MOSCOW. March 13 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has condemned the "anti-constitutional coup" in Ukraine and a "mass-scale offensive on basic human rights and freedoms" in that country, according to Russia's Foreign Ministry.
Lavrov chaired a regular session at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow on Wednesday of the Government Commission for the Affairs of Compatriots Abroad.
"In opening the meeting, the minister stressed that it was taking place at a complex moment, with tragic events in Ukraine, where an anti-constitutional coup has been carried out that has involved a mass-scale offensive on basic human rights and freedoms. In this connection, Sergei Lavrov emphasized the need to support compatriots and their right to defend their traditions, customs, and way of life against encroachments by nationalists. The line on these events that is being taken by the Russian leadership is approved of by Russian compatriots living in various parts of the globe. Statements to that effect have been made by the World Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots Living Aboard, the International Council of Russian Compatriots, and compatriot coordinating councils in France, Germany, Latvia, and other countries," the ministry said in a statement.
"The session summed up achievements in 2013 under the state support program for voluntary resettlement in the Russian Federation of compatriots living abroad. It was pointed out that 22 legislative acts were passed in the Russian Federation that made it possible to considerably simplify administrative procedures, and in some regions to raise relocation allowances for resettlers," it said.
The commission "discussed a plan for a new program of work with compatriots abroad for the period from 2015 to 2017," the statement said. It put together a working group for drafting the program. The draft is planned to be put before the commission during its next meeting in June.
The commission also approved a concept for a world conference in Moscow in November this year to be entitled "World War I and the Life of Russian Compatriots."
The commission "pointed out that the upcoming forum, which is timed to coincide with National Unity Day, would be highly important for consolidating the Russian diaspora and would underscore the key significance of preserving Russian historical heritage, traditions and values for strengthening the ties of compatriots, primarily young people, with their historical homeland," the ministry said.