Interview with H. E. Ambassador of Russia to Nepal Mr. Aleksei Novikov
on the occasion of Diplomat’s Day in Russia (part 1)
1. Your Excellency, our interview is taking place ahead of the Russian holiday - Diplomatic Workers’ Day. In this context could you please tell our readers about today’s state of international relations and the role of Russian Diplomacy in it.
You are right, on the 10th of February Russia celebrates Diplomatic Worker’s Day, colloquially named “Diplomat’s Day”. This occasion honours all Russian Foreign Ministry personnel – whether working in Moscow, regional offices or diplomatic missions abroad.
In response to your question I would like to highlight that the world now can be abstractedly divided into two sides. One is for multipolarity, equal rights and non-interference into domestic affairs of foreign states. Another one seeks to impose its will and values on the rest of the globe.
Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov precisely pointed out, that contemporary international relations have become an arena of historical confrontation. One part is represented by those who decided after the end of the Cold War that they could live in accordance not with the UN Charter but with their wishes and decide all issues independently, issuing instructions from the top down. These countries are pushing their so called “rules-based order” - although no one has ever seen these rules – on all nations regardless of the boards, “meddling in every mandir”, no matter whom it belongs to. The collisions with Greenland, Canada and Panama clearly demonstrate, that no one is safe from this.
Such diktat is opposed by emerging influential economies and new centres of financial power in China, India, ASEAN, the Arab world, South Asia, Africa and CELAC. This group also includes a resurgent Russia together with its allies from the EAEU, the CIS, and CSTO. This also includes the SCO and BRICS, and many other emerging and rapidly developing associations across the world, in the countries of the Global South, or to use a better designation – within the Global Majority.They uphold multipolarity and the fundamental principles of international law which have been engraved in the UN Charter, including the sovereign equality of states, which requires all those who ratified it not to impose their will on others, but to rationalise their point of view and seek a balance of interests, to negotiate.
Against this background Russian diplomacy is actively working to strengthen our positions on the international stage and ensure security and the most favourable external conditions for development, guided by the strategic goals stipulated there. As a matter of priority, we are building up ties with the countries of the global majority, the global South, and the global East, among those Nepal has definitely its specific place, redistributing our material and human resources accordingly and transferring them to those areas where they are most in demand in the new geopolitical conditions. We actively assisting in establishing the international ties of Crimea, and new regions of Russia - the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
I would also like to specifically highlight our flagship cultural and humanitarian projects: the BRICS Games, which brought together a large number of athletes from over 80 countries, The Games of the Future were held as the first ever experiment to combine physical and cybersports, the World Youth Festival and numerous student Olympiads. In 2024, at the initiative of Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the International Organisation for the Russian Language was established. Recently President Putin signed an executive order to hold the International Music Contest Intervision, which will make it possible for all countries to showcase their best musical traditions without any censorship.
The number of foreign students studying in Russia, including from Nepal is growing. There are already more than 370,000 of them, and this number will continue to grow.
2. The election of Donald Trump as the President of the USA will definitely influence international environment. What is your opinion on his return to power, the recent steps of the newly appointed administration?
I will focus on the international aspect of this question, since Russia does not interfere in the internal affairs of other states. In general, we hope that in the near future, Russian-American relations will gain a new dimension. Russian President Vladimir Putin explicitly said in this respect, “we will work with any US president the American people elect”. The emerging interaction can be seen even in the public space: Vladimir Putin recently congratulated Donald Trump on his inauguration, Russia also expressed condolences to all Americans in connection with the air crash over Washington on January 29 this year.
When it comes to the global agenda of the newly elected president and his team, I was impressed by the statements regarding USAID, which, by the way, has been quite active in Nepal. It was difficult to ignore the words of Elon Musk, who called the agency a "criminal organization" adding “time for it to die" or Donald Trump, who directly stated "It's all a scam when you look at USAID. Very little is spent on good purposes."
As the spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry of Russia said “It is sad and tragic that the world's leading power spends money on destructive actions that lead to disasters and tragedies around the world. Huge sums were spent on "stirring up" public sentiment, in the media, which destroyed freedom of speech and turned into a propaganda tool, which is prohibited in the United States.”
Let me remind you that Russia faced the onslaught of severe criticism when it banned USAID activities on its territory, qualifying the nature of the work of the agency's representatives in our country as inconsistent with the stated goals, and that it violates Russian legislation and international law. Now our stance finds additional confirmation.
As for the future of such agencies, I think that to one degree or another, it will be difficult for the countries of the "collective West" to abandon the mentality of interference in internal affairs. After all, in this case, it is necessary to abandon the concept of one's own dominance, exclusivity, enslavement of other countries, the use of their resources, the relationship of the metropolis-colony to the whole world. This is where we need to start. And all these agencies are only a consequence of this ideology, its implementation in practice.
Therefore, I do not believe that such system will be completely eliminated. It is just that financial flows will now be controlled by other people.
3. How do you perceive Donald Trump’s statements on the prospects of the settlement of the Ukraine crisis?
It is not a secret that Russia has always been ready for both negotiations and compromises. The problem is that the opposing side keeps rejecting negotiations. It is well known that back when the current leader of the Kiev regime was a fairly legitimate head of state, he issued an executive order prohibiting talks. How can talks be resumed now that they have been outlawed?
As for the possible role of the United States in resolving the crisis around Ukraine, everything will depend on the specific actions and plans of the new administration. So far, there are a lot of words and statements. There is no clarity or certainty about the steps being taken. Therefore, it would be premature to discuss the prospects for negotiations or anything else in this context. Except for one thing.
Russia has clearly stated its position. Every day, all representatives, starting from the President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, government representatives, and other authorized speakers, in unison, at all levels, respond and speak about the Russian view of the crisis, its root causes, and the settlement. Everything is fine with this."
Russia is waiting for specific initiatives, In these context I would like to remind about the conditions for peace voiced by the President of Russia “These conditions are simple. The Ukrainian troops must be completely withdrawn from the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Let me note that they must be withdrawn from the entire territory of these regions within their administrative borders at the time of their being part of Ukraine.
As soon as Kiev declares that it is ready to make this decision and begin a real withdrawal of troops from these regions, and also officially notifies that it abandons its plans to join NATO, our side will follow an order to cease fire and start negotiations will be issued by us that very moment. I repeat – we will do this expeditiously. Of course, we also guarantee an unhindered and safe withdrawal of Ukrainian units and formations.”
Our stance was explicitly set forth: “Ukraine should adopt a neutral, non-aligned status, be nuclear-free, and undergo demilitarisation and denazification. Certainly, the rights, freedoms, and interests of Russian-speaking citizens in Ukraine must be fully protected. The new territorial realities, including the status of Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions as parts of the Russian Federation, should be acknowledged. These foundational principles need to be formalised through fundamental international agreements in the future. Naturally, this entails the removal of all Western sanctions against Russia as well”
- For our readers who are not familiar with the Ukrainian matter could you shed light on the root cause of this crisis?
It is essential to understand that the Ukrainian conflict is not a regional conflict but an element of the geopolitical confrontation between the West and Russia. In global understanding, it has resulted from the aggressive opposition of the United States and its satellites to the objective and natural processes towards a multipolar world order.
The urge of Western countries to harm Russia as one of the centres of the new just world order has evolved primarily into an attempt to create a "cordon sanitaire" of loyal states pursuing a Russophobic policy around our borders. The West has deliberately ignored Russia's security interests, undermined disarmament and arms control treaty systems, pursued a policy of consistent NATO enlargement eastward and engaging Ukraine in a Euro-Atlantic camp hostile to our country.
In 2014, an armed coup d'état was staged in Kiev with the active support of the US and the EU, bringing radical nationalist forces fully supervised by the West to power. Their task was to destroy a single historical, economic and spiritual space shared by Ukraine and Russia. Since 2014, the totalitarian regime in Kiev has been systematically violating human rights, including those of ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine, planting Russophobia, massively falsifying history by glorifying Nazi war criminals of the Great Patriotic War period, and perpetrating aggression against civilians in the Donbass. Under the Western strategy, Ukraine is expected to join NATO, and the alliance is undertaking a large-scale military deployment in its territory. The country has been turned into a bridgehead to fight Russia and has become a serious threat to our security.
