On April 10, 2023, the IV “Week of Russian Diplomacy” dedicated to the prospects for the development of BRICS was launched at the Primakov Centre.

Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Farit M. Mukhametshin addressed the participants of the Week of Diplomacy with a welcoming speech. In his speech, Farit M. Mukhametshin expressed confidence that the implementation of such educational projects allows students to get acquainted with the activities of current political figures in practice. In his welcoming speech, Pavel R. Knyazev, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russia’s Representative in BRICS, and Dmitry V. Polikanov, Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo, PhD in Political Sciences. They focused attention not only on the high rates of BRICS development, but also on the special commitment of states to traditional values.

The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Samara, Alexey V. Chupakhin, drew the audience’s attention to the need to build relations between states on the basis of equality:

“No one on this earth should be treated as a minor player. Everyone is equal and sovereign.”

At the end of the welcoming remarks, Acting Director of the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Philology, Professor Kirill V. Babaev and the head of the Department of International Cooperation of the Department of External Relations Olga Y. Zelenkina wished the participants of the Week of Russian Diplomacy fruitful work and interesting meetings, given that “international cooperation in the region is expanding despite the events taking place in the world.”

In the second part of the program of the first day of the Week of Diplomacy, participants were expected to hear thematic presentations by experts in the field of international relations: scientists, politicians and diplomats. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federative Republic of Brazil to the Russian Federation Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares stressed that today Russia and Brazil are actively developing cooperation in the field of science and technology:

“I’m quite optimistic about science and technology area. We have a great amount joint projects. Science and technology are the most promising nowadays”.

Dmitry V. Abramov, PhD in Economics, Head of the Department of Investment, Innovation Policy and Foreign Economic Relations of the Ministry of Economic Development and Investment of the Samara Region, stressed that BRICS allows defending the economic interests of countries regardless of political systems, and Dmitry V. Khilov, head of the “Business Russia” Regional Department, drew attention to the fact that the Samara Region meets the real needs of our foreign partners. He noted that the products of scientific research are in particular demand, which brings the work of universities to a new level.

The final report to date was made by Elena A. Efremova, PhD in Political Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of International Law and Political Science of Samara State University of Economics. As part of her speech, she expressed the idea of creating an international judicial body within the framework of BRICS in order to build a supranational structure to protect our citizens not only within the country, but also at the international level.

Photo: Dariya Yurlova