“Now open Europe, but given the number of cases identified as USA and Brazil at this stage is considered as a country for which Europe is not revealed”, – said the Minister. According to him, the foreign Ministry assesses conditions for the resumption of air, rail or road transport with other States, while such decision is not accepted. With regard to the schemes of the departure of Russians abroad through third countries (e.g., Belarus), then to deprive them of this opportunity is impossible, but Lavrov hopes that in this case, people will act with caution, adhering to common sense.
Meanwhile, the foreign Ministry begins to return to normal chart. Lavrov recalled that in the last two weeks have been taken in Moscow of his counterparts from Iran and Venezuela – Mohammad Javad Zarif and Jorge Arreaza. He visited in Serbia and Belarus. He also noted that in previous months the Ministry led active work was conducted more than 15 conferences, including meetings of Ministers of foreign Affairs of the CSTO, CIS, SCO, ASEAN – Russia.
Lavrov also said that about 40 officers from headquarters and representative offices of the foreign Ministry in the regions of the Russian Federation had coronavirus, one of them died. The Minister, the disease has not touched. “God spared me yet,” said the Minister.
According to him, the Ministry comply with all the recommendations of Rospotrebnadzor and the Moscow Department of healthcare, including in relation to remote work. In this mode, employs about half of the staff. While diplomats are regularly tested for the coronavirus. “We have all the personal protective equipment to visitors. But they became less, mostly trying to resolve issues over the phone,” – said Lavrov.
He also noted that the experience acquired during the pandemic, will be used in the future. “Some elements of this work we will continue to use, especially when it comes to partners, which the logistics for a long time and not easy to get, for example, from South America. This is the whole story: when they plan their trips abroad, they must join three or four or five countries, each time not to spend fifteen to sixteen hours on a one-way journey,” said he. It happens that the visit is of a formal nature, does not involve serious negotiations, and sometimes Vice versa, there are issues that cannot be addressed online. “We need to see the eyes and not just look at the plasma and live. There are things that it’s hard to trust even the most secure video conferencing. A human being should be clear”, – noted the head of Russian foreign Ministry.
