International Security Conference in Moscow with more than 100 participating states
by Karl-Jürgen Müller
From 27 to 29 May 2025, Moscow hosted “The 13th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues”.The first meeting of this kind took place in 2010. The theme of this year’s conference was: “Shaping an architecture of equal and indivisible security: challenges and opportunities for the Global South and East”.
The Russian news agency TASS put it this way: “The forum is an important international platform for exchange of views on all global security-related issues and mechanisms to strengthen cooperation between partner countries to combat international terrorism, extremism, transnational crime, drug trafficking, as well as new challenges and threats.”1
Before the conference began, the website of the National Centre Rossiya in Moscow, where the conference was held, stated: “The agenda of the meeting of high representatives will focus on matters of international cooperation in the field of security. In particular, discussions will centre around the formation of a new architecture of equal and indivisible security that is fairer and better suited to modern realities.”2
In his conference speech, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the large presence of representatives from countries in the Global South and Global East reflected “a tectonic shift in international politics that has taken place in recent years and is still continuing. It is mainly defined by the accelerated emergence of a multipolar world order and the fact that new centres of development on the Eurasian continent, in Africa and Latin America are playing a greater role in the global distribution of power.”3
126 delegations from 105 countries took part in the conference. Almost all participants came from Africa, Asia or Latin America. The event was organised by the Security Council of the Russian Federation – a body of high-ranking Russian politicians responsible for joint decision-making on foreign, security and defence policy. The organisers had also invited the US and other Western countries. However, almost no one from these countries accepted the invitation. One exception was the Swiss diplomat Gabriel Lüchinger, who had travelled to the conference on behalf of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA). According to reports4 he was tasked with exploring whether Russia could still be persuaded to choose Switzerland as the venue for Russian-Ukrainian negotiations.
The widespread non-participation of Western countries was followed by practical disregard by Western mainstream media. One of the very few German-language exceptions was a four-minute report on ARD’s Tagesthemen5 programme – albeit polemical and disparaging.
English-language media from the Asian and African participating states, on the other hand, reported objectively and generally positively: because this equal international exchange exists – in view of the tense security situation throughout the world and the threat to their own interests posed by the openly erupted conflict between major powers.
“The tectonic shifts in foreign policy and international economic relations bring both challenges and opportunities for the countries of the Global South and East. Today’s security challenges and threats are global and cross-border in nature. No modern state can tackle them alone or on a bilateral basis,” stated the conference chair, Sergei Shoigu, former Russian Minister of Defence and now Secretary of the Russian Security Council6. With regard to the participating countries of Southeast Asia, he also said: “The countries of the region do not want to become a theatre of confrontation between major powers and are keen to participate actively in the development of a system of equal and indivisible security. The Southeast Asian states look forward to further deepening their cooperation with Russia on a wide range of security issues.”
The pictures from the conference show a large conference hall well attended for detailed plenary sessions, but also rooms for a wide variety of exhibitions on security issues. The group photo of the delegation leaders demonstrates unity on fundamental issues. Numerous bilateral negotiations took place on the sidelines of the conference.
Even the German ARD Tagesthemen news programme could not avoid addressing the question of why so many representatives of countries from the Global South and East are keen to come to Moscow. A representative from South Sudan said on camera that, unlike in its relations with the West, Russia did not dictate preconditions for good diplomatic relations.7
Detailed written information about the conference debates and results is not yet available. However, a large number of short and long video clips about the conference can be found on the Internet.8 The Russian Foreign Minister’s detailed conference speech can also be read in English on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.9 The same applies to the welcoming address by Russian President Vladimir Putin.10 The website of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, http://www.scrf.gov.ru/, is only available in Russian.
This meeting in Moscow also demonstrated the failure of the West’s strategy of isolating and ruining Russia. Russia strongly emphasises equal and equitable relations with all countries in the world. Since Western countries have so far been unwilling to do so, Russia is focusing on good relations with countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Official Russian statements on the meeting in Moscow show that relations with Africa and its countries are valued particularly high. With delegations from forty African countries and representatives of international African organisations, Africa stood out among the participating continents.
The emergence of a multipolar world is an opportunity for greater justice in the world. However, as long as Western countries refuse to relinquish their quest for dominance, the emergence of a multipolar world will entail major security risks and fierce conflicts. The terrible war in Ukraine is an example of this.
German politics, in conclusion, is a particularly grim example of Western denial of reality and propaganda. In a press release from the German federal government on a public appearance by Friedrich Merz at the WDR Europaforum in Berlin, the following is stated about his remarks: “Offers of talks to Putin have so far been unsuccessful, as he apparently interprets them as a sign of weakness. Despite everything, all diplomatic means will continue to be exhausted to enable communication.” Five sentences later, it says: “The Chancellor stated categorically: ‘There are no longer any restrictions on the range of weapons supplied to Ukraine, neither by the British, nor by the French, nor by us, nor by the Americans.’” The press release is headlined: “Resolve conflicts, don’t escalate them.”11 What else is there to say? •
1 https://tass.com/politics/1956301 of 11 May 2025
2 https://en.russia.ru/news/13-ia-mezdunarodnaia-vstreca-vysokix-predstavitelei-kuriruiushhix-voprosy-bezopasnosti of 26 May 2025
3 https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/2020471/ of 28 May 2025
4 https://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/erfolgsdiplomat-auf-moskau-reise-holt-dieser-svp-mann-trump-putin-und-selenski-nach-genf-ld.1886886 of 31 May 2025
5 https://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/sendung/tagesthemen/video-1471538.html of 29 May 2025
6 https://en.russia.ru/news/13-ia-mezdunarodnaia-vstreca-vysokix-predstavitelei-kuriruiushhix-voprosy-bezopasnosti of 26 May 2025
7 https://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/sendung/tagesthemen/video-1471538.html of 29 May 2025
8 search for “13th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues”
9 https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/2020471/ of 28 May 2025
10 http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/77047 of 28 May 2025
11 https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/aktuelles/bk-merz-europaforum-2350254 of 26 May 2025
“A comprehensive high-level international dialogue on the future architecture of global security”
“Sergei Shoigu, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, summed up the results of the 13th international meeting of high-level representatives responsible for security issues. The three-day international dialogue, chaired by Sergey Shoygu, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, was held at the National Centre ‘Russia’ and was attended by 126 delegations from 105 countries, including BRICS, SCO, ASEAN, CIS, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the CSTO and other international organisations. As Sergei Shoigu emphasised at the final press conference for Russian and foreign journalists, ‘the high level of participants and the number of countries represented clearly demonstrated the relevance and demand for such events, and once again dispelled the myth of Russia’s isolation.’ ‘The participants unanimously noted that our meeting took place in an atmosphere of mutual trust, and the discussions were rich and productive. The open and trusting dialogue on the need to build an architecture of equal and indivisible security effectively confirmed the already existing multipolar world, in which the security of each and every one is valuable,’ said the Secretary of the Russian Security Council.
Sixty speakers addressed the plenary session. The Russian delegation held more than 80 bilateral meetings, while foreign representatives held over 40 bilateral meetings among themselves. Multilateral meetings were held in the following formats: BRICS, SCO, CIS and Russia-ASEAN. A briefing for delegations from African states and an expert seminar on global security issues were held.
The forum also touched upon the topic of military-technical cooperation and held a broad discussion on international cooperation in the field of information security. According to Sergei Shoigu, ‘a SCO centre for information warfare and cybersecurity will be established in Tashkent in the near future’.”
Press release from the Security Council of the Russian Federation (excerpt); http://www.scrf.gov.ru/news/allnews/3825/ dated 30 May 2025; (Translation by Current Concerns)
“Upholding international law and seeking guidance from the principles of equality and neighbourly relations, as well as mutual respect and taking into account each other’s interests guarantees peace and stability. If we are serious about ensuring stability within the system of international relations, we must realise that much will depend on making the West renounce efforts to impose its destructive and illegitimate ideological tenets and start abiding by the principles set forth in the UN Charter in good faith. It must honour these principles in their entirety and interdependence, instead of adopting a selective approach.”
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in his speech at the Moscow Security Conference on 28 May 2025; https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/2020471/
“I have said it before and will reiterate: we are convinced that the new security architecture must be equal and indivisible – that is, all states must receive firm guarantees of their own security, but not at the expense of the security and interests of other countries. It is vital to make our continent a space of peace and stability, an example of sustainable economic, social, and cultural development. We believe that the foundation for creating such a universal security system could be the existing and well-established multilateral cooperation formats, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation [SCO], the Eurasian Economic Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation [CSTO], the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN], and others. Your current meeting is widely attended by states of the Global South and East. It is they, in essence, who form the global majority, seek to influence regional and international processes more actively, and uphold the principle of sovereign equality and the right to their own development model. […]
I am convinced that this latest meeting of high representatives overseeing security issues will contribute to the development of new important approaches to strengthening international peace and stability and will help advance dialogue for the benefit of all countries and peoples.”
Excerpt from the video address by Russian President Vladimir Putin to participants in the 13th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues; http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/77047