MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold an annual news conference on Thursday to sum up the results of the ministry’s work in 2023 and share his vision of the international situation.

More than 350 journalists have been accredited to the news conference that will be held offline at the Russian foreign ministry. "Around 190 Russian and 170 foreign journalists representing 140 mass media outlets will take part," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Lavrov’s two previous news conferences lasted for about three hours but this was not enough to answer all the questions. But the ministry typically provides written comments on the outstanding topics.

Global crises

The world has begun the year 2024 burdened by various conflicts and crises stemming, according to Lavrov, from the West’s destructive policy, which can be fraught with new problems in the near future.

Much attention at the news conference is expected to be focused on the situation around the conflict in Ukraine. The Russian foreign ministry has repeatedly stressed that Kiev and its sponsors don’t seek a peaceful settlement but are leading Ukraine to an utter collapse. Zakharova said ahead of the news conference that Lavrov also plans to take part in the Russia-initiated UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine due to be held in a period from January 22 to 24.

Another hotbed of tension in 2023 emerged in the Middle East when hostilities flared up in the Gaza Strip. The recent developments around the Red Sea, as well as Iran’s strikes on targets in Iraq and Pakistan pose a threat of further escalation in the region.

The situation is also escalating in the Asia Pacific Region, especially on the Korean Peninsula. Instability in Africa is also on the agenda.

"The world continues to be in the epicenter of a storm, and one of the reasons for this is that the West’s ruling circles provoke crises thousands of kilometers from their borders in order to solve their own problems at the expense of other nations. We can say that as the West clings to an elusive dominance, no one is safe from its geopolitical intrigues. And this understanding is growing in the world," Lavrov said in an interview with TASS.

Consolidation of global majority

In 2023, Russia invigorated efforts to develop relations with former Soviet republics, countries of the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. The second Russia-Africa summit, which was held in St. Petersburg last summer, was a major international event. The Russian foreign ministry described it as a "climax of joint efforts toward enlivening ties in this promising area of foreign policy."

Five new members, namely Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Ethiopia, began work within BRICS from January 1, under Russia’s presidency. Bearing in mind the fact that Moscow has already announced around 200 events, with some ten of them being at the ministerial level, Lavrov is expected to highlight Russia’s priorities geared to ensure the association’s effective work and to outline the agenda of the presidency.