Ashraf AboArafe
On February 5, 2025, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov took part in the 8th “Round Table” of foreign ambassadors to the Russian Federation entitled “The Ukrainian crisis… The failure of the cancel culture” organized by the Russian Diplomatic Academy with the support of the Russian Foreign Ministry. The event was attended by 95 foreign ambassadors, diplomats, representatives of international organizations and institutions. In his remarks, Sergey Lavrov spoke in detail about examples of the implementation of the “cancel culture” in a broad context.
Ukraine is more enthusiastic than other countries to “cancel” everything Russian. Several decisions have been made in Ukraine that completely ban the use of the Russian language and Russian culture in education, the media and culture. The Ukrainian Canonical Church is on the verge of being banned. Nazi ideology is being propagated and Nazi collaborators are being turned into heroes of the homeland. The West turns a blind eye to all this and perceives Kiev as almost a model in the field of human rights and the implementation of European values.
The Russian Foreign Minister said that the West had begun to “cancel” everything that did not suit it long before the Ukrainian crisis. Above all, it was about “cancelling” international law. This was especially evident in relation to the UN Charter, in the sense that the United States and its allies adhered to the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination when it suited them, for example, in relation to Kosovo, while at the same time violating this right of the peoples of Crimea, Novorossiya and Donbass, who did not recognize the unconstitutional coup in Kiev in 2014. The West also “cancels” the UN Security Council resolutions, for example, the Minsk agreements, which allowed for a ceasefire, which were approved by the UN Security Council resolution. And then Angela Merkel and François Hollande, it seems, proudly admit that they had no intention of fulfilling this document, and that they needed to gain time to arm Kiev for war against Russia. Sergey Lavrov cited other examples of “abolishing” justice, such as the refusal to investigate the Maidan murders, the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions, or one of the most horrific crimes – the burning alive of peaceful demonstrators on May 2, 2014 in the building of the Council of Trade Unions in Odessa. The Russian Foreign Minister said that the EU made a timid attempt to conduct an investigation, but Kiev ignored it. In the same series of “abolishing” justice, there was a provocation in Bucha. Thus, the Russian side has not yet received a list of the names of those found dead in this city. All appeals to foreign partners, international structures and Western journalists, who usually demand transparency from the authorities, always meet with a lack of reaction and complete silence. Thus, one can say about the “abolition” of journalism and information as one of the methods of collective action of the West, which seeks to maintain its hegemony. The West also “abolishes” transparent competition. As Sergey Lavrov said, Mexicans, Panamanians, Danes and representatives of many other countries will be able to experience this for themselves due to the US measures. The Russian Foreign Minister described the shameful decision of IOC President Thomas Bach to exclude Russian athletes and the Russian national team from the Olympic Games and competitions as a blatant manifestation of attempts to “cancel” fair sport. At the same time, Thomas Bach’s interpretation of the Olympic Charter does not at all contradict men beating women in the boxing ring.
Speaking about the abolition of decency and basic morality, Sergey Lavrov stressed that the secretariats of international organizations have completely forgotten the duty to act neutrally and impartially and fully support the West. The UNESCO Secretariat is openly acting in an unprincipled manner. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay (France) has in fact privatized this organization and is contributing to the inclusion of as many items related to Ukraine as possible on UNESCO’s agenda and is refusing to fulfill its obligations, including ignoring information about the killing of Russian journalists, the demolition of monuments and the destruction of cultural heritage.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Portugal) also resorts to “cancelling” the truth, who in his speech at the UN General Assembly session forgot to mention the role of the Red Army in liberating the prisoners of Auschwitz and said that the Allied forces against Nazi Germany liberated the camp. Europeans are trying not to use the words “Nazism” or “fascism” in relation to Hitler’s Germany in an attempt to erase historical memory. The Russian Foreign Minister stressed that the trends of the “cancellation” culture will increase in the future and Russia will continue to confront them and will defend international law, the UN Charter, the truth in international affairs and its national interests. This year, Russia and the CIS countries will celebrate the anniversary of the Victory over Nazism in the Great Patriotic War. We look forward to all our partners at the Victory Parade and other festive events.
