Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow, January 27, 2023
Table of contents
- Sergey Lavrov’s meeting with Francoise Joly, Minister, Personal Representative for Strategic Affairs & International Talks for the President of the Republic of the Congo
- Sergey Lavrov’s upcoming talks with Foreign Minister of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
- Ukraine crisis update
- International Holocaust Remembrance Day
- Holocaust Remembrance Week events
- The Dutch Foreign Ministry requests that the Russian Embassy in the Hague refrain from participating in Holocaust memorials
- Situation around the arrest of Sputnik Lithuania Editor-in-Chief Marat Kasem in Latvia
- Anniversary of the 1999 events in Racak
- No exoneration for Japanese war criminals
- The situation around the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin
- Refusal of airlines to carry Russian citizens flying to third countries via Istanbul airports
- 25th anniversary of signing the International Space Station Agreement
- Foreign Policy Meetings in Memory of Vitaly Churkin
- 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad
- NATO Secretary General’s statements
- Russia-Moldova relations
- US tank supplies to Ukraine
- Moldovan officials’ statements
- The situation in the Lachin corridor
- Germany’s decision to send tanks to Ukraine
- New Western arms supplies to Kiev
- New US Ambassador’s arrival in Russia
- Russian athletes’ admission to competitions
- The Russian Embassy’s operation in Berlin
- UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ statements
- Statements by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
- Prospects of improving Russia-US bilateral relations
- Baku-Yerevan talks
- Russia’s stance on Armenia-Azerbaijan talks
- Russia-IAEA cooperation
- Russia’s stance on Spitsbergen
- EU Monitoring Mission to Armenia
- New US Ambassador’s arrival in Russia
- Armenia-Azerbaijan settlement
- Accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO
- Supplying Israel-stored weapons to Ukraine
- Leopard 2 tank supplies to Ukraine
- Aspects of the EU Monitoring Mission to Armenia
- Outcome of Sergey Lavrov’s African tour
- Russia’s relations with African countries
- Russia’s assistance to African countries
- US attempts to hinder Russia’s cooperation with Africa
- The Quran burning incident in Sweden
- Russia-Pakistan energy cooperation
- BBC report
- Russia-Moldova relations
- Moldovan government’s anti-Russia policy
- Nuclear power plants in combat areas
- Russia-Azerbaijan relations
- Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement on the EU Monitoring Mission to Armenia
- The situation in the Lachin corridor
- Certain aspects of Armenia-Azerbaijan settlement
- What Russia can do to save the world
- Cooperation with NGOs
- Discrimination against Russian students abroad
- Sergey Lavrov’s interview to Rossiya Segodnya Director General
Today, on January 27, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is receiving Francoise Joly, Minister, Personal Representative for Strategic Affairs & International Talks for the President of the Republic of the Congo, who is on a working visit to Moscow.
The parties plan to discuss a wide range of aspects of Russian-Congolese cooperation in the political, trade, economic, cultural, humanitarian and other fields. They will focus on promising business cooperation projects in the production and processing of hydrocarbons, the electric power industry, and the construction of infrastructure facilities.
The meeting will include a thorough exchange of views on current issues on the global and regional agendas, including unblocking crises in Africa, countering terrorism and extremism, as well as other challenges and threats of the modern world.
Sergey Lavrov’s upcoming talks with Foreign Minister of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
On January 30, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet with Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Moscow.
The foreign ministers will discuss the state of bilateral relations, as well as regional and international issues. Special attention will be paid to the expansion of trade and economic relations.
The eighth Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting was held at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany on January 20. The results of this gathering clearly show the West’s complete lack of responsibility and its push for further escalation. The NATO countries have reiterated their plans to build up the supplies of the latest heavy offensive weapons to Kiev.
They have no regard for anyone in Ukraine. Now, it has become clear that they have no regard for their own people. After all, tanks don’t move by themselves. They need to be driven and serviced by people, especially tanks that have never seen service with the Ukrainian forces. I will put it this way: the service personnel who go to Ukraine as part of the tank battalions and brigades should be aware of the fate their governments have in mind for them if they look at their dead fellow countrymen and, unfortunately, the citizens of Ukraine, whom the West cares even less about (I am not even talking about the Zelensky-led regime). They are used as cannon fodder.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has claimed that NATO would not send soldiers or aircraft to Ukraine and would not become a “warring side.” Clearly, we will comment on statements like this instantly. We will also provide clarification and our official position.
I have a question for Mr Stoltenberg: Do you really see the EU and NATO countries’ citizens as dummkopfs? Do you really think that by sending battle tanks to Ukraine, tanks that must be serviced by specialists, and by forming (including at foreign-based Ukrainian embassies) conscription centres for recruiting citizens of other countries, you are still not a party to the conflict? What are you then? Come up with a different name for yourself. You need to identify yourself if you are not a party to the conflict.
Also, you need to sit down and develop a common approach. Or, is Germany no longer a NATO member? German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made it clear that the European countries and, sure enough, Germany are at war with Russia. How is it possible to be at war with someone without being a party to the conflict? What kind of political trickery have you devised? Who are you kidding? You have been deceiving the people of Ukraine for many years now and dragging them into a confrontation with Russia in order to use them as a tool. You cheated on your negotiating partners.
Let’s think back to Angela Merkel’s recent confession that they were not really planning to go down the negotiation path, that they just needed time to “make Ukraine stronger.” Now we know that it was not about making it “stronger,” but about flooding it with weapons and laying waste to Ukraine. Whom will NATO cheat next? Its own citizens?
Citizens of NATO countries should know that their bloc is fully involved in the confrontation with Russia. And that confrontation is gaining momentum. I am not going to analyse this here; it is up to the military to consider how effective the current move is – I am referring to the supply of tanks, etc. As I see it, they are far more concerned with the visual “effects” of the show they make of it than with it actually being “effective.” The words sound similar, and may be derived from the same root (I don’t know about other languages), but they are different in essence. True, the show has had an effect: Europe flinched. Even though they tried to reassure Europeans that this was just “solidarity” and “support.” And that they definitely were not a party to the conflict. But people who have gone through various kinds of historical events certainly know what we are talking about and where Europe is being dragged. But the visual effect is there. And efficacy? Or will it be measured in the number of victims?
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has rendered every statement made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg null and void. Speaking at the Council of Europe on January 25 (not in the media where her statements could be considered as her personal views, but officially, representing her country at the high level entrusted to her), she called a spade a spade and bluntly said they were “at war with Russia.”
President Joe Biden has also acknowledged Washington’s direct involvement in the management of the Ukrainian army. I will leave it to experts to decide (medical experts, for the most part) to what extent he was able to understand and control his statements. But this is what he said, and his statement has not yet been refuted by his team of press secretaries, specialists in “special communications.” He actually announced that “With spring approaching, the Ukrainian forces are <…> preparing for additional counter-offensives.”
So who decides what happens in Bankova Street? We know full well that it isn’t Vladimir Zelensky, although he pretends to make these decisions. But he doesn’t. In fact, the President of the United States has just told him what he would be doing in spring. Obviously, a new $2.5 billion batch of weapons from the United States is going to help. It includes armoured vehicles, artillery and ammunition.
The Ramstein “training session” has kick-started the formation of a “tank coalition.” This is something they have long dreamed of – everyone who have put chestnuts in the fire, the most rabid Western “hawks,” and the Bankova bunch, of course. They are all linked in a chain. They have a real global scale conspiracy out there, to split the funds that are provided to them to “defend democracy.” And then the bubble burst and the whole world could see that terrible crime ring. It’s worse than corruption; it’s some terrible mix of splitting and redistributing colossal funds. If the President of the United States knows what the Kiev regime will do in spring, in a few months, up there in the White House, couldn’t he guess where the money sent to the Kiev regime was going? He did not just guess; he knew it. It is an international-level scheme for withdrawing funds and distributing them among the participants in this terrible “bloody chain.”
As a reminder, London initiated this when it promised to provide Kiev with 14 Challenger 2 tanks. The United States and Germany followed suit and announced that they would throw in several battalions of US-made Abrams and German-made Leopard tanks. Concurrently, Berlin issued permission to its NATO partners to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. What? Still not a party to the conflict? Again, please articulate NATO’s single opinion on this question. Stop sending mixed signals and zombifying people by prevaricating and throwing in new terms every day. Tell it like it is.
On January 26, when commenting on the forthcoming deliveries of tanks, Zelensky stated blatantly that Kiev would now demand that the allies send him combat aircraft and long-range missiles. Is that what “non-parties to a conflict” who do not participate in hostilities normally do?
Importantly, the armoured vehicles that are sent to Ukraine are designed for offensive combat operations. The US administration is not hiding the fact that this new equipment is designed to help “liberate” Ukrainian territory, including Crimea. No, Crimea is not Ukrainian territory. It is Russian territory. It was, it is and it will be Russian territory. Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak echoes his American handlers. He hasn’t been fired yet, and I’m not sure about their plans. Has he resolved every problem? Will they let him “crawl away” or will they “throw him out?” It’s hard to tell, we’ll see. So far in his capacity, Podolyak has been claiming that “300 to 400 Western tanks on the battlefield” would help Ukraine move to the “final phase of the war” to “de-occupy” the country. Seriously? I know that anything that the people in Vladimir Zelensky’s circle have to say cannot be taken seriously. His illness is contagious. But not everything is designed for TikTok. There are people who have a good grasp on the strategy and the tactics of military operations. On an earlier occasion, Podolyak made public their plans to use NATO weapons to attack Moscow, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and other Russian cities.
All of that goes to show once again that the West is about to up the ante in the conflict, which will only draw it out and bring more casualties. The masks are off. This has not been about defending Ukraine for a long time now. Kiev and its NATO overseers are ready to do anything to inflict maximum damage on our country.
As a reminder, any and all Western weapons that end up in Ukraine will become a legitimate target for the Russian armed forces. Tanks will not reverse the situation in Kiev’s favour, but will bring the Western countries to a new level of confrontation with Russia.
Western financial, military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine has become a source of rampant corruption. But corruption is something very different. Read more about it. This happens when there are controlling bodies that are functioning with different levels of efficiency, but they exist and they are acting, at any rate, when they are viable. What does Ukraine have? Laws? They rewrite them 20 times a day. Law-enforcement? Only when law-enforcement bodies need to take people by force and send to the slaughter. They have long stopped controlling everything else. They are involved in robberies and criminal theft themselves. Has the country established any special institutions to counter corruption that are producing results? Certainly not. It has done absolutely nothing.
Meanwhile, this was one of the homework assignments given to Vladimir Zelensky by his Western teachers. They verbally instructed him to pay attention to corruption. But apparently, he understood this in his own way. He probably thought that it was only possible to destroy corruption in Ukraine along with the rest of the country and that there was no other way of defeating it. This is not corruption, as people commonly understand it. This is the creation of a money-laundering scam for the collective West over many years. It can be used to withdraw resources and transfer money from one account to another. It has been the talk of the town for a long time, and there have been many de facto confirmations that this exists. Yes, they say the word “corruption” but let’s give it an asterisk-footnote to explain that in the context of Ukraine, it’s real banditry, pure and simple.
Western assistance is the blood system, the breeding ground for thriving criminal theft. At present, the scale of this corruption defies any analysis because the figures go through the roof. This is tens of billions of dollars, euros and other currencies, and it comes not as direct financial aid, the destination of which cannot be traced. It is clear that a tremendous amount of people are involved in this. They say what others want to hear while stealing money on a global scale. The same is happening with the equipment. One item is written on paper but something else is supplied. Sometimes, nothing at all is supplied. This is why in a pre-election frenzy, the United States has raised the question of an audit and the need to make this system at least a bit transparent and orderly. Some kind of report must be made. Elections are coming and people will ask where all this money went.
In all probability, Washington is concerned about this trend. Last week it sent CIA Director William Burns to Kiev. His visit led to many high-profile resignations not only on Bankovskaya Street but also in the regions, on the ground. Zelensky dismissed the deputy chief of his office Kirill Tymoshenko, several regional leaders and district prosecutors. High-ranking officials in republican departments, including the Defence Ministry have lost their positions. All of them are charged with embezzlement and fraud with public money.
What embezzlement and fraud are you talking about? Just these 20 or 30 people and that’s all? This pattern was common before they came to these power structures. Money sent from the West landed in the same banks in one week. It scrolled through Ukraine and returned to accounts next door and sometimes even to the same accounts. Everyone knew this perfectly well. We repeatedly talked about big entrepreneurs selling luxury items. They had a “schedule of assistance for Ukraine” by world financial institutions. They knew that as soon as another tranche was sent to Europe, they should expect representatives of Ukrainian beau monde to arrive in Europe in a week to buy luxury items. Nobody concealed this. True, at that time the damage done by the Kiev regime to Ukraine and its people was not so bad. Now everything is a bit different and the scale has grown.
However, this corruption scandal (with 20-50 people exposed, who were very much in the way of the Kiev regime becoming "clean and transparent") have not affected US plans to support the Kiev regime financially. This support will continue, but perhaps under tighter American scrutiny, giving them additional leverage over an already obedient Ukrainian leadership. Again, this is more necessary in the pre-election period to show how much they have their hand on the 'pulse'. There is, actually, no pulse, but they do have a hand on it.
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmitry Kuleba has unleashed more anti-Russian invective. In his recent article for the publication Politico he started discussing the lessons of negotiations with
At that the Ukrainian minister noted that any hypothetical agreement with
Such statements are nothing but an attempt to turn everything upside down once again. Let me remind you that for eight years Kiev has been negotiating in Minsk (information for Dmitry Kuleba) not with Russia, but with Donbass (it says so and was signed, among others, by President Poroshenko and passed on to the next Ukrainian leader exactly in this form) with the mediation of our country and the OSCE. It says exactly that and nothing else. Zelensky started saying that the
Ukraine wasn’t going to comply with the Minsk Agreements from the get go. Ex-president Poroshenko, one of the people behind the Minsk Agreements who also put his signature on them, has publicly confessed to that (this is to refresh Mr Kuleba’s memory). According to him, Kiev needed these agreements to get ready for a war against Russia. Former leaders of Germany and France, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, respectively, who co-authored the Minsk Package of Measures and co-sponsored the peace process reaffirmed this confession in December 2022. Are these confessions not credible enough for Bankovaya Street? Do they even care about what the people who sided with them are saying? This is about how that they need to self-identify, jot things down and check their notes to see what they said the other day.
So, Kuleba’s words about “not playing fair”, “imitating diplomacy” and failing to honour commitments best characterise the approaches to the negotiating process practiced by Kiev, Berlin and Paris. They said so without mincing words.
We have been talking for eight years about the importance of honouring the Minsk Agreements, while Russia’s need for them is of a secondary nature. Ukraine needs them in the first place, since they guarantee the integrity of the state, peace in that country and coexistence of the people who have been driven apart for many years and forced to acquire a different skill set. They tried to “replace their firmware” and tweak their “settings.” They tried to explain that the Minsk Agreements were important, relevant and good for Ukraine. We did not force anyone into doing anything. It was the result of a negotiating process with compromises made on both sides. We chased everyone for eight years in order to let them know that this was the very thing that could work miracles for them, keep the situation from deteriorating and make Ukraine a truly free and democratic country.
Remember their sneer at the word “federalisation?” We remember that well. Switzerland and Canada were not good enough for them as examples to follow. They had their own path. Someone in Washington also told them under their breath that they are special, not like the rest of them. They are alternative, and they should have an alternative plan, too, not like everyone else. “Do not implement the Minsk Agreements,” the Americans kept telling them. Remember, many wrote that the United States was opposing the Minsk Agreements as best it could, because it was not part of the Normandy format that it had sought to join. And there is no need to pretend that it is impossible to negotiate with Moscow.
Let me remind Mr Kuleba (maybe next time he will at least keep track of the publications that post his “scribbles” or ask him questions) about April 2022. I wonder if he still remembers what happened then, or did it also get erased from his memory as “unnecessary and unsettling information”? In April 2022, he, a Kiev regime official, and the entire “gang” from Bankovaya Street refused to continue the negotiations that they themselves talked about.
I assure you, and you can take my word for it, that some time down the road they will be claiming, as they did with regard to the Minsk Agreements, that it was only Moscow that refused to continue the talks. Who cares? Lying is okay. Spreading lies and pretending that they represent the ultimate truth has become the hallmark of the collective West. To all our reminders about what they said before, and to our attempts to confront them their own quotes and signatures, they keep saying that “we need to think about the future and look forward. Don't live in the past.” Just like the unforgettable Liz Truss used to say. Give it some time, and I assure you that we will hear them say that the Kiev regime has been deceived again. They wanted to hold talks, but someone prevented them from doing so for some obscure reason. I assure you, mark the time, very soon it will turn out that they were “rooting for peace and negotiations harder than anyone.”
Now that they have been shown the battle tanks, they are saying that matters should be settled “on the battlefield.” And when things are settled, they (those who will survive) will be telling future generations that they really wanted peace and talks and were begging for diplomacy, but were denied. This is how it will play out, mark my words.
Recently the population of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of Russia have seen Kiev’s propaganda go into high gear. All of a sudden, the Ukrainian authorities became aware of the millions of people living there and are now trying to win them over using media resources. During eight years they regarded them as “inhuman beings,” or “specimen,” or offered them to “pack their things for the train to Russia” and now they have remembered their citizens. Remember Petr Poroshenko saying that those who lived in areas controlled by the Kiev regime, or the West, which is the same thing, would receive education at schools and universities while those who were in the regions mentioned before would live in basements. As they say, dreams come true, however, they have been slightly corrected. Now people in other regions in Ukraine live the way that Petr Poroshenko portrayed when trying to bully the people of Donbass. Those were the dreams of the Kiev regime. They wanted it like this. They had a plan for a peace settlement on the table. A friendly and patient hand was extended to them and it could have helped as it always does. But they were told that they had an “alternative” mindset and that no Minsk plan was suitable for them. Other plans had already been prepared for them in the West.
Notably, this show of “concern” for people is being accompanied by the relentless shelling of cities and villages, during which these people, innocent civilians, die or get wounded.
According to information from relevant bodies in the new Russian regions, since February 2022, the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics have been shelled by the Ukrainian armed forces about 16,000 times. Is that how they take care of their citizens? Ukrainian troops have fired 105,000 high-caliber shells. As a result of artillery strikes in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and in the liberated areas of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions in 2022, 4,574 civilians died, including 153 children, and several thousand people, including 279 children, were wounded.
Kiev never had any need for those people. Of course, it would have been different had they twisted themselves in knots and sworn loyalty to what they had always believed was alien and not just harmful but fatal for them, much like silent “specimen” being resigned to their fate and obeying the master. What were they tirelessly repeating about freedom for many years, claiming that only the Kiev regime would bring freedom to Ukraine? You know nothing about freedom. Freedom means speaking your mother tongue and being independent of opinions being imposed on you to force you to forget about your ancestors. Freedom is neither anarchy nor killing your own journalists, or bullying people, or burning citizens of your country to triumphant cries from the crowd. Freedom is the opportunity to refuse to admit that the preceding is normal even if you understand that you are putting your life at risk.
Let me reiterate, the Kiev regime never needed these people as free people and did not need them as people in general. What mattered was destabilising the social situation and provoking anti-Russia sentiment. However, these contrivances were fated to fail. In September 2022, the people of the above regions made a deliberate and free choice in favour of Russia, and not for the first time, at that. It happened first in 2014, and now it has been repeated. Between 2014 and 2022, the people there were not languidly waiting for the matter to settle. They were fighting for the principled decisions which they took under Ukrainian law, the standards of international law, and their conscience and honour. In September 2022, they made a deliberate and free choice in favour of Russia which will be able to reliably protect them from the actions of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis.
Many people today laugh and ask where are the Nazis there? A tattooed swastika? That’s nothing, just a juvenile folly. We hear that regularly. Glorification of certain historical figures? This is because they used to “love” Ukraine in their own way.
Recently I read a report (we will provide a reference) on how they issued postage stamps in Lvov glorifying the Waffen SS Division “Galicia.” Look at it, if you have not seen it yet. Official postage stamps. With SS uniforms on them. Now, in 2023. On these very days.
We will speak more about this in the context of the many countries observing International Holocaust Remembrance Day, as designated by the UN General Assembly resolution. Meanwhile, postage stamps were issued in Lvov depicting historical figures from the Waffen SS Division “Galicia” wearing a uniform that was condemned and cursed not only for moral reasons but also by the Nuremberg Trials.
The above confirms that the “collective West” is set to face off against Russia and does not see any moral limitations in anything. Lying? OK, they will be lying. Supplying weapons to escalate the conflict to new levels? They will certainly do that. More people to sacrifice? That’s what will be done. For them, this is normal; it is right. This is what should be done, because they are “a wonderful garden” while the rest are a “jungle.”
Nevertheless, however hard the US and its allies try to arm Kiev, drag out the combat operations and close their eyes to its monstrous crimes, they will never succeed.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
On January 27, today, but in 1945 – 78 years ago – Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Аuschwitz-Birkenau or Oswiecim. In 2005, this day was declared International Holocaust Remembrance Day by a UN General Assembly resolution co-authored by Russia.
The Second World War was the greatest military tragedy in the history of civilisation that brought unprecedented suffering to humanity, and the Holocaust is one of its saddest chapters.
It is part of World War II. In scale and brutality, the Holocaust ranks among the worst crimes against humanity. Today, 78 years after the end of the war, we still mourn the millions of people who suffered the inferno of Nazi concentration camps and ghettos: Jews, Roma, Slavs. The memory of these victims and of those who liberated the world from the plague of Nazism at the cost of their own lives must remain sacred and be passed on from generation to generation.
In recent years, we have been increasingly confronted with manifestations of anti-Semitism, racial intolerance and aggressive nationalism. We note the increased advocacy of misanthropic ideas, the increasing activity of various kinds of radicals and attempts to divide states and societies along ethnic or confessional lines. All this threatens the fundamental principles of democracy and human rights in their best, true essence, and international security and stability. Forgetting the lessons of history can lead to a repetition of tragedy.
We can see this. The gas chambers were then, while the Trade Union House in Odessa is now. The meaning is the same: to destroy dissidents in the most brutal way possible, by improvised means, and then to celebrate it, followed by allowing no remorse whatsoever. It is the same, it is just that 78 years have passed since Red Army soldiers liberated Auschwitz and the world saw what a machine of death it was.
I want to say that humanity made a lot of thrillers and horror movies after that. In this sense, Hollywood has shown the wonders of ingenuity: costumes, special effects, makeup, but nothing can compare to the power of the influence of the photos of what the Red Army soldiers found in Auschwitz. Take a look. Put them on the table in front of you, talk to your families, your children, tell them about it. After all, it is not only the state and the government that should be talking about these subjects. Something should stir somewhere inside, where they say our soul is. Something must urge us now, including on this day. There are many other days for this, but let's just talk and remember in a human way. Without politics. Without taking one side or the other, but just remembering, the way it was 78 years ago.
It is our common duty to do everything we can to ensure that mass crimes like Auschwitz never happen again. We must cherish the sacred memory of the events of the Second World War, firmly resist any attempts to rewrite history (and there are some), to revise our country's contribution to the Great Victory, and to defend the honour, dignity and good name of the living and the fallen.
I sincerely believe that the memory of those who sacrificed their lives in the name of these victims deserves no less honour.
Systematic work to counter the glorification of Nazism must remain an important priority on the international agenda. Russia will continue to be active in opposing the revision of the outcome of the Second World War and in opposing neo-Nazism, extremism and religious intolerance.
Holocaust Remembrance Week events
I would like to mention some of the events that are taking place in our country in connection with January 27.
A cycle of annual events is taking place in Moscow and the regions of Russia from January 16 to 31 to mark еру International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 and the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp by the Red Army on that day in 1945.
This year, the most important official event will be the opening of the historical documentary exhibition Holocaust: destruction, resistance, salvation by the Holocaust Centre, at the Moscow City Duma on January 27 in cooperation with the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC).
The main event, the Memory Keeper memorial evening took place yesterday, on January 26 at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre.
The central event was the screening and discussion of the animated documentary film 263 Nights at the House of the Peoples of Russia on January 25. The documentary tells the story of the 26 Jews from the Minsk ghetto who miraculously escaped the Holocaust.
Schools in most of Russia’s regions will hold classes on this topic. The letter sent to the Russian Jewish Congress by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation recalls that "in accordance with the concept of the ‘History of Russia’ course taught in Russian schools and the standard basic curriculum for secondary general education, the Holocaust is an obligatory subject for study.”
During Remembrance Week, ‘We Remember,’ an international action uniting those who oppose all forms of xenophobia, will also take place on social networks.
Remembrance Week has been held in Russia at the federal level since 2015. In 2022, more than a thousand memorial, cultural, educational and outreach events took place in 82 regions of our country.
Many countries will be commemorating the Holocaust today, January 27, on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, including the Netherlands. However, this country, which is unfortunately a "frontrunner" in anti-Russia and anti-historical "innovation," has decided to reformat historical truth.
The local foreign ministry requested that the Russian Embassy refrain from taking part in the memorial ceremony organized by the Dutch association Auschwitz-Committee in Amsterdam on January 29. Moreover, The Hague decided to pressure event organisers into withdrawing the invitation previously extended to Russian diplomatic representatives.
A similar invitation had been sent to our Embassy by The Hague Jewish Cultural Centre for Yiddish Studies (CHAJ), but that too was withdrawn on a call from the authorities.
No matter how much we are assured that the decisive role of the Soviet Union in the defeat of Hitler's Germany and the liberation of Europe from fascism is remembered in the Netherlands, the facts speak to the contrary. What else will you come up with? That it was not the Red Army that liberated Auschwitz? Where does it go from here? What was it: an alien intelligence landing, representatives of other continents who suddenly burst in and liberated the concentration camp? What else can you think of to ban a country, that has been trying to defend the memory of the heroes who liberated Auschwitz for decades, from taking part in these events?
A question for the Netherlands and for the officials at the Dutch Foreign Ministry: tell me, if you are so principled in your views, have you ever once, just once, spoken out against the demolition of monuments and the desecration of the graves of those who liberated these concentration camps? Have you ever told your neighbours in Europe, the EU and NATO about this – about the unacceptability of distorting history, mocking the memory of the fallen who liberated those, who were tortured there, at the cost of their own lives? Never. Not once. I think they don’t know that a "hurricane" swept across Europe and tore down these monuments. Only it was not spontaneous, it was political.
Think about it. When there are almost no people left who took part in those events and who can defend the truth because they were witnesses, the Netherlands considers it "inappropriate" to honour the Red Army soldiers who liberated the prisoners of Auschwitz and other concentration camps so you can live up to a political agenda. This is not just untruth, betrayal or blasphemy, it is a perversion of the essence of our civilisation, and it undermines its foundations. After this, it is embarrassing to ask: what do you believe in, then? And this unsightly campaign to rewrite the history of the Second World War, which is part of this political bacchanalia, has already involved the Dutch Foreign Ministry itself.
Over the years we have seen how a number of European countries have degraded the memory of the liberators who sacrificed their lives to liberate Europe from Nazism, glorified Hitler's criminals and their accomplices like Bandera and Shukhevych, and deliberately tried to distort the truth about who opened the doors of the Nazi death factory in Auschwitz and gave the world another chance for survival, and to forget the 27 million Soviet citizens who perished during the Second World War.
It was this historical criminal negligence that in many ways foreshadowed today's events. Rewriting history has allowed some to forget its lessons, heroes and anti-heroes.
Our duty is to keep the memory of the victims of those terrible events, to honour those who liberated the world from its horrors at the cost of their own lives. We have always said and continue to say this. This is not our position for just today.
Situation around the arrest of Sputnik Lithuania Editor-in-Chief Marat Kasem in Latvia
Let me remind you that the Latvian regime has subjected Marat Kasem (and has been subjecting him for many years) to the most severe persecution for his professional activities. We are making every effort to rescue this journalist from Latvia’s dungeons. No other alternative to these developments, except the release of Marat Kasem and the dismissal of the fraudulent charges against him, could suit anyone who understands what’s at stake.
Last week, Marat Kasem’s lawyer said that a Riga court refused to satisfy a motion to release him from custody, calling its ruling final and not subject to appeal at the national level. This is another demonstration of the vindictive arbitrariness of a Latvian punitive machine that is settling scores with a journalist who refuses to betray his beliefs. There is no other way to describe it.
The true essence of the Latvian state is well characterised by the circumstances under which this terrible vendetta has taken place. The State Security Service did not fail to take advantage of Marat Kasem’s arrival in Riga to visit a sick grandmother. She died. Right after the death of Taisiya, who was unable to bear the news of his arrest, Marat’s health problems worsened sharply, which, nevertheless, did not prompt the Riga pseudo-Themis to show... I’m not even talking about mercy. What does mercy have to do with it? There is the law, and there are the standards that the Baltic countries constantly talk about as their main goals and development tasks. This was a good example on which you could have proven that democracy is not just an empty phrase, not a form of political control over these countries from Washington. The conditions of his detention and the disregard for the obligations to provide timely medical assistance allow qualifying such an attitude as inhumane, bordering on torture.
We demand the immediate release of Marat Kasem and insist that all relevant international organisations respond to this flagrant abuse of the obligations to human rights protection by Riga.
Anniversary of the 1999 events in Racak
Another “surprising” subject. You can see how the collective West has intensified its attacks on a country they love in name, care about and want to include in their ranks as soon as possible. But they do not include “a little” and do the opposite. I am talking about Serbia.
We are seeing another wave of anti-Serb propaganda in the Western and Balkan media due to the anniversary of the events that took place at the height of the Kosovo conflict in the village of Racak. The same thing is happening around Ukraine now: the same methods and techniques. Take the truth, throw it away, put a lie in its place and say it's true.
On January 15, 1999, when trying to detain a group of terrorists from the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), who had settled there, Serbian police officers were subjected to an armed attack and, acting strictly according to the law, killed several dozen militants with return fire. However, right there, in hot pursuit and at the suggestion of the head of the OSCE Verification Mission in Kosovo, American William Walker gave birth to a “creative” version of what had happened. According to Walker, Albanian bandits “suddenly” turned into “civilians,” and the Serbian security forces into “merciless killers” who allegedly perpetrated the massacre of innocent people.
They started to make the Serbs into war criminals using this falsification. How familiar this sounds; it’s the same thing, but the scale and technological means are different. But in general, everything is the same: betrayal and deceit. The Serbs were accused of war crimes, and they became the centre of universal blame. In a matter of hours, this perverse interpretation, picked up as if on cue by the world's leading news agencies, became, as they say, generally accepted in the West, and of course, not subject to doubt or criticism. An active processing of international public opinion began in order to justify the plans for a NATO aggression against Yugoslavia, which was unleashed two months later. Classic. Then the same pattern will be repeated in relation to Iraq. First, the test tube, then the bombardment and many years of occupation. Washington badly needed a pretext for armed intervention and so created one itself. As they always do, everywhere.
The “massacre in Racak” is so far from reality (in the Western propaganda version) that even the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), with its anti-Serb charge, did not find enough evidence to bring anyone to justice for this episode. In 2006, the ICTY Trial Chamber banned the disclosure of evidence on the incident altogether.
The story of the forensic experts working in Racak under the auspices of the European Union, headed by Finnish specialist Helena Ranta, is also indicative. Their final report, submitted to the ICTY, has not yet been made public. What is there to hide?
Apparently, the same thing that is hidden in the case materials on the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, and the use of Novichok around the world, which is attributed to us. None of the questions we asked have been answered. And these were official documents transmitted through law enforcement agencies and our foreign missions to various countries with a request to clarify the circumstances of what actually happened. All the same. No information.
Should I remind you about the Nord Stream pipelines? The world learned almost live that the civilian infrastructure that supplied the European continent with energy resources had been compromised. So what? Immediately, Russia was denied participation in the international investigation. It was instantly declared that it was necessary to find the truth, but behind the scenes. Not everyone can be admitted.
And the Malaysia Airlines crash? Was it different when it was shot down in the sky over Ukraine? Remember? Who wasn't invited? I'm not talking about Russia at all. Even Malaysia was not invited. It took a month for it to be allowed to investigate what happened there. Strange, the plane was Malaysian, but Malaysia was not allowed. How can this be? Here is this example. There is a report, a report by forensic experts in an international legal organisation created specifically to investigate these crimes. But it has not been made public. What’s the problem? Too few years have passed? Is it necessary that, as with World War II, generations of witnesses leave and then it will be possible to take out any piece of paper and say what happened when the people who signed these documents, the forensic experts themselves cannot answer a single clarifying question? They simply will not be alive by then. Is this what we can expect? This is not news, it’s a well-known methodology.
For her part, the team leader, after years of silence, admitted that during the document’s drafting she was under pressure from the Finnish Foreign Ministry and the aforementioned William Walker was furious (literally: broke and threw a pencil at her) when she refused to put the findings denigrating Serbs that he dictated into the report. That is why we do not see these conclusions as ICTY documents and forensic reports. That is why they believe the products of Hollywood and the "investigative documentaries" of US television channels. It is simple: let us look at these documents. To do so, they must be declassified. I don't know if they are classified, but at least publish them.
Today, William Walker is a favourite of Albanians, an honoured guest in Tirana and Pristina. In Albania he was awarded a medal, in Kosovo he was called an "ambassador of truth." He is preparing a book about the Racak massacre for publication, and grateful Kosovars are allocating 70,000 euros for it from the budget. Of course, someone gave them those 70,000 euros first, from there, from the "citadel of truth," and then they use this money to sponsor such materials at their discretion.
But who is really in front of us? A cynical provocateur who abused the status of the OSCE representative and assumed the exclusive right to interpret events. He arrogantly declared that the world would believe him anyway and not the impartial facts. He continues even now to publicly whitewash the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and to place the blame for war crimes in Kosovo solely on the Serbs.
William Walker has not only deliberately and deeply violated the mandate of the international observer, but also revealed to the world typical American methods of falsifying facts and distorting reality.
We all thought (I think, the whole world) that once the Cold War and the confrontation of systems ended and when countries declared loudly that they wanted to start a new era of peace, trust, equality, free of conflict provocation, there would be no need for such methods. Everything will remain as a vestige of those "cold" hostilities. The world has made a cruel mistake.
In the 1980s, there was indeed a chance for a global reset. It happened only in words. It happened in several stages with handshakes, smiles, buttons. Everyone thought that when Hillary Clinton gave Sergey Lavrov a button that said "reset" (in fact, it said "overload"), that it was just an error. Turns out it was a prophecy.
Unfortunately, these Western anti-traditions are still alive today: a similar scenario has been played out in Ukraine before our eyes.
The provocation in Racak will forever remain a shameful stain on the reputation of the United States and its allies, a manifestation of pathological Serbophobia. It will never be forgotten either by Russia or by Serbia.
No exoneration for Japanese war criminals
Regarding the statute of limitations, we would like to provide new information about the crimes of Japanese militarism during World War II. As we have repeatedly noted, they have no statute of limitations. Ongoing procedural actions in this sphere are intended to punish all the culprits.
The Prosecutor-General’s Office of the Russian Federation has officially noted that it has rescinded earlier decisions exonerating Japanese citizens Shun Akikusa, Ryuzo Sejima and Toichiro Mineki who headed the Japanese military intelligence service during the war and were involved in subversive activity against the Soviet Union.
Following a review of the matter by cassation and supervisory courts, it has been established that these persons are not subject to exoneration, and that their guilt has been proved completely.
The situation around the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin
Authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany are following the anti-Russia line that they have chosen (German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said they are fighting a war against Russia), and they have started taking action to curtail the activities of the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin. In December 2022, they froze its accounts at German banks. On January 20, the media reported that the Berlin Prosecutor’s Office had initiated a certain inspection/audit of the House.
The German side is therefore flagrantly violating the provisions of the February 4, 2011 Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany on the Activity of Cultural and Information Centres. The document regulates the activity of the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin and the German State Goethe Institute in Russia.
It appears that there is no longer any room for international law, now that the German Foreign Minister has announced that her country is waging a war against Russia. There is no time for culture in this situation.
The German side should realise that reciprocal measures against subsidiaries of the Goethe Institute in Moscow, St Petersburg and Novosibirsk will be forthcoming, unless the situation around the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin is normalised.
I believe that the Ambassador of Germany to Russia can answer certain questions being asked here and there and dealing with the position of official Berlin. I am not asking who is making specific decisions in Berlin. An official statement has already been made on this issue.
We are expecting the Ambassador of Germany to Russia to provide the relevant explanations, as regards his country’s position on this issue. Yesterday, the German Foreign Ministry started publishing something else. As an agency, the German Foreign Ministry is subordinated to the German Foreign Minister. How can this be possible? The Minister is saying one thing, and the Ministry something else. On the other hand, we can see many similar developments in the West. Consequently, we would like to hear official explanations from the German side by the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Russia.
Refusal of airlines to carry Russian citizens flying to third countries via Istanbul airports
As of late, Turkish Airlines, as well as European air carriers, including KLM and Lufthansa, are refusing more often to carry citizens of the Russian Federation flying to third countries via airports in Istanbul. According to information obtained by the Russian Consulate General in Istanbul (in the course of providing assistance to Russian citizens), these difficulties arise despite all essential documents being provided. First of all, these problems can be explained by the decisions of authorities in countries of transit (most often, this applies to airports in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, and Amsterdam in the Netherlands) or authorities at the final destination that are reportedly guided by in-house, corporate instructions and regulatory documents.
In this connection, the Foreign Ministry would like to issue a reminder that Russian citizens should contact air carriers and confirm that they will be accommodated on the entire route before departing from Russia. If necessary, they should contact the missions of the countries (due to be transited, and those where they are heading) in Russia and find out whether there are any obstacles for transiting these countries or arriving there.
25th anniversary of signing the International Space Station Agreement
Here is a less sad date. January 29 marks the 25th anniversary of signing the International Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement between Russia, the United States, European Space Agency member states, Canada and Japan on building the International Space Station (ISS). Several months following this landmark event, Russia launched its Zarya (Dawn) module that became the first element of the new station.
Twenty-five years on, the ISS remains a major multinational project in the field of space exploration. Its capabilities as a unique scientific research laboratory make it possible to accomplish a wide range of applied scientific tasks in the interests of all humankind. Russia continues to play a key role in implementing the ISS programme.
Russia has accumulated substantial experience while successfully operating the ISS over the years. This experience is a solid foundation for expanding mutually beneficial and equitable cooperation with all the concerned partners in outer space.
Foreign Policy Meetings in Memory of Vitaly Churkin
On February 20-22, 2023, Moscow will host the first youth forum called Foreign Policy Meetings in Memory of Vitaly Churkin and organised by the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund. The project aims to preserve the memory of Vitaly Churkin, to make use of his foreign policy legacy, to expand research activities of young researchers and to retain academic ties between universities and analytical centres.
The event will involve young experts on foreign affairs aged 18-35 from Russia and foreign countries. Its programme will include meetings with state officials and public activists, lectures, roundtable discussions, panels and an interactive section.
Applications from prospective participants are accepted until January 29, 2023.
I advise all those who have not yet read Vitaly Churkin’s memoirs, written in his lifetime and published after his death, to do so. It will prove interesting for those who have chosen diplomacy as their future career, for historians and the public at large.
80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad
On February 2, 1943, the Battle of Stalingrad ended, changing history and turning the tide of the entire Second World War.
This is regarding the question of tanks. “Tanks” is not from cybersport, it's from history. German tanks.
By the end of January1943 the German grouping of more than 330,000 troops was pinned in a small area in the ruins of Stalingrad after fierce fighting and was completely liquidated on February 2.
The Battle of Stalingrad was a vivid demonstration of courage, fortitude, willingness to self-sacrifice of all the peoples of the USSR, who foiled the criminal, misanthropic plans of the Nazis, prevented a global catastrophe. In honor of the heroic defence of the city the Soviet government inaugurated the medal For Defence of Stalingrad on December 22, 1942. It was awarded to over 700,000 participants of the battle. The 112 most distinguished servicemen became Heroes of the Soviet Union.
The feat performed by Soviet soldiers met with a rapturous response abroad and strengthened the international prestige of our country. On February 5, 1943, three days after the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, US President Franklin Roosevelt called it an epic struggle, the decisive result of which is celebrated by all Americans. In a letter that he later sent to Stalingrad on behalf of the American people, he emphasised that the “fortitude and devotion” of the valiant city defenders “will inspire forever the hearts of all free people.”
And I would like to say that all those who will ever be in the city that defended our homeland and forever inscribed its name (yes, it so happened that it was changed several times, but we all know what we are talking about) in the history of our country, be sure to walk through all the places associated with this battle: museums and monuments. The great feat resonated deeply, as captured in these fantastic, unforgettable monuments, sculptures and memorials. You will understand that history can come alive like this.
On February 21, 1943, King George VI of Great Britain sent a telegram to Mikhail Kalinin, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, saying: “Today, my peoples and I join the peoples of the Soviet Union in sincerely paying tribute to the heroic qualities and magnificent leadership, thanks to which the Red Army, in its fight against our common enemies, has written new pages in history with its glorious victories. The stubborn resistance of Stalingrad turned events and served as a harbinger of crushing blows that sowed confusion among the enemies of civilization and freedom...”
On 26 November 1943, during the Teheran Conference, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, on behalf of George VI, in the presence of US President Franklin Roosevelt, presented Joseph Stalin with a sword of honour, which subsequently became one of the most famous exhibits of the State Historical and Memorial Museum-Reserve “The Battle of Stalingrad.” Engraved on the double-edged blade were Winston Churchill’s words in Russian and English: “To the steel-hearted citizens of Stalingrad – the gift of King George VI – in token of the homage of the British people.” Franklin Roosevelt, reading aloud the inscription on the blade, said that indeed, they have hearts of steel.
February 2, 1943 according to the Federal Law No. 32-FZ On the Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia of March 13, 1995, is celebrated as the Day of Russian Military Glory – the day the Red Army defeated Nazi forces in the Battle of Stalingrad.
On July 15, 2022, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin signed the Executive Order On Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the Defeat of the Nazi Troops in the Battle of Stalingrad.
The Russian foreign service contributed to the overall effort to defeat the enemy without delay, whose activities from the first days of the war were aimed at forming and strengthening the anti-Hitler coalition, ensuring an uninterrupted supply of military equipment, food and other essential goods.
You will be able to learn about all this at the documentary exhibition posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website. We invite all representatives of the media to view the display and tell your readers and listeners the truth about Stalingrad. You will be able to see with your own eyes historical materials testifying to the courage, fortitude, and self-sacrifice of all the peoples of the USSR, who thwarted the criminal, misanthropic designs of the Nazis. That is the road to ourselves. The best way to oppose the falsification of information and history.
Maria Zakharova: You have put it correctly. Today, we have already touched upon this issue in the briefing’s opening remarks. It is surprising that the very same people can seriously say that they are not parties to the conflict, and they explain this by pointing to the fact that they do not intend to send infantry units and aircraft there. And is it possible to supply tanks? I am trying to find some logic and common sense here. This is a priori pointless. I repeat, tanks do not move all by themselves. People control, drive, service and maintain them. Moreover, they receive signals from people. They are not just metal boxes.
All this amounts to absolutely criminal hypocrisy. It is not simply diverting attention from an undesirable question or issue. This amounts to downright lies. We have been hearing these statements since the beginning of the current situation in Ukraine.
Real-life Western actions show that the reverse is true. In effect, NATO and the “collective West” are using the Kiev regime to fight Russia. This is why they are manipulating the issue of peace talks. As you remember, they talk about peace and then about battlefield, again about peace and talks. After that they say time is not ripe for talks and start discussing the battlefield once more. Further on, they will say it’s the right time for talks, “provided Russia stops hostilities,” and then “until the complete liberation of Ukrainian territories,” with Crimea mentioned in this context. This is absurd.
This old tactic has no geopolitical implications. In everyday life, it causes an interlocutor to lose his or her bearings in space. This tactic strives to confuse a person to such an extent that he or she would fail to understand anything. After that, it would become possible to impose any viewpoint and any thoughts on others.
Here is a simple example. If a person constantly sees his or her reflection in a distorting mirror (if distorting mirrors are installed everywhere, including at home and at work), then such persons would eventually stop perceiving themselves accurately, and they would become accustomed to seeing their seemingly distorted reflection in ordinary mirrors, too.
These statements are endlessly trying to impose non-existent models and to do away with genuine facts.
The alliance member countries supply Kiev with weapons, military equipment and train service personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the active assistance and coordination on the part of the collective West. They also saturate Ukraine with money, so that it would continue fighting Russia. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock noted openly that a war against Russia was underway. Slips of the tongue and mistakes are possible. In that case, any specific person or his or her representative provides a clarification and notes that earlier statements amount to a mistake, an improvisation or a personal opinion. However, this is not happening. We can see that additional statements have been provided, but no one has disavowed the basic point.
It is precisely NATO weapons that are killing civilians and destroying the civilian infrastructure in the new entities of the Russian Federation. Consequently, the bloc’s countries are de facto becoming accomplices to the crimes of the Kiev regime. At the same time, they should remember that there is no statute of limitations for such crimes. Statements by Angela Merkel and Annalena Baerbock amount to evidence.
Are they accomplices, a party to the conflict, direct or indirect aggressors? We should face the facts. Before 2022, they presented an ultimatum to Ukraine’s Russian and Russian-speaking population that was expected to renounce its cultural, historical, traditional and linguistic identity. In that case, they would have been spared; otherwise they would have faced consequences… meaning elimination. However, I cannot say that moral and ideological elimination is somehow better than physical elimination. People, including inmates of concentration camps, were turned into slaves during World War II. How many years did it later take to help innocent people, victimised by the Nazi experiment, perceive themselves, other people and the entire life in a normal manner?
We have now seen the same situation. They openly told people with a certain cultural and ethnic identity that they should either retrain, “reboot” and renounce their past or face consequences… They offered other options: you either leave or you will be treated differently or face reprisals, which will be determined by the Kiev regime that is completely supported by its Western handlers. All this was accompanied by physical extermination in the form of an eight-year-long massacre organised by the Kiev regime for Donbass.
Today, the West is openly talking of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia, and China is next in line. They are saying this openly. Their doctrines also mention this. And weapons deliveries supplement it.
This is not just intimidation and threats, this plan has been set in motion.
Maria Zakharova: We have commented on this many times. After the special military operation began, the Moldovan authorities decided to support the Kiev regime and to suspend our political dialogue. Official Chisinau is essentially using anti-Russia sanctions in the banking sector and in the re-export of Russian goods, and supports the initiatives of the West and the Kiev regime that are directed against Russia at international platforms. I am not even talking about rhetoric. We are constantly forced to answer.
The republic's cooperation with NATO is growing. Its authorities are actively discussing the country's neutral status, as included in its constitution. In an interview with Politico on January 20, President Maia Sandu mentioned a “serious discussion” in Moldova on the advisability of changing this status and joining “a major military alliance.” What serious discussion can there be, Ms Sandu, when you shut down all the media? If there is open media, then there can be a discussion. You close several media outlets at once, it is impossible to have an independent point of view. This is not a discussion, it is propaganda.
Inside Moldova, the authorities are fighting the political forces that advocate developing ties with Russia, narrowing the scope of the Russian language, clearing the information space from Russian and Russian-speaking media, and glorifying Romanian accomplices and Nazis. In fact, they are mimicking the path that the Baltic countries and then Ukraine previously passed under the supervision of the West.
Chisinau actions cause deep concern and have a negative impact on our bilateral relations. We constantly talk about this and warn our Moldovan colleagues that the assistance of the West is based solely on their own interests and has nothing to do with the aspirations of the Moldovan people. They do not care.
The collective West does not care about the Moldovan, Ukrainian, or even its own people, based on what we see. They also send their own. Wherever they are sent without any purpose or need, and in many ways even contrary to it.
Despite the negative trends in Moldovan foreign and domestic policy, there is, of course, no talk of a complete suspension of interaction with this country. Trade and economic ties continue between us, humanitarian contacts continue, the embassies are operating, and the bilateral treaties and agreements concluded within the CIS are in force.
I would like to emphasise once again: Russia is open to constructive and pragmatic cooperation with Moldova. Let me remind you so that later they cannot say we did not talk. We are united with this nation by a rich, common history and culture, and not just decades ago, but today. We proceed from the premise that cooperation will meet the interests of both Moldova and its people.
Maria Zakharova: I have repeatedly commented on this today. Once again, decisions – regardless of who makes them – on supplying Kiev with tanks indicate that the collective West is deliberately escalating the situation and raising the stakes in the conflict in Ukraine. Obviously, neither Kiev nor the West is willing to seek any diplomatic solution; there are efforts to block negotiations with Russia at the legislative level, persecute any negotiators in the country, and make demands (rather than requests) for supplying them with more weapons, as Western diplomats claim that any decisive action must be taken on the battlefield at this point, not through diplomatic efforts.
The West is open about its ultimate goal of achieving a strategic defeat against Russia. To achieve this, the US and its allies continue pumping Kiev’s neo-Nazi regime with weapons; they are willing to sacrifice all of Ukraine and its residents, whose interests are ignored by Washington and Brussels. Vladimir Zelensky does not care about his people one bit.
Some ask why we think this when he is allegedly doing all this for the sake of the people. And I will tell you that Zelensky had never been involved in politics. When he made a decision to run for president, he kept telling everyone he would be a president of “peace,” and the sole thing he was aiming at was “peace.” He kneeled and swore an oath. It is hard to say what gods he was addressing; judging by his actions, it initially looked like he was a non-believer. Now I think he is a believer – a believer in some force of evil and darkness. We have seen it all. They made a film about him, coming up with a particular public image created for him. A certain way of thinking was imposed on the people, who assumed he would be a commoner representing and following the will of people. Their goal was to make an impression. Back then, no one paid attention – but they should have. What finances were used to this end? Who was the mastermind? What technologies were used? He deceived people in a way that I believe no one has deceived anyone in recent history.
So, if he deceived people, can anyone actually believe him now when he says he needs all these tanks, money and military resources for the future of Ukraine? He is telling lies just as he lied when kneeling before the Ukrainian people, and just as he lied when asked about his addiction. He was lying than, and he is lying now. And there is only one reason: he has nothing to do with the Ukrainian people. He has never thought about those whose lives are now in his hands. He does not even see them as pawns. Every pawn is valuable in a chess game because it is your game and your resources. But for him, people are not even pawns; they are nothing to him. Money, rousing statements and applause are what matters to him; this is solely about personal ambition. Everything else is not just secondary but simply does not exist in the painful logic of this aggressive, ‘bloody little man.’
For its part, Russia has always remained open to the possibilities of utilizing diplomatic and negotiating tools, and we have repeatedly said this. This approach was used and then blocked by Kiev as the West told it to do.
The collective West, NATO and the EU have long abandoned diplomacy, choosing a different path instead. They have started creating a threat to security by starting a fire, by fueling it, and by simply pushing the European continent towards a global disaster.
What is happening now is not about Ukraine, Russia or even the European continent. It is a much larger, global issue.
You asked about the US decision to supply American tanks. But why point it out? Obviously, this stance applies to all countries. Only one of them stands apart, Germany. But this is another story.
We remember very well what German tanks are. They are machines that became a symbol not simply of death and the ideology of death, but of hatred for humanity and a global, existential threat to the entire planet.
When you read about fascism, Nazism and World War II, it then, I believe, becomes obvious that SS uniforms and German panzers with Third Reich emblems became a global symbol of humankind plunging into an abyss of hatred, horror and murder. Red Army soldiers and the anti-Hitler coalition pulled all of us out this abyss, both their contemporaries and those of us who were born later. Those were young people who fought on the front, and the home front workers who supported them. German panzers alone became an anti-symbol that was forever emblazoned in the memory of humankind. Today, they expect these tanks to roll through our territory again. In any event, it is what they were assigned to do.
What does Germany expect? Does it hope that armoured vehicles coated with camouflage paint and bearing crosses of iron, the symbols of the German armed forces, will, as before, drive through our cities and villages? We remember how it all ended before. Does Berlin remember? Most importantly, people in Berlin should realise that the Germans have no moral right to supply their armoured vehicles for hostilities against Russia.
I would like to draw your attention to a statement made at the German Parliament on January 25, 2023. Addressing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Petr Bystron, a member of the German Bundestag, noted: “Mr Chancellor, this is a historic day. You have just destroyed the foundation of Germany’s post-war foreign policy. Germany bears special responsibility for the victims of World War II. For a long time, this was a core element of this country’s existence. I mean the 6 million Jews, as well as over 20 million men, women and children who were killed in the Soviet Union. Your predecessors, the great Social Democrats Willi Brandt and Helmut Schmidt, accomplished more than anyone else in the name of peace and reconciliation. Willi Brandt even received the Nobel Peace Prize for this. The slogan ‘Never again’ implied a refusal to send weapons to conflict zones. This has always been the core of German foreign policy.”
Everybody has their own way of writing their names into history. The people of Germany realise that Berlin has no moral, legal or ethical right to supply armoured vehicles and tanks to kill Russians.
We see plenty of video footage showing that even younger members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine speak Russian, among other things. They have been brainwashed by the Kiev regime, and many of them were forced to deploy to the front after they were rounded up all over Ukraine by the Nazis who, by the way, never leave their bunkers. They have pitted nations, peoples and even members of the same families against each other, making them so-called warring parties. Mothers are heartbroken because their sons are on different sides of the barricades. Over the years a lot has been done to tear Ukraine apart, with its difficult history, multi-ethnic composition and the first years of the notorious independence. So many Ukrainians dreamed about it. This independence should have started with responsibility, rather than permissiveness.
Nowadays, bloody dividing lines have pierced the hearts of a great many people. These regions have yet to experience the caterpillar tracks of German tanks.
And yet, Olaf Scholz went for it. Why? Frankly, because there are historical figures and there are others. There are people who would take a sure death defending their beliefs. Not because of pride or feeling exceptional but because they realise that this is what humanness means. Other people may have the political strength, material resources and support, including from voters, but they do not have the courage to make the right choice, to avoid their ancestors’ mistakes, including the mistakes for which the people of Germany paid an enormous price.
I would like to remind Mr Scholz of this (I would also like to remind Ms Baerbock, but I think there is no point) – or maybe tell him in case he does not know. When German prisoners of war were held in the Soviet Union after our victory, they were not tortured or mistreated like our soldiers and civilians were in German concentration camps. They were fed by the very people who not only lacked food but simply had had nothing to eat for many years. (This is to put it mildly. I would use different words in different circumstances).
My grandmother told me about this. All her life she considered bread the most remarkable food. She told me that the Soviet people, and she, a Russian person, in particular, shared that scarce post-war bread with German POWs after they had burnt down entire villages and killed children by forcing them into the houses that were to be set on fire. I asked her: “Grandmother, you did not have enough for yourself. How, after what you had been through, could you share your bread with the people who had wanted to kill you?” Do you know, Mr Scholz, what my grandmother replied? She said: “Masha, we felt sorry for them.” It was not a sympathy that you call tolerance. Feeling sorry meant loving, having the inner strength to share essentials even with enemies.
You in the West have long lost any idea of the true values rooted in love. It is impossible to believe that today, the West is supplying German tanks to a place where they already brought so much grief and suffering by killing tens of millions of people. It is also impossible to imagine that you understand the meaning of love, compassion, honour and conscience.
I remember very well the visit of the then Foreign Minister of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to Volgograd with an official delegation in 2015. Repentant, he bowed to the graves of both Soviet soldiers and the German soldiers who perished on our territory. He said that this must never happen again. And now it is happening.
The day when Germany decided to deliver Leopards to Ukraine is historic, as a German parliament member said, also because it completely proved and cemented the fact which we have long talked about: Germany has fully lost its sovereignty. Olaf Scholz admitted to giving up on an independent Germany foreign policy forever. He gave up everything that his predecessors had built over the decades after World War II – and in which they succeeded, by the way.
I should say that we would not be surprised if Germany’s Leopards at the Bundeswehr were replaced not by new products from the German defence industry but by American Abrams tanks. After all, this is exactly what Washington wants. Why ask Berlin? Berlin is no more. Angela Merkel tried as much as she could to defend and balance Germany’s own national interests and the US administration’s enormous pressure on her and the German people. This is how Americans always treat an occupied country.
Washington declared its goals in 2022 during the Congressional hearings. US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said that Russia must sustain a strategic defeat.
Maria Zakharova: I would like to ask (I have already done so today indirectly, let me be direct now) what kind of propaganda we can talk about in a situation where Moldovan authorities are introducing more and more bans and restrictions on the broadcasting of Russian and Russian-language media in their country. Are they accusing Moldovan media of propaganda? Let’s take a real look at things. Officially, it is a punishment for “propaganda”, but in reality – for an independent editorial policy and an expression of opinions that differ from the West’s opinions and from what is now preached by Maia Sandu and her associates.
As for the statements by Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu about Russia's desire to control Chisinau, they are groundless. Russia, unlike the West, never intended to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, Moldova, in particular, respected the processes in these countries, and advocated development where it has a mutually beneficial basis.
Today, the Moldovan authorities are increasingly falling under the control of the United States and the European Union. These attitudes are aggressively imposed on them. No longer in exchange for some rewards, but as a demand, in order to degrade the normal pragmatic relations with Russia and interaction within the CIS. Does this meet the interests of the Moldovans? Obviously, not.
After so many statements made about the dangers of the Russian media, the Russian-language media spreading propaganda, or the Moldovan media that promote a position different from today’s Chisinau also being wrong, I would like to ask a specific question to those who are now leading Moldova. Please give us an example of a media outlet in your country that, in your opinion, is exemplary, or at least faultless. I would like to understand from whom everyone else should take an example. What kind of media is not propaganda, but is “a proper media outlet?” Show us with your finger so we can compare.
Question: What is the situation with the Lachin corridor, which has been blocked for almost two months now? Are trilateral meetings with
Maria Zakharova: With regard to the situation with the Lachin corridor, the Russian Ministry of Defence and the command of the Russian peacekeeping force, in cooperation with the Russian Foreign Ministry, are in constant contact with the concerned parties. Vigorous efforts continue to normalise the situation. Unlike the majority of external players, who confine themselves to statements calling for de-escalation, the Russian side is seeking real solutions and providing humanitarian assistance on the ground.
We call for the complete unblocking of the Lachin corridor in accordance with the Statement of the leaders of
As we have previously stated, the Russian side confirms its readiness to organise negotiations between the foreign minister of
We believe that occasional problems on the ground should not become a pretext for suspending the negotiation process. Work should resume as soon as possible on all tracks to normalise Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, including unblocking transport links, border delimitation, and the conclusion of a peace treaty and civil contacts.
Question:
Maria Zakharova: What do you think? Do you believe our relations are developing?
They have long been blocked by the other side. There are simply new reasons now for some additional complications, an escalation, conflicts and so on. How can this be perceived? I don’t really understand.
I can see various political schools of thought. Some journalists and practicing political scientists dare say that it would be better to “wait” because this is not a direct conflict yet. What else should the conflict be for them to call it not indirect, but direct? The reason for everything they have done is fanatical political cruelty on the
Today I heard that
While heavy weapons are being supplied, there can be no talk about what will happen if someone does something there. There is a situation on the ground that we are dealing with. That’s it.
If you asked this question, you need to understand what is happening in another context. This is the terrible and bloody price that Europe pays for the bankruptcy of the
Question: Yens Stoltenberg said that despite the fact that it supplies tanks to
In turn, announcing Abrams supplies, Joe Biden emphasised that military assistance does not threaten Russian territory, although German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock claims that they are fighting against
What can be considered a threat to Russian territory in this case, and what can
Maria Zakharova: I have already replied to this question. Do you want me to add colour to this picture? What can
As for the details of the response on the ground, I would advise you to address this question to the Defence Ministry of Russia.
Question: Has the Foreign Ministry planned official meetings with new
Maria Zakharova: Indeed, we expect to see Lynne Tracy in the Ministry, where she will be received by Deputy Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who is in charge of this area.
This procedure is required for ambassadors as part of preparations for the fulfilment of their functional duties. During the meeting, Ms Tracy will present copies of her credentials to the Deputy Minister. After this procedure, she will be able to start functioning as an ambassador.
As soon as the date of the meeting is confirmed for potential announcement, I will certainly let you know.
Question: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suggested that Russian athletes who do not support actions by the Russian military in
Maria Zakharova: I am really pleased to hear that the Anglo-Saxon media are interested in peaceful sports against the backdrop of the current developments and tank supplies. How nice of them.
Your question has several aspects and I think they contradict one another. It’s about citations, not your question. You described the positions of IOC representatives in favour of access to the competitions for the athletes who do not support the actions of the Russian military. They also said an athlete cannot be banned from competitions just because of his or her passport. What does that mean? These approaches are contradictory. Either the world Olympic movement bans all athletes from participating in competitions or begins to make distinctions. This is incredible hypocrisy. IOC representatives made a political statement that all athletes should take part in the Games because the IOC has rules on steering clear of propaganda and the political agenda. But then they made the reservation that they mean all athletes that have a certain position.
I think any artificial requirements, especially political ones, not to mention an ultimatum, that are made to our or other athletes as a term for their participation in the IOC’s global sports events are flawed and unacceptable.
I am not ready to comment on this in terms of our final statements. In my opinion, the fragments you cited contain contradictions.
I will answer in general terms. Any similar false rhetoric is two-faced and flawed and leads nowhere. It is manipulative and constitutes a crude violation of universally accepted norms of international law in sports. It fundamentally contradicts the principled position of the
It is possible to look at this story from another angle. At present, our athletes are criticised for political support of the wrong cause. Why were they banned from competitions for so many years before? Because of doping. Will there now be a choice between those with correct political views and those suspected of doping? What choice will the IOC make? Those who are politically correct but use doping or those who do not use doping but have the wrong political views? This road leads to a deadlock. Sport is sport. It is not about a political or any other agenda. Yes, at other times, outside sport a person, athlete, coach or team can take part in any public or political events depending on their emotions or agenda of their world outlook. But this is outside sports. Nothing but sports should be allowed on a skating rink, tatami or field – only the achievements of a person, team or association that trained him or her. This is of the essence, unlike skin colour, religious beliefs or views on fateful problems. These things should not matter at all. This is about sport.
We’d like to emphasise once again that all these attempts to oust our country from international sports (they are obvious and are simply made under different pretexts) are doomed to failure. Those who verbally support lofty moral principles and independence of sports from politics should understand this.
Question: On January
Maria Zakharova: I can say this is almost a unique occurrence (I wouldn’t say it has never happened before. It probably has). You made it to a tiny percentage of reporters whose questions I answer by saying “thank you for your question.”
My thoughts about this installation are in perfect harmony with its name, SCHIZO. There can be no other thoughts about it. A brilliant rendering of a medical diagnosis.
With regard to the Embassy’s operations, it’s a separate issue and is not related to a specific performance or installation. You are asking the wrong person. You should direct this question to the party that issues guarantees and has an obligation to ensure normal functioning of a foreign mission of our (or any other) country based on their respective international obligations.
Accordingly, if a certain “act” interferes with business operations, creates a threat, or threatens employees’ security, the Embassy shall inform the relevant party thereof. There can be no division into “good” or “bad” acts. There are certain criteria for ensuring security and obligations that are spelled out in bilateral agreements and enshrined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of April 18, 1961. They must be complied with.
Question: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said that
Maria Zakharova: Our experts will have a closer look at this statement.
Speaking of children’s rights, I would like to ask the UN representative where he was during all those eight years when civilian sites in Donbass were shelled by the artillery and children were dying. What about children's rights there and then? Did we hear any statements to that effect back then?
I would like these UN officials to take note of the enormous amount of help (humanitarian and medical supplies, clothing and infrastructure) that we provided to residents of what were the Ukrainian regions over all these years. I did not see any particular desire on their part to support this politically.
Perhaps, in some reports, in small print, footnotes or between the commas, they talked about the “need,” a “possibility,” or “assistance” and the like. But I have never heard these UN representatives raise their voice and draw attention to the suffering of the children in Donbass.
To make sure this UN representative is aware of the fact that children were suffering during those eight years, our Permanent Mission to the UN will send him materials about the Alley of Angels.
Question: In a matter of months, European countries overcame their energy dependence on
Maria Zakharova: People with bulimia believe they are overcoming food addiction. Unfortunately, this is a serious affliction. For many, it is a false belief that has become part of an ongoing self-destruction of the body. It's the same here.
For decades, Europe received energy from the Soviet Union and the
If we approach this from the point of view that their pace of growth and level of development are high enough to say no to massive energy consumption, it is not our problem. It is up to them to figure it out with the greens as to whether they have reached the threshold in question or not.
This policy was imposed on the EU by
It's great to have a choice of energy sources. The availability of options to choose from is no panacea, but it is still a potent cure for addiction. The lack of freedom of action is what genuine dependence is all about. It’s exactly what
It is no longer a secret why EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell does not understand this. They don’t understand many things. They have an overall distorted picture of our world. Many of them believe that countries are located hundreds of thousands of kilometres away from one another, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea are the same thing, and in order to get to the Baltic Sea from the
Question: New
Maria Zakharova: I answered a question about the ambassador earlier today.
With regard to the possibility of improving Russia-US relations amid the hybrid war that
In this regard, given the off-the-charts Russophobia among the
We hope that Lynne Tracy will learn from the mistakes of her predecessor turned patented Russophobe Michael McFaul. He started out “not too well” the moment he set foot in office, but ended up dismally. He was removed from
Our recommendation (even though this can hardly be called a noble cause with regard to US diplomacy, which is rapidly losing professionalism) would be to stop doing what they are so fond of doing, to avoid making the old mistakes, and not to stoop to preaching or mentoring, which are simply inappropriate. A good way to start off would be to show some respect for the history, culture and values of the country to which you were sent to work as ambassador.
Interestingly, Ms Tracy’s arrival in
Question: The EU has decided to send a new monitoring mission to
Maria Zakharova: I didn’t say that. I said there is no need to freeze the conflict or try to do so.
Question: Does
Maria Zakharova: I can see from the scope of the question that you don’t really need an answer. You have shown deep knowledge of the situation.
I will begin with your last phrase. We have already said that the Russian side confirmed its readiness to hold talks between Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov and Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan in
Question: IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said he hoped to visit
Maria Zakharova: We maintain an important dialogue for both sides with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on all areas of the Agency’s activities, including on the operation of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, as well as on the creation of a nuclear safety and security protection zone at this plant. Contacts with Rafael Grossi are also regularly held via the Permanent Mission of Russia to International Organisations in
We do not rule out the possibility that an IAEA delegation headed by Rafael Grossi will visit
Question: The Supreme Court of Norway began hearing a case on whether the Kingdom has exclusive rights to extract resources from the
Maria Zakharova: It is not just a crab but an opilio crab. Please be more respectful.
On January 24, the Norwegian Supreme Court began hearing a case on the issue of the geographical scope of the 1920 Treaty of Spitsbergen and fishing regulation for opilio snow crabs on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The
Maria Zakharova: I would like to point out our comment from yesterday.
On January 23 of this year, the EU Council made a decision to establish a new two-year civilian European Union Mission in Armenia. The specifics of the EU’s presence are to be determined shortly. Yet it is already clear that it will be on a grander scale than the EU’s monitoring mechanism which was in effect from October to December last year.
Russia’s principled position regarding the entrenchment of an extra-regional factor in the South Caucasus has not changed. We see no added value in EU experts monitoring developments in the border area between Armenia and Azerbaijan. If Brussels were genuinely concerned about peace in the South Caucasus, they would have coordinated their mission’s operating conditions with Azerbaijan.
The appearance of EU representatives in Armenia’s border areas, at a time when the EU has degenerated into an appendage of the US and NATO and pursues a confrontational policy in the CIS space, can only inject geopolitical confrontation and aggravate existing tensions in the region. The declared civilian nature of the EU mission should not fool anyone – it is being created within the Common Security and Defence Policy of the EU with all that it entails.
In fact, the name “EU” remains to camouflage the obvious true role of NATO in different global affairs. They act through the European Union so as to avoid questions about whether the objectives have been formulated by the military bloc. It is the European Union: starlets on a blue flag, peace, friendship, the economy, cooperation, developments, etc. The signed agreements and treaties which completely intertwine EU and NATO policies; the reduction of the EU’s role to a minimum; individuals representing the Union, the arrogant “gardeners” who are darting between “the garden” and the “jungle” and who do not decide anything and do not understand what they are saying since they did not see many things that have been attributed to them and published in their names – all that shows that the EU as a political instrument has been edged out. The Euro-Atlantic structures do not have room for a policy based on diplomacy. They only have room for a policy of military and political efforts, in this case – negative ones.
The European Union’s attempts to entrench itself in Armenia at all costs, to push aside Russia’s mediation efforts, can damage the core interests of Armenians and Azeris in their commitment to get back to the peaceful development of the region.
We believe that the key stability and security factor in the region for foreseeable future remains the Russian peacekeeping contingent, deployed under the Statement by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020, as well as Russian border guards on the Armenian borders. They will respond to the EU observers’ behaviour in light of the situation on the ground.
We note that Yerevan opted for the EU without bringing to its logical conclusion the work on dispatching a CSTO mission. If the Armenian allies are still interested in activating the CSTO’s capabilities, a mission can be swiftly deployed to Armenia. We heard many statements on the need to engage CSTO. So go ahead. What’s barring it?
We continue to believe that the most stable and long-term basis for the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation and overall improvement of the situation in the region lies in diligent and consistent implementation of the trilateral agreements by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020, January 11 and , November 26, 2021 and October 31, 2022, which covers unblocking all transport links and economic ties, delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, agreeing on the parameters of the peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia, enhancing trilateral contacts between the public, expert communities and parliament members. The Russian Federation is giving all possible assistance in that. Much has already been done.
Question: Many observe that the EU mission does not look like a civilian one.
Maria Zakharova: The EU also has long ceased to look like a political organisation. There are businesses that may change a slogan and brand names while the product remains the same. The opposite can also happen – the brand name is the same while the services are modified. We have the second case here. We call it the European Union but in reality its “elder brother,” its main partner (the alliance) has completely paralysed the EU’s will.
In terms of who runs things, it is the US in NATO. I “liked” a statement made in Washington: they do not see and are not ready to consider the possibility of Finland and Sweden not joining at the same time. They must allegedly join the alliance together. The US makes decision how these countries should accede to NATO. Holding their hands together, hugging, on foot, crawling – this is not chosen by the countries themselves. Not even in their consultations with structures claiming to be the Organisation’s headquarters. Everything is decided in one particular country which is not Finland’s or Sweden’s neighbour and lies on a different continent. They have already taken the decision in that faraway land.
Unfortunately, this is essentially what happens in the Euro-Atlantic to anyone who is willing to bow their heads in servility to accept this concept. Those who are not willing, stand up for their sovereignty and the right to their own future and life.
Maria Zakharova: I couldn’t say. Moscow has a lot of wonderful Armenian restaurants. In case she misses it, she can always bring back those memories.
Maria Zakharova: I have already answered this question.
Question: The joint Finnish and Swedish application to NATO is up in the air. Türkiye was mad primarily at
Maria Zakharova: We have already commented on what happened in
These sacrilegious actions caused a predictably tough response in the Islamic world, including the Russian Muslim community. It is not just a question of all world religions but of any decent person, primarily, in the West that preaches freedom of religion and democracy as a new religion. It is time they asked themselves what metamorphosis is causing such wild manifestations of an obvious abnormality in them. People who haven’t created anything themselves (as a rule, those who stage such actions haven’t achieved much in life) deem it possible to destroy what people have created and preserved for centuries. This applies not only to the Quran but also to Christian relics, the treasured objects of Judaism, etc.
The world that upholds traditional values perceives this as abnormal behavior but the Westerners applaud this act, saying it is not only normal but also good. Why is it good?
Take what Foreign Minister of Sweden Tobias Billstrom said: “such provocations are horrible but
Attempts of the Swedish authorities to talk about “freedom of speech” to justify this act sounded cowardly, to say the least. Ostensibly, the police issued a permit only for a demonstration in front of the Turkish Embassy. Nobody approved the burning of the Quran. Meanwhile, the organiser of this act, the Danish-Swedish politician Paludan did not conceal his plans, while
Moreover, the Swedish authorities did not even take any actions to conduct an investigation. This is also typical of them. They like to lecture others on how to observe human rights and freedoms and make the most rigid demands on others on this issue, yelling about their commitment to democracy and tolerance every now and then. But in reality
Where are the limits of tolerance? If the West proclaims it as a new philosophical concept (as it has done), it has to answer the following question: Is it necessary to respect the views of just one person or a group of persons? This is the same as with human rights. Can only one group of people claim the protection of their rights? Are others not entitled to this? The same applies to the demand for tolerance. Josep Borrell answered this question for everyone. He said that some people are in a wonderful “garden” whereas others in a “jungle.” That is their attitude.
Question: The New York Times is reporting that the
Maria Zakharova: This question should not be hypothetical. It requires a practical answer. You should ask US or Israeli representatives to tell you about their plans, intentions and views in this respect. When you do this, we will comment.
Question: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said
Maria Zakharova: I said all I could. This is not an issue of guesswork but our assessments of what is happening. It is based on the situation on the ground and direct political statements by Western politicians.
Considering that
Question: You spoke about the EU civilian mission in
Maria Zakharova: These consequences should meet the interests of people in the countries to which these missions are sent. It is necessary to work for peace in the region rather than serve the interests of a political elite of a certain orientation. Diplomacy, politics, talks and international law can be helpful. But when military-political blocs that have been left with only their military (and aggressive) components under the cover of political institutions, everything is a big question.
The CSTO has never been a military bloc. Decisions in it are not made by the command-and-administrative system. Its member countries pursue their independent foreign policy in the international arena. They consolidate a public, political platform when they deem it necessary. They act as nation states on other questions if they want to have their own attitude.
Everything is different in NATO. Instructions are given by
Can this ideology be constructive? No. It is destructive for the most part and not only because it is not great as such. The West has no experience with peaceful resolutions. Where have Western countries achieved one? Nowhere. To do this, it is necessary to have a constructive agenda, pragmatic relations, respect for everyone and willingness to really achieve peace. This requires knowledge, analytical abilities and readjustments, to name a few. When the command-and-administrative system sends decisions down, there is no willingness to perform this work anymore.
Question: You have returned from an African tour. What is your impression of the jungle? What is the position of African governments towards
Maria Zakharova: We visited people, not the “jungle.” These people are just like us, they have their own problems, achievements, experiences, feelings and emotions. We were with people who went through their countries’ early struggles when they had to defend their interests. They have their own opinion, and they recall the role of this country in the true freedom they gained. They understand responsibility for their decisions and for future generations.
Josep Borrell visits the “jungle,” we visit people. Your sarcastic question is referencing the wild and racist comments made by the German Foreign Ministry whose officials are trying to “troll” the Russian Foreign Ministry and Sergey Lavrov. In reality, they are acting like racists and slave traders.
Question: Many countries suffered from colonisers, including the
Maria Zakharova: Please note the detailed news conferences with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He replied to all questions in great detail. All transcripts are posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry website and on our social media accounts.
On January 23-26,
First of all, I would like to thank all our African friends for their hospitality and sincerity during the talks. Indeed, our trips to
During our numerous meetings with the leadership of these countries, colleagues from foreign policy agencies, other ministries and the public at large, we discussed various issues related to strengthening and further expanding bilateral relations, the state and prospects of expanding trade and economic and investment ties, as well as opportunities for developing scientific, cultural and humanitarian cooperation.
We devoted special attention to preparing for and holding the Russia-Africa Summit this coming summer, with due consideration for the unique significance of this forum in building our long-term partnership with the continent.
We coordinated our positions on the most important issues of the global and regional agenda in a trustful manner. We provided our assessments of the situation in and around
I can say that we retain our mutual commitment to developing the Russian-African dialogue and a readiness to implement our bilateral plans and to address joint tasks in the Russia-Africa format.
Question: Many African countries are grateful for the
Maria Zakharova: We could talk about this for a long time. I will try and make it brief. Soviet interaction with regional countries was based on ideology. This was the main difference. The
Such an ideological approach is a thing of the past. We respect different systems, viewpoints, and political nuances in specific countries. We develop our relations on a mutually respectful and pragmatic foundation and in line with international law.
Maria Zakharova: These unending attempts to limit us in some way or to limit other countries in their ability to interact with us are plain to see. Nobody in the United States is hiding them, either. They have proclaimed it as their strategy. Foreign Minister of South Africa Naledi Pandor said it well during a joint news conference with Sergey Lavrov. She published a number of articles and other materials and gave a number of interviews before the talks, in which she repeatedly stated that Africa did not need the United States to figure out ways to build relations with its partners. Ms Pandor stressed that Africa knew firsthand what the Western world was all about, its endless push for provocations, and pitting peoples and countries against each other in the interests of this very Western world. She provided interesting and deep insights. I would not even use the word “correct” here, because these insights are analytical to the point where they are not subject to my assessments. They are interesting study material. Go ahead and check out these statements by the South African Foreign Minister.
The African countries stand in solidarity with each other based on an understanding that in a situation defined by political and economic pressure exerted by the “collective West” and its predatory, largely neo-colonial policy, no one can hope for a brighter future (if you rely precisely on the Western curators). This applies to Africa and everyone else.
These countries must again uphold their sovereignty and fight for their interests, both individually and jointly, including together with Russia.
Everyone is aware that the United States can and does obstruct these efforts. How do they do it? Let’s turn to the facts. They have already adopted laws on Russia’s activities in Africa, imposed endless sanctions, drafted stop lists and issued threats. Imperialists are using innovative technical forms to realise their ambitions, but deep down, imperialism has not changed a bit. We must counter this with mutually beneficial and mutually respectful cooperation.
Maria Zakharova: The Ministry released an official comment shortly after the incident. To reiterate, we have seen occurrences, where lack of political principles and permissiveness wrapped in false rhetoric about “freedom of speech and self-expression” led to inciting religious hatred and insulting the feelings of believers, this time Muslims, but this applies to other nations and religions as well.
We condemn and reject such criminal acts. We see them precisely as criminal actions that run counter to the obligations that Sweden, among other countries, has assumed, including in international organisations. It is important to take action against the radicals in question, to conduct an investigation and to punish them.
Maria Zakharova: Russian and Pakistani companies are holding commercial negotiations on the supply of energy to Pakistan. They are not finished yet. Our experts are working actively to settle outstanding issues. Russia would like to make future settlements in the national currencies or the currencies of third countries that are protected from sanction risks. Many people are afraid to or cannot say this, but the US currency is a soap bubble, a fiat currency that is being printed despite the United States’ huge sovereign debt. Russia-Pakistan energy cooperation is not limited to the supply of hydrocarbons. During the meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, which was held in Islamabad on January 18-20, 2023, it was decided to discuss a comprehensive energy cooperation plan, which includes the construction of infrastructure and the supply of energy resources. The implementation of this plan will ensure stable development of Pakistan’s gas sector.
For more detailed information, please contact the Energy Ministry of Russia.
Maria Zakharova: I am not sure that this question should be addressed to us. It should first of all be commented on in New Delhi.
Our Indian friends have already commented on this situation. I would like to point out that it is fresh proof of the BBC waging an information war on all fronts, not only against Russia but also against other global centres of power that are pursuing an independent policy. It turned out, after a number of years, that the BBC is also waging a battle within the British establishment and is being used as a tool for upholding the interests of one group against other groups. And we should regard this situation accordingly. It is not an independent but a dependent broadcasting corporation, which often disregards the basic tenets of professional journalism.
Maria Zakharova: Are you inviting me to write a script for a blockbuster? To stop doing what I am supposed to do and to start writing fiction? As for whether we consider any scenarios, our ministries and agencies, and our diplomats and political analysts are considering different scenarios. There are many of them. Forecasts are being made, and possible scenarios are being analysed.
We issue public comments on the steps we take, and we explain our actions.
Objectively, it would not be in Moldova’s interests to withdraw from the CIS and its 285 agreements to which Moldova is a party. Nobody forced Moldova to join them; it did so of its own free will. They were interesting and beneficial for it, and it needed them.
This is why, as we can see, the Moldovan authorities are not making rash decisions, because they are aware of the real socioeconomic advantages of the CIS membership. These are the real advantages. Take a look at the Kiev regime. Much has been said about us; there have been many twists and turns, but the agreements that are beneficial to them remain in effect. This is the proof of the matter.
This concerns, first of all, visa-free travel, the free trade zone, and employment, social and other benefits for labour migrants. It should be remembered that the CIS countries account for some 25 percent of Moldova’s trade, and over 90 percent of products of some Moldovan sectors are exported to CIS markets.
As for diplomatic relations between Russia and Moldova, there are no and cannot be any reasons for downgrading or, as you said, breaking them off. We believe that this will not be in the interests of our countries and citizens.
As for what the current Moldovan elites will do, I suggest that you ask them. Let them tell us about their plans.
Maria Zakharova: Despite their largely anti-Russia sentiments, representatives of the Moldovan leadership have repeatedly acknowledged that
As concerns discussions about
Question: My question concerns attacks on the Zaporozhye NPP and storing munitions at other nuclear power plants in
Maria Zakharova: In view of the statement by Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin, who said that Ukraine stores Western-supplied arms and munitions at nuclear power plants, the international community should be, as diplomats like to say, deeply concerned about such reports, since Kiev is using nuclear facilities as shields in order to build up Western military aid without risking to lose the supplies. We have seen similar remedies used before and said that
The data released by the Foreign Intelligence Service was not taken out of thin air but is substantiated by sources.
Therefore, we believe it is important for the IAEA Secretariat to pay close attention to this information and see beyond the half-baked reports from their inspectors stating that no such activity was observed at the NPPs. Obviously, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are keeping it under the radar. There have been no tweets but it does not mean information is not available. Obviously, the IAEA officers should be more vigilant and willing to get to the bottom of things. Especially because NPPs are enormous facilities and it is simply impossible for two or three inspectors to monitor them exhaustively.
Therefore, with a rather limited contingent of inspectors monitoring a facility they neither built nor maintain, it is impossible to claim with certainty that they are unaware or have not seen any such activity. One can make such conclusions only after conducting thorough work and obtaining detailed information. As soon as we obtained it, we immediately made it available via respective channels.
The same concerns statements about alleged powerful explosions around the Zaporozhye NPP. We have already refuted these false reports. Hostilities continue at a distance from the plant.
We encourage the IAEA Secretariat to refrain from issuing rushed conclusions or assessments of the current situation, and to examine the current state of affairs at Ukrainian nuclear power plants more carefully.
As concerns a Security Council meeting, this information is regularly communicated to the members of the Security Council and the UN Secretariat by
Question: My colleague from Azerbaijan said that European bodies have recently started mentioning Russia and Azerbaijan together. Yesterday, PACE held a vote on creating a tribunal for the top leadership of Russia and Belarus. Two Azerbaijani representatives voted for the tribunal, one even condemned Russia for the aggression, ending his statement with “Glory to Ukraine.” What does the Foreign Ministry make of these actions on behalf of a country that is considered Russia’s friend?
Maria Zakharova: Can you imagine how many individuals and political forces are practicing this sort of rhetoric? We are talking about tendencies, about people with authority who are in charge of foreign policy. Are we to comment on every single shout or loud sigh? It would be exhausting.
Maria Zakharova: You should ask Azerbaijan.
Question: No, you represent the Russian Foreign Ministry and you said that we should have coordinated the specifics of this mission with Azerbaijan.
Maria Zakharova: I have not seen what specifics were agreed upon.
Question: The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan issued a statement two days ago.
Maria Zakharova: Was anything coordinated with it?
Question: The ministry noted that they have certain preferences and acknowledged the mission. There was no criticism of the EU’s mission coming from Baku.
Maria Zakharova: We are the Foreign Ministry of Russia, not Azerbaijan. I can speak about our views. The expected outcome is a peaceful settlement, a resolution of the problem. For this to happen, all parties must be treated with respect, along with the understanding and subjective assessments of who is right and who is to blame in every specific situation. Before such steps are taken, they must be coordinated. Because, according to the laws of physics, there is more than one party involved. You must understand this. If there are two parties to the conflict and a mission is organised, do you believe the mission will be successful if the second party is notified in this manner? Nobody coordinated the mission with this party. Or what will this mission do? If its job is to greet aliens from outer space or to observe the stars, then sure, why coordinate it with the second party to the conflict? But if its declared goal is to somehow help with the settlement, there is no way they could ignore the second party. Speculating on why coordinate the mission with the second party when it was invited by the first one, is just juggling words. The outcome will be the same, if not worse. The rules of the genre should be respected.
Question: It was said that the Russian border guards acting as peacekeepers will respond to the actions of EU observers with due regard to the situation on the ground. What does this mean? That they will not let them pass?
Maria Zakharova: It is simple; there’s no need for fantasies. If some actions are taken, we will react accordingly. If there are no actions, there will be no reaction. This is clear.
Question: Let us get back to the Lachin Corridor.
Maria Zakharova: I have said everything there is to say. Let’s not repeat it. Some issues should be analysed more thoroughly. And other issues are commented upon as they stand at any given moment. I have said everything there is to say on this issue. I have no additional information.
If you send me your questions, I will forward them to our experts, who will provide their additional views on the matter.
Maria Zakharova: You are unkind to common people. They are not interested in what allegedly exists even though they cannot see it. I believe that people have a very concrete, simple and practical question, such as the one you have asked, which I addressed to you, regarding the official Armenian stand on Nagorno-Karabakh and its status, which is a pivotal issue for the country. This is the kind of questions people have. They want to know the official position of the Armenian authorities regarding this. It appears that they have not formulated it. What you are doing is trying to anticipate a question common people may ask regarding a non-existent issue that may hypothetically come to light later, because it is a secret nobody can see now. We have what we have and what really calls for formulating a basic stand. If this is done, many other questions will become understandable, even if they will not clear up.
Question: In this case, Mr Lavrov’s words indicate that there are certain arrangements that have not been included in the official text of the trilateral agreement. This is what we would like to be explained.
Maria Zakharova: Right, I will try to speak more clearly on this issue.
As I have said, let’s not look for nuances in what does not exist but might exist.
I don’t insist, but considering your question – this issue has been raised several times – I suggest that we should wait for the formulation of the basic stand on this pivotal matter, when everybody – first of all, the common people you mentioned and everyone else involved – will understand the Armenian authorities’ basic stand on this matter. When this happens, many things will become clear automatically. So far, this issue has been interpreted in many different ways and with references to various documents. The formulation of a basic stand on this issue will automatically clarify many other things. This is where we should start.
Maria Zakharova: I answered this question partially earlier today. The assumption that times are changing and humankind is evolving is debatable. By and large, scientific and technological breakthroughs do nothing to change human nature. Humanity is confronted with the same questions: what is good and what is evil? What is more important: love, compassion, mutual assistance, respect, support or financial gains, self-interest, comfort, etc.?
Russia is in the process of answering the question about what it can do and what kind of sacrifices it is ready to make or what other things it can forgo in order to save the world and bring peace. It gives answers to this question every day. It did not start on February 24, 2022, but much earlier. We have been answering the same questions over and over again throughout our history.
We provided a global answer in the 20th century. We thought that answer would suffice for a long time for humankind. But see, our memory seems to be getting shorter. Perhaps that’s because we now have all sorts of information storage devices that people use so as to not keep information in their heads, and they tend to forget what happened 50, 60 or 70 years ago. Unfortunately, memories about those times are gone. People who lived during those times and their family members are gone, too. Reading a book, consulting an encyclopedia or going to a library is not what most people do today. Lots of falsehoods are posted online, and propaganda is doing its job as well.
It so happened that once again in its own history and the history of the world, Russia is forced to give answers to the same questions. It has made its choice. The Russian people have made their choice in order to preserve the civilisational values that represent the global commons, things that we just talked about such as love, mutual respect, respect for ancestors, glorification of true heroes, and anathematisation of traitors and enemies who kill people. The most important factor is the desire and the ability to stand up for the people who, for absolutely no reason, were shamelessly subjected to trials and torture for many years. Russia is now providing answers to these questions not only for the international community to hear, but also, and in many aspects, to hear them itself.
Maria Zakharova: Our briefings are for the media, journalists and people for whom information is their main occupation.
We are ready to work with non-profits and share our position and the information we have with them. In fact, we are already doing this. Please, introduce us to one another and share their contacts. I think that our Embassy in Italy knows them. We will make sure to send them the reply to your request as well as some facts and figures.
Maria Zakharova: There have been many incidents like this. We received many letters in 2022 from compatriots, Russian nationals, about attempts to discriminate against Russian students. They came under pressure with attempts to force them to sign papers condemning Russia. This was basically forcing them to stand up against their homeland in exchange for the possibility of continuing their studies. They were harassed and had to go through a terrible experience.
Once again, our Western opponents showed their true face. No longer trying to hide behind slogans about freedom and democracy, they switched their repression against innocent people into a proactive mode and continued fighting everything Russian in culture and education.
Last year, about 2,000 students abroad applied for transfers to Russian universities because they could not continue studying in their countries of stay for one reason or another. Their bank cards issued by Russian lenders stopped working, making it impossible for them to pay for their education, accommodation, food, transit, etc. It is not uncommon for banks to refuse to open accounts for Russian nationals or issue new cards in their names. In these cases, banks refer to the fact that the applicants are Russian citizens, or cite political reasons, whatever this means. Getting a visa for travelling to some countries is extremely challenging, even if a person is enrolled in a university there or intends to study there.
Of those who contacted us there were about 800 students from Ukraine. It is not surprising that apart from this country, the European states account for most of these cases, led by the Czech Republic with about 400 people, as well as Poland, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Spain, and Latvia. The United States and Canada lead the pack in the Americas.
Two thirds of all those who applied for transfers to Russian universities saw their requests fulfilled thanks to the efforts of the relevant Russian agencies.
We get a lot of requests from students. Sometimes they cannot move to another place or change a university even when they are facing pressure as mentioned above. We are doing our best to help them find a way out.
***
I would like to end this briefing with an announcement.
On February 2, at 10:30 am Moscow time, Rossiya 24 TV will air Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with Rossiya Segodnya Director General, author and presenter of Vesti Nedeli (News of the Week) television show, Dmitry Kiselev, on topical foreign policy matters and the current international agenda.
We will offer a live stream on the Foreign Ministry’s official resources, including our website and the Foreign Ministry’s social media accounts.
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