The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, reproached the high Representative of the UN Secretary General for the Alliance of Civilizations, former Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, that representatives of the organization did not come to Russia because of the crisis on Ukraine.
"You said that you have not come here in recent years for two reasons. The first reason is a pandemic. More than respectful. And the second is a crisis, as far as I understand. What kind of peace can we talk about if representatives of the UN — after all, I cannot separate the Alliance of Civilizations from the UN - cannot come to the country because of any crisis. After all, the UN, its entire huge family, all its structures and substructures, all its institutions that are associated with it, and should reveal their potential and realize it during the crisis," she said, speaking at the XXIII International Likhachev Scientific Readings.
"Therefore, let's build a world that will not be passive, but active in protecting what constitutes our essence — the essence of civilization," the diplomat said, quoted by TASS.
Likhachev readings are held on May 22 and 23 in St. Petersburg Humanitarian University of Trade Unions. This year, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, members of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Russian Academy of Education, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Ambassadors of the Russian Federation, Chairman and President of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, State Duma deputies. More than 160 doctors of science, professors from 20 regions of Russia, scientists from 11 countries are also expected.