The senator addressed federal and municipal officials at the Znaniye.State forum.
The Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council took part in a meeting held in an open dialogue format where he spoke about modern and Soviet diplomacy and commented on the policy of double standards and the multipolarity concept.
Konstantin Kosachev said that the goal of diplomacy is to reach agreements that suit all sides.
“Agreements can only be sustainable when all sides believe that they have achieved their goals. Russia always begins negotiations by offering an option which all sides regard as the best possible. Only if the partners reject constructive interaction do we proceed to less suitable scenarios. That is exactly how it was in the case of Ukraine,” the senator stated.
When commenting on double standards, the Deputy Speaker recalled the 2008 decision by the UN International Court of Justice stating that the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo’s provisional self-government did not violate international law.
“In accordance with the UN Charter, the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination of nations are equally valid. I believe that this is a gap in international law that must be eliminated to rule out free interpretations, which are unacceptable in this exceptionally serious matter. For example, if the national constitution does not guarantee territorial integrity, this can allow its citizens to exercise the right to self-determination, which must be respected and recognised. The latest vivid example is the 2014 state coup in Ukraine. State coups are a flagrant violation of the fundamental law of any country, so it was logical that the people of Crimea voted for their accession to Russia.”
During his address, Konstantin Kosachev mentioned the role of interstate associations and emphasised the importance of taking into account the experience of bloc confrontation of the Cold War period. “When the Cold War was over, Russia believed that there would be no blocs, while the West thought that there would be no confrontation because only one bloc that survived guaranteed the unipolarity of the world.”
In conclusion of the event, the senator answered questions from participants.
The Znaniye.State forum is a large-scale educational project of the Znaniye Society for federal and municipal officials, which helps them learn more about Russia’s history, culture, economy and geopolitics. During the more than two years since the launch of the Znaniye.State forum, its contributors have delivered over 30,000 lectures for over four million people in all regions of Russia.