At a meeting with the Russian Federation's President Dmitry Medvedev, Ban Ki-moon underscored that the Russian Federation “has a special role to play in addressing regional and global challenges climate change, sustainable development, [and] the food crisis."
22 April 2011: At a meeting with the Russian Federation’s President Dmitry Medvedev, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the strong partnership between the Russian Federation and the UN and called for even greater cooperation on global governance issues, including climate change and sustainable development.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Ban underscored that the Russian Federation “has a special role to play in addressing regional and global challenges climate change, sustainable development, [and] the food crisis.”
In a press conference held following the Secretary-General’s meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Ban underlined the importance of the Russian Federation’s continued support for the UN to advance a common global agenda. He indicated that “On global governance, climate change and sustainable development, we affirmed the importance of international cooperation. These challenges go beyond national boundaries.” He further stressed the role that the Russian Federation can play, as a member of the G8 and G20 and BRICS (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa), to support the UN’s role in global governance. He said he is “counting on Russia’s strong and active engagement in the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro.” [UN Press Release]