are quite pluralistic.”

“With regards to the expansion of NATO, I see it as a mistake, even a provocation in a way.”

“Russia would prefer to rebuild trust rather than allow it to further corrode. That's why, in July 2007, President Putin, in the spirit of strategic openness, proposed a truly collective effort at missile defense for Europe.”

“Washington has openly declared its right to unilateral use of force anywhere to uphold its own interests.”

“Russia probably knows the true cost of revolutions better than most other countries.”

“Germany has traditionally played a very constructive role regarding E.U. ties with Russia and the West as a whole with Russia.”