Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, summing up the results of the past year, noted the achievements of international diplomacy within the BRICS group and, in particular, Brazil’s productive work as chair of the group in 2025.
"All BRICS countries are our good partners; over the past year, our relations with each of them have strengthened, and the foundation for the development of further cooperation in all areas has been reinforced.
We note the task of strengthening BRICS and the growing interest in this group. We provided every possible support to the Brazilian chairmanship of BRICS last year. Our Brazilian friends proposed many projects and continued the implementation of projects that we launched back at the BRICS Summit in Kazan in the autumn of 2024," Lavrov said.
He also noted that preparations are currently underway for the third Russia–Africa Summit, scheduled for 2026. An important stage in the preparation was the second conference of foreign ministers of Russia and the countries of the African Union, which took place in Cairo in December 2025.
During the press conference, Lavrov noted the successful completion of the cross Years of Culture of Russia and China (2024–2025), within the framework of which several hundred different events were organised in both countries. In addition to successes in economic cooperation, the minister emphasised the commitment to partnership in the humanitarian sphere. He recalled that in their New Year messages, President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin announced a new initiative for 2026–2027, which will become the Years of Education in Russia and China.
“This is also a most important part of cultural exchanges, first and foremost youth exchanges, so the year that has already begun will be rich in such events as well. In addition to youth contacts, ties are developing in the field of sport and through archival services, which are also very important for preserving national culture, national traditions and national identity. […] Contacts in the cultural sphere, as well as in any other areas, will be facilitated by the mutual visa-free regime currently in place. Travel figures have already reached record levels. I believe this trend will continue. In the humanitarian sphere, we have very rich cooperation, which organically complements interaction in the economic sphere and our strategic cooperation on the international stage, where China and Russia are the most important stabilising factors in international affairs,” Lavrov stated.
The Russian Foreign Minister emphasised the importance of the privileged strategic nature of the partnership with India, recalling the state visit of the President of Russia to New Delhi and meetings with President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December last year.
Speaking about the development of economic projects within the BRICS group, the minister mentioned Iran.
“We have good plans with the Islamic Republic of Iran not only in trade but also in the investment sphere: the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant project is actively expanding, and work is underway on the most important section of the International North–South Transport Corridor between Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. Many other projects are under development, and I see no reason why we or our Iranian friends should stop these projects,” the head of the foreign policy department said.
The minister described Russia’s ties with Vietnam, which joined BRICS as a partner country in 2025, as a “strategic partnership” and “special relations”.
“We actively support the activities of our Vietnamese friends aimed at developing their society, their economy and their external relations, including fraternal ties with the Russian Federation,” Lavrov stressed.
The final press conference of the Russian Foreign Minister lasted three hours. Representatives of Russian and foreign media took part.
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