Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow, May 24, 2023
Table of contents
- Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s participation in the BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting
- Ukraine crisis
- The article Bloody Squad of Elizabeth Debru in the Serbian weekly magazine Pečat
- Poland issues commemorative coin honouring Józef Kuraś
- Outcome of the 79th session of ESCAP
- Celebrating the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture
- Holding the Third Kostomarov Forum
- Africa Day
- 30th anniversary of the Russia-Tajikistan Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance
- The 21st International Likhachev Scientific Readings
- EAEU Day
- International Day of UN Peacekeepers
- The need to reform the UN
- Statements by Josep Borrell
- Ukraine’s agricultural supplies to the EU
- Relations between Russia and Republika Srpska
- Belgrade-Budapest oil pipeline agreement
- Defender Europe 2023 exercise
- Russia’s potential response to new sanctions package
- Mikhail Mishustin’s visit to China
- Russia-Greece relations
- Cyprus settlement
- Statements by the US Department of State
- Potential F-16 deliveries to Ukraine
- Russia-Armenia relations
- Situation in Moldova
- Armenia’s readiness to recognise Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan
- Resumption of Russia-Georgia flights
- The G7 environmental agenda
- Russia-Azerbaijan-Armenia relations
- China-Central Asia summit
- Russia-Belarus relations
- Relations between Armenia and the CSTO
- The freezing of the Finnish Embassy’s accounts in Russia
- Statements by the EU’s foreign affairs spokesman
- Russia’s views on the expansion of the “grain deal”
- Subversive group’s invasion of the Belgorod Region
- Accession of new countries to BRICS
- Josep Borrell’s statements on Serbia’s EU membership
- The Soviet Union’s role in rebuilding Poland after the Great Patriotic War
- Relations with post-Soviet countries
- The Foreign Ministry’s work with compatriots
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s participation in the BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting
On June 1-2, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting in Cape Town, the Republic of South Africa.
The event participants will discuss topical issues on the international agenda and cooperation at leading multilateral platforms. They will exchange opinions on the prospects for expanding the BRICS strategic partnership, including the institutional development of the association. There are plans to focus on preparations for the upcoming BRICS summit on August 23-24, 2023.
Invited heads of foreign policy agencies from several developing countries will take part in a separate meeting under the auspices of the BRICS Foreign Ministers Council.
May 20 marks the anniversary of the liberation of Mariupol. The city has changed out of recognition and is literally blossoming just after one year of peaceful life. Today, it is a massive all-Russian construction site which employs 25,000 workers from all over the country. Tram service was launched in Mariupol earlier this month. Currently, 1,800 buildings, most of which are residential blocks, are being rebuilt in the city.
Mariupol has long been a behind-the-frontlines city. However, on the morning of May 20, the anniversary of its liberation, the Kiev regime tried to attack it with long-range missiles specially supplied by Western countries, as if in a attempt to take it out on the people of Mariupol who made a firm choice to live as part of Russia, which means living in peace and harmony with each other, without hatred and in love. Fortunately, the attack didn’t affect residents or its newly rebuilt quarters.
It is symbolic that, in addition to Mariupol, May 20 will be a day of liberation from the Ukrainian neo-Nazis of Artyomovsk which is another large city in the DPR. I’m sure you understand this process will continue going forward. Donbass must be freed from Nazis in the person of Bandera followers.
No matter how hard the Zelensky regime may writhe in its pro-Western hysterics, no matter how much the Washington-led Western countries may sponsor and encourage them to go ahead with this, no matter what else they may come up with, they will not succeed, because they will be met with a rebuff no matter what. No one will be able to dampen the joy of victory in Artyomovsk.
The May 22 raid on the Belgorod Region, which was designed to create a false impression among the NATO curators of the Kiev regime about the high combat capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, failed miserably. These kinds of terrorist attacks will be severely suppressed going forward. There’s no need to waste time talking about the Kiev regime and, by the way, its curators’ terrorist nature. The evidence is there for everyone to see. Terrorism and extremism are all about peaceful civilian infrastructure sites becoming military targets and sowing fear and rooting their hatred of dissent are the purpose of these attacks. Terrorism and extremism are now blossoming on Bankova Street and Kiev is guided by them in its actions.
We also note (this goes straight to our evidence database as well) the increasingly aggressive rhetoric of Western officials who do not hesitate to call for bombing peaceful Russian regions. They are acting like cowards, because they do not admit their being a party to the conflict. They talk endlessly about helping the Kiev regime and about the need (as they always do) to restore democracy and to bring freedom, and so on. Just think about what the Western representatives are saying.
Let’s take a look at US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s statement. In it, he said that Washington gave the go-ahead to Ukraine to attack Crimea. He even managed to substantiate this with the fact that (in the American world) the peninsula is part of Ukraine and can be attacked as opposed to Russia’s “geographical” territory. This sounds cynical, especially when you realise that the Kiev regime should value the lives of its own citizens whom it is going to liberate, and especially if we recall the fact that Washington has, for decades, been holding human rights as the highest value. Where are they now? They appear to have been lost in the course of history. When did Washington forget that there are living people, civilians, allowing the Kiev regime to attack Crimea like this? Is Washington aware that there are civilians in Crimea who go to work every day and take their children to schools and kindergartens? Have they forgotten? Or, was this rhetoric about human rights only for political science conferences and international organisations, where the US needs to lobby its position in order to win a certain number of votes and make its unilateral actions legitimate? This is an egregious example that clearly exposes the true nature and design of the US foreign policy.
The Ukrainian authorities have long stopped regarding their citizens either as Crimeans or residents of Russia’s new regions. Recent statements by the Head of the Defence Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov confirm the true misanthropic nature of Kiev’s neo-Nazi junta. What were these statements about? Just listen to them. They are about a plan to physically destroyed “objectionable” Crimeans. He was well-prepared and even cited statistics. Budanov spoke about 3 million people with a “modified psyche” and said their physical destruction will require “a lot of work.” In this respect, the Kiev functionaries are no different in any way from their ideological icons. The latter ordered the destruction of those whom they considered “sub-humans,” thinking these people did not deserve to live and have children. This is how they did it in the Third Reich. It is impossible to imagine that we are hearing all this from people that are received in many states as officials. Yet, this is the case.
Adviser to the Chief of the Ukrainian Presidential Executive Office Mikhail Podolyak also produced a new series of Russophobic statements. He wished for Russians “to live like Neanderthals.” Everyone now understands that such statements are based on Nazi ideology. Probably, some people had doubts about this before. Now they are gone. The West is an enthusiastic sponsor of all this because it has the same logic. You will remember that we heard statements by then President of Ukraine Pyotr Poroshenko (videos are accessible on the internet). He promised to the residents of Donbass that they and their children would live in basements while others (under the Kiev regime) would enjoy the blessings of civilised life.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell expressed the same idea. He divided all people in general into those living in a “beautiful garden” and those “in a jungle.” This is the same logic. They think they have the right to decide who is civilised and who is not. Most importantly, reality, legal implications or facts are of no consequence. On top of everything else, these representatives of the Kiev regime are almost illiterate. They were simply trained to declare nationalist Nazi slogans. They have no principles and are ready to service any, even extremist ideology as regards their own citizens and compatriots. This is why they were put in their positions.
If Podolyak knew something about the planet he lives on or read anything, he would have probably known that the word “Neanderthal” is rooted in the name of the Neanderthal Valley. I realize I will destroy his fragile world but this valley is located in Germany. I feel sorry for people who make such statements even without understanding the meaning of their words. This does not surprise us because hatred of historical roots is the main ideologeme of the current Ukrainian authorities. Self-rejection against the backdrop of complete illiteracy.
The Kiev circus tent continues its performances against the background of successes by the Russian liberation forces. I didn’t say this. This simile belongs to French journalists, and I think it is impossible to express this idea better than they did.
Now the main actor from this circus tent went to the G7 summit in Hiroshima to beg for more tranches of military aid. Zelensky was disappointed by the results of his trip. There was a lot of PR, promises and smiles but nothing specific. He was somewhat upset by the allocation of a new arms package for $375 million because this is just a fraction of what he had asked for.
No arms supplies for Kiev can cancel the goals and tasks set before the start of the special military operation. What will all this aid lead to? It will only lead to the further escalation of the conflict and more losses in military personnel, combat units and civilians. We know that the Western curators (Washington, London and Brussels) don’t care a bit about Ukrainians. They have absolutely no regard for how many of them are killed or how they are suffering. Their main goal is simply to use them as a tool for promoting their destructive ideology. The West finds this beneficial and convenient while these people exist (it doesn’t matter in what shape they are and what will happen to them tomorrow). Unfortunately, this destructive logic has permeated the entire international activity of the NATO leaders.
I would like to recall that all the Western weapons supplied to the Kiev regime are lawful military targets for the Russian Army. There are many examples to this effect. A recent one was a strike by the Russian Aerospace Forces at a Patriot SAM battery in Kiev.
The Western world has long viewed Ukraine as a real proving ground for testing different types of weapons. Moreover, let me remind you that the representatives of the Kiev regime directly asked officials from Western defence and military departments and structures in live broadcasts to use their territory as a testing ground for new types of arms. We have commented on this many times. The fact that these untested weapons land in the hands of Ukrainian citizens does not worry the Kiev regime or its sponsors. Now we are seeing the development of this ideology. This conflict is an excellent excuse (in the opinion of the Kiev regime and its Western curators) to modernise arms and test them not only on the territory of Ukraine but even on Ukrainian citizens.
Spain is hosting Feindef, which is the largest weapons exhibition held recently, with about 500 exhibits from 25 countries. It brought together about 100 delegations from all over the world and over 25,000 military specialists. Samples of weapons that are being used in Ukraine are also on display.
Thanks to the policy being pursued by the West, perfect field conditions have been created in Ukraine for testing new types of weapons and hybrid war strategies and tactics. The defence industry is experiencing an unprecedented boom in the Western countries. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly clear that what matters most to them is that this military conflict lasts forever. The United States and its satellites are prepared to keep flooding Kiev with weapons. The logic of fighting to the last Ukrainian has become an inalienable part of life for the Western countries.
In the West, they like to argue that Ukraine is moving by leaps and bounds towards democracy and respect for human rights. However, democratic freedoms in that country have so far been fully seen only in the form of gay pride parades, and no one has heard anything about political rights in Kiev’s society today. They cannot be called civil by any stretch of the imagination.
Not long ago, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine Alexey Danilov answered PACE President Tiny Cox’s question about whether Kiev still remembered its obligations to hold presidential elections within the legally prescribed time, that is, in 2024. According to Danilov, Kiev will sort out this matter of its own accord without resorting to external input. The country (if I may put it that way), the “fragments” of that country exist in a “combat mode” only thanks to the Western assistance which supplies it with all types of weapons, medications and food, in all, everything it needs to survive. The representative of that country is telling the West that the country does not need help in political matters (not even with regard to domestic politics, but with regard to complying with the laws that they wrote down as the West was dictating them). As a matter of fact, this is exactly how terrorist groups go about their business.
Here’s another fun fact about a “democratic Ukraine” in a period of decline. To the call of Polish politicians to apologise for the Volyn massacre (as a reminder, tens of thousands of ethnic Poles were killed by Bandera followers in 1943-1944), Kiev officials, who are rabid – not just supporters or admirers – but adherents of Stepan Bandera, responded with indignation and an outright refusal despite what appears to be their alliance with Warsaw all the way to them being ready to merge with Poland and to form one state. I wonder how they will go about this given the historical, unresolvable issues that are causing endless troubles in either society at the behest of the politicians, to be sure. It appears that Warsaw should be getting used to the Kiev junta, because things are unlikely to change in this department. This is an existential issue for them. Trust me, there will be no such thing as forgoing the Banderite line of thinking. Things will only get worse.
Their Western curators are turning a blind eye to the calamitous scale of corruption in Ukraine as well. Examples abound. Some time ago, the US media yelled about it and called attention to it. Even they did so. There is a fresh case in point (Nikolai Gogol has, probably, rolled over in his grave for the second time). The head of the Supreme Court of Ukraine was taken into custody for bribes in the amount of almost 2.5 million euros. The Supreme Court, of all places. What is there to discuss regarding Kiev-run democracy in Ukraine? The head of the Supreme Court’s other 11 colleagues are suspected of similar crimes. So much for the Washington-overseen “democracy” in Kiev.
All appointments under the Zelensky and Poroshenko regimes were done “manually” with input from representatives in Washington (the White House and other structures). Actually, they turned into a big recruitment agency to select personnel for servicing the Kiev regime. The Ukrainian government had citizens of the US, Canada and other NATO countries. Talk of the Western curators being unaware of everything taking place in Ukraine is beneath criticism. Over the recent decades, they have been creating Kiev’s personnel and political beau monde with their own hands. All these people were screened via American files and their appointments approved by the curators. Now look at how it ended up.
One more stroke in the observance or rather non-observance of human rights in Ukraine. The media reported the other day that Ukraine’s state disaster medicine service, part of its Health Ministry, is taking organs for transplant from corpses of dead Ukrainian soldiers in a hospital in Kherson. This fact is kept from their relatives. Naturally, international agencies are pretending not to notice such facts or any information about them. In principle, they are not taking note of this. Today, I will present detailed information on this issue.
Mercenary activity is flourishing in Ukraine. Polish mercenaries receive free plots of land in the West of Ukraine – the Volynsk, Lvov and Trans-Carpathian regions for taking part in the hostilities on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukraine’s legislation now provides for easy-term loans and construction of housing for the families of killed mercenaries at the expense of Ukrainian taxpayers.
This has nothing to do with Ukrainian citizens. Nobody asked them about this. These are all signs that the West is conducting true ethnic cleansing in Ukraine. The disaster unfolding before our eyes cannot have any other description or definition. The Western curators are doing all they can for the complete destruction of Ukrainians as a people, a community. First, they were deprived of their history and forced to rewrite it, then they were simply corrupted and prompted to stage a state coup, which was a flagrant violation of all the rules and regulations in the state (that was just developing its institutions). Then they were plunged into bloody domestic confrontation and finally used “to inflict a defeat on Russia” (as their patrons put it). The main goal was to destabilise the world situation and counter our country. However, on top of that it is possible to interpret this as a planned attempt to do what Western Europe failed to do in the first third and middle of the 20th century. There is every evidence of this. How is it possible to allow sponsorship of mercenaries from the budget and give them land on top of bonuses for participating in an armed conflict where Ukrainian citizens lose their lives? It is impossible even to comprehend this. I am not sure history (even ancient history) has such a precedent.
Literally conducting genocide against its own people, the Kiev regime is giving land to foreigners free. Meanwhile, Ukrainians who had to live in several countries after the USSR’s collapse by virtue of circumstances that did not depend on them were denied second citizenship in Ukraine. They were always told they could only be Ukrainian citizens. That said people with all kinds of passports were recruited into the elite. Apparently, now, even land can be given to foreigners on easy terms if only this “massacre” would continue. What a terrible story.
The article Bloody Squad of Elizabeth Debru in the Serbian weekly magazine Pečat
The article “Bloody Squad of Elisabeth Debru” was published in the March edition of the Serbian weekly Pečat. This is the name of a doctor from the Netherlands who arrived in the vicinity of Artyomovsk shortly before that. Previously, operations to remove organs of Ukrainian servicemen who died or were seriously wounded in Donbass were mentioned in a testimony by a former member of the Ukrainian security service.
This is not the first time illegal transplantology in this region came into focus of journalists’ investigations. I have to talk about it. This is a recognised and proven fact. This is a thriving business in conflict zones which brings sky-high profits to those who engage in it. We are all perfectly aware of the fact that this harrowing bloody “business” wouldn’t exist without patrons at the highest state level. This is no coincidence. The problem of human trafficking in Ukraine has existed for a long time now and has repeatedly come to the attention not only of our country, which has brought everyone’s attention to it, but, most importantly, international organisations, in particular, the UN bodies which deal with human rights. In particular, the recent concluding remarks by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (October 2022) and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (November 2022) highlighted the prevalence of sex trafficking involving women and children in Ukraine. To reiterate, this data was provided by the UN, not our country.
Since the late 1990s, reportedly, low-income people in that country had to sell their internal organs in order to put food on the table. There were reports about illegal removal of anatomical materials from dead bodies. Ukraine was at the centre of scandals related to illegal organ transplants. All of that took place long before the 2014 coup and the ensuing events. However, the outbreak of hostilities in southeastern Ukraine has worsened the situation.
The illegal transplantologists’ activities in the warfare area have become a separate issue now. Even the first head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, noted that he saw corpses with open stomachs and chests and had information about illegal seizures by Ukrainian nationalists of anatomical materials of prisoners, local residents and wounded soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Unfortunately, these chilling finds are not uncommon.
In July 2022, officer of the People's Militia of the LPR Andrey Marochko said 20 to 30 people, mostly military personnel from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, get on the surgical tables of the black transplantologists operating in Ukraine daily.
Against this background, the real reasons behind the Ukrainian side using field crematoria remain unknown to the general public.
Notably, Ukrainian transplantology legislation has been significantly relaxed lately, in particular, the procedures for obtaining consent for transplantation was simplified, the right to conduct organ transplants was granted to private clinics, and organ transplantation operations were exempted from VAT. The most recent innovation was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in April 2022 after the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation started the special military operation.
Of course, Kiev denies all information about illegal transplantologists operating in Ukraine. It is often argued that these surgeries are too labour-intensive and organ transplant operations require the participation of a large number of specialists, significant time input, and a multitude of donor-recipient compatibility tests.
Ukrainian health professionals argue that harvesting a kidney or a heart in the field is impossible.
As a reminder, during hostilities in the former Yugoslavia on Albanian territory, near the town of Burrel, transplantation surgeries were carried out, traces of which were later discovered by investigators from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). These facts were first described in the book authored by former ICTY prosecutor Carla Del Ponte The Hunt: Me and the War Criminals, and then in a report by the representative of Switzerland Dick Marty for PACE, after which the parliamentarians agreed to bring to justice everyone who was involved in organ trafficking.
If operations in the field could be done by illegal transplantologists back in the late 1990s in Albania, the data about organ harvesting in Ukraine today seems to be quite credible and calls for urgent international efforts to monitor the situation and take appropriate measures.
Poland issues commemorative coin honouring Józef Kuraś
This is another fact from a story that’s been going on for a long time, where historical facts are falsified and the results of World War II revised. Unfortunately, Poland is waging a large campaign to erase the memory of the Soviet soldiers, liberators, and the Poles who fought shoulder to shoulder with them as part of the 1st Army of the Polish Army. At the same time, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance is actively working to glorify the participants of the post-war underground – the so-called “doomed soldiers” who did not want to return to civilian life and smeared themselves with numerous murders of Polish and Soviet law enforcement officers and Red Army soldiers, as well as the civilian population.
In March 2023, the Central Bank of Poland issued a ten zloty silver coin depicting Józef Kuraś, the leader of a bandit gang that operated on the Polish-Slovak border in the post-war years. In August 2006, a monument to him was unveiled in Zakopane in a ceremony that included Polish President Lech Kaczyński.
At the same time, the Polish authorities prefer to ignore that Kuraś’s gang is guilty of numerous war crimes against the civilian population, in particular, against ethnic Slovaks living in the northern Spis and the upper Orava regions, which went to Poland following WWII, as well as crimes against Jews and a number of other ethnic groups.
It is not surprising that public organisations and representatives of the Slovak and Jewish minorities in Poland are vigorously opposing the glorification of this “figure,” but official Warsaw remains deaf to such calls. Perhaps they believe they will be able to mute these protests in the information networks, rewrite history and introduce their version as the only true one. This will end badly again, as it has done before.
Outcome of the 79th session of ESCAP
On May 15-19, 2023, Bangkok hosted the 79th session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The Russian Federation was represented by an interdepartmental delegation.
This year’s session was themed “Accelerating climate action in Asia and the Pacific for sustainable development.” We used this opportunity to promote Russian approaches to regional industry-based cooperation. Russia hosted two dedicated events, The National Climate Monitoring System of Russia as the Science Architecture for Modelling of Mitigation and Adaptation Measures (organised by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development) and Russian Cities, Regions and Businesses Accelerate Climate Action for Sustainable Development (organised by the UN Association of Russia).
Ten resolutions were adopted following the 79th session of ESCAP, with Russia co-sponsoring two of them. In addition, following a vote, our country became a member of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Technology Transfer. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our colleagues for their support.
We intend to continue to work proactively with our partners in the Asia-Pacific region at the ESCAP platform, as always, in a non-politicised and constructive manner.
Celebrating the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture
Today, May 24, marks the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture. This holiday reminds us about the common sources of Slavic languages and highlights the inextricable historical ties between Slavic nations and their cultural unity.
Current festivities are taking place in the Year of the Russian Language as the Language of Interethnic Communication in the CIS. The Russian language remains the main means of interethnic communication in the Commonwealth and helps strengthen humanitarian dialogue, cooperation and mutual understanding between people.
Moscow’s Red Square will host the main event, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the Government of Moscow. His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill will deliver a traditional speech during the official part of the festive event’s concert.
The festive concert will deal with the Year of the Teacher and Mentor in Russia, the Year of the Russian Language in CIS Countries, as well as the 150th birth anniversaries of Sergey Rachmaninoff and Fyodor Chaliapin. The concert programme features academic masterpieces by outstanding Russian composers. Valery Gergiyev, Denis Matsuyev and leading opera singers will perform at the concert.
Holding the Third Kostomarov Forum
Support for the Russian language and efforts to promote it abroad are a high-priority aspect of Russia’s foreign cultural and humanitarian policies. Today, on May 24, the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture, the Kostomarov Forum opened at the Alexander Pushkin State Russian Language Institute. The Forum makes a major contribution to expanding international cooperation in this sphere.
This year marks 1,160 years of Slavic literature, and this event will serve as a good reminder of the cultural, historical and civilisational community of Slavic nations and their age-old fraternal ties. We are confident that they will withstand the attempts of the collective West to sow discord among our countries by spreading alien neo-liberal values and ideology. In this situation, our task is to step up our efforts to promote the Russian language and protect it from any formof discrimination.
Our principled approach applies to ourselves and the Russian language, as well as to all other languages. We can see highly destructive trends and the way the Russian language has been impacted. This was a planned long-term campaign to discriminate against the Russian language. No one can even imagine that the Russian language will disappear, but the West launched a tremendous discriminatory campaign.
This is the third Forum to date, organised with the support of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, under the auspices of the Russian Commission for UNESCO Affairs. Its work deals with the Year of the Russian Language as the Language of Interethnic Communication in the CIS. Russian and foreign philologists, writers, journalists, teachers, representatives of state agencies, professional and public associations and business organisations will discuss issues of promoting the Russian language abroad, the development of contemporary Russian literature and Russian language education, as well as other topical issues of Russian language studies.
During the Forum, experts from the Pushkin Institute will present an updated survey called Index of the Russian Language Position in the World 2023. The participants will hold a panel discussion on the status of the Russian language in the CIS countries, the language-culture correlation and the role of teachers in people’s academic and creative lives. The traditional conference called Cyril and Methodius Readings will also take place, as well as other events. A roundtable discussion on the writing of Alexander Pushkin and the agenda of contemporary Pushkin studies will take place ahead of the great poet’s 225th birth anniversary.
The Forum’s programme is posted on its website, which will provide a live stream of the event.
May 25 is Africa Day, which symbolises the unity of African nations and their victory in the struggle for national independence and a new life.
The Organisation of African Unity was established 60 years ago on May 25, 1963, laying the groundwork for the continent’s consistent movement on the path of political and economic integration. It was succeeded by the African Union, which is working to formulate collective approaches to the maintenance of peace and security, the development of democratic processes and human potential, as well as to ensure socioeconomic growth.
Russia and Africa have traditionally maintained friendship, and it is symbolic that we will hold the second Russia-Africa Summit in the year of the organisation’s 60th anniversary. The summit, which is to take place in St Petersburg in July, will be a major foreign policy event in Russia-Africa relations and will give new momentum to the entire range of our relations with African countries for years to come.
Western countries not only continue to exploit African nations, syphoning off their resources and earning profits for their corporations, but they are also trying to whitewash their unsavoury past through the falsification of history, including by rewriting the causes, course and outcomes of WWII and stealthily waging a cynical campaign to gloss over the horrors of the colonial era. The West is acting as if it had nothing to do with the suffering of many generations of Africans, racism, the slave trade, murders and punitive operations. They are using flash mob projects about the alleged “white man’s” concern for “people of colour.” But they are nothing more than flash mobs that do not indicate any understanding of the faults of this approach. On the contrary, the garden-jungle ideology is gathering momentum.
They act as if the events that took place during the colonial era did not happen. But Africa has not forgotten, just as it has not forgotten those who helped it to break free. The point at issue is not only that African countries and peoples were liberated, but that colonialism, as such, is a shameful part of history.
Ahead of and on Africa Day, information about the history of anticolonial fighting, our country’s contribution to the liberation and development of young African states, and our current relations of friendship and cooperation based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit will be available on the social accounts of the Russian Foreign Ministry and Russian representative offices in Africa. We have also prepared a small surprise for tomorrow. Follow our accounts in social media and you will see and, I hope, like it.
30th anniversary of the Russia-Tajikistan Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance
On May 25, we will mark the 30th anniversary of a fundamental Russia-Tajikistan document, the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan signed on May 25, 1993.
From the earliest days of its existence as an independent state, Tajikistan has been a strategic partner and ally of Russia. Russia has always stood with Tajikistan and has given it every possible support, in particular, during the most difficult periods of its history. Today, Tajikistan is supporting Russia amid complicated geopolitical circumstances, which is a fine example of true friendship.
During this period, which is short in terms of history and the centuries-long ties between the people Russia and Tajikistan, we have accomplished a great deal to develop a fundamentally new model of interstate relations. It meets the national interests of both states and is instrumental in tackling the tasks of enhancing the well-being and quality of our citizens’ lives, promoting stable socioeconomic development, the competitiveness of our national economies, a rational use of workforce, and unlocking human potential. At the same time, we cherish our historical relations of friendship and mutual understanding, as well as spiritual and cultural communication between our nations. We look out into the future yet carefully preserve our common past.
An active, substantive and open dialogue that we maintain at the highest and high levels helps us to deal with issues of bilateral relations and find mutually acceptable solutions to international problems.
Relations between Russia and Tajikistan are based on a solid legal framework. We have signed over 200 interstate, intergovernmental and interagency agreements that regulate our cooperation on a broad range of bilateral political, economic, military, cultural, humanitarian and other issues.
Our trade and economic ties have been growing consistently. Russia has always been a leading trading partner for Tajikistan. We are promoting harmonious and mutually beneficial relations in the economy and trade despite the Western countries’ active attempts to adopt illegal restrictions on third countries that pursue an independent foreign policy.
We would like to congratulate the people of Tajikistan on this memorable date and to wish them well-being, prosperity and success.
The 21st International Likhachev Scientific Readings
The 21st International Likhachev Scientific Readings will be held in St Petersburg on May 25-26 in accordance with the Presidential Executive Order On Perpetuating the Memory of Dmitry Likhachev dated May 23, 2001.
The readings are co-founded by the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Education, and the Congress of St Petersburg Intelligentsia. The Likhachev Readings are traditionally sponsored by the Foreign Ministry with representatives from 57 countries taking part in the readings since they were first held.
A Diplomatic Programme called International Dialogue of Cultures is being implemented as part of the Likhachev Readings with over 50 ambassadors and consuls general from different countries sharing their views on crucial aspects of global development.
This year, the readings’ theme is Dialogues and Cultural Conflicts in a Changing World. The readings are expected to bring together leading Russian and foreign scholars, politicians, diplomats and public figures.
This year, May 29 marks the Day of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) for the first time. The celebration is timed to coincide with the day the Treaty on the EAEU was signed on, May 29, 2014.
Over the years of its existence, the EAEU member states – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia – have achieved significant results in building integration. The domestic market is functioning efficiently and is growing stronger, and the geography of international contacts is expanding. Mutual trade between the five countries is steadily growing. The EAEU countries are deepening and strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, industrial cooperation, transport and logistics sector, and ensuring energy and food security.
The international agenda of the Union has expanded with free trade agreements with Vietnam and Serbia, an Interim Agreement leading to the establishment of a free trade zone with Iran, as well as two non-preferential trade agreements with China signed and becoming effective since 2014. The work on a full-fledged Free Trade Agreement with Iran is in its final phase; five rounds of talks on a free trade agreement with Egypt have been held; and negotiations with Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates have begun. Concurrently, the Eurasian Economic Commission, which is the supranational body of the EAEU, signed more than 80 memorandums of cooperation and understanding with the governments of third countries, international organisations and integration associations.
Happy upcoming EAEU Day! We are grateful to our partners from the EAEU countries for the successful nine years and look with confidence to continued constructive joint work for the benefit of Eurasian integration.
International Day of UN Peacekeepers
On May 29, the United Nations and the entire international community mark the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. On this day, 75 years ago, the UN Security Council established the world's first peacekeeping operation that exists to this day, the UN Truce Supervision Organisation, to facilitate the cessation of hostilities in Palestine.
This solemn date was established by a UNGA resolution in 2002 and serves as a reminder of the selfless feat of those who, far from their homeland, gave up their lives in the name of the ideals of peace. Unfortunately, such tragedies still happen today. Last year, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lieutenant Colonel Alexey Mizyura, head of the group of Russian UN military observers, tragically died in the line of duty and will be posthumously awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld medal.
Peacekeeping is one of the most important areas of UN activities. Thanks to peacekeepers, including Russian ones, it was possible to overcome multiple conflicts and restore stability in dozens of countries that emerged from bloodshed and devastation.
We pay great attention to the UN peacekeeping activities. As a Security Council permanent member, Russia is widely involved in developing mandates for UN peacekeeping operations and gearing up mission members for constructive and respectful interaction with the host state. Our country is one of the largest contributors to the UN peacekeeping budget and sends military observers and police officers to operations in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Europe. As of March 31, 79 Russians, including 13 women, are serving in UN peacekeeping missions.
We attach great importance to training female peacekeepers. In particular, the All-Russian Training Centre for Peacekeepers at the Russian Interior Ministry in Domodedovo has introduced UN-certified courses for foreign law enforcement officers, which include a large number of women.
Maria Zakharova: We share Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s opinion on the need to adjust the UN to modern realities. However, any change should be well thought out and based on substantive talks between the member states and the division of powers and functions between its main bodies, as set out in the UN Charter.
The cornerstone of the UN’s functioning is its intergovernmental nature. Any attempts to give equal rights to the member states and non-state actors, including NGOs, could undermine the current architecture of international relations. Ultimately, it is states that are responsible for implementing decisions made at the UN platforms.
Regrettably, the UN is unable to prevent all conflicts because its efficiency depends on the member states’ political will and readiness to make compromises in order to reach collective decisions.
One such example is the Minsk Agreements. They were drafted and submitted to the UN Security Council, following which they were incorporated into a UN Security Council resolution and became binding on all countries. What do we see now? The initial idea of those who signed these agreements on behalf of the West was based on lies. The Kiev regime and its Western handlers torpedoed the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution. Does this mean that the council is ineffective? Who is ineffective: those who adopted a correct decision, who drafted it, met each other halfway and found common ground, or those who refused to implement it or launched a false flag operation, claiming to welcome the document and the promises it held out while blocking its implementation? It is important to make a distinction here, to see the difference.
We are convinced that a reform of the UN Security Council that would increase the role of the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America in global affairs would help create a fairer world order and strengthen international peace and security. We are highlighting India and Brazil as logical candidates for permanent seats on the Security Council if a decision is made to expand its membership in both categories. We call for historical injustice to be corrected with regard to the African continent in accordance with the parameters coordinated by African nations.
Of course, there must not be any increase in the already excessive number of Western states at the UN Security Council. I would like to point out that there are not only too many of them. The important thing is that the EU has a common foreign policy, and its stance on the international stage is always coordinated by and is binding for the member states. Even now, they are not deviating from the decisions on global issues adopted in Brussels. They either vote as one entity at the UN or openly say that they align with each other. They usually vote on General Assembly resolutions after coordinating a collective stand. However, this stand is actually not coordinated collectively but by the Brussels bureaucrats, who convey it to the member states. But this is not what I’d like to draw your attention to. Is it fair and legally justified that the Western seats at the Security Council are held by those who represent both permanent and non-permanent members with a common foreign policy? Each member of the Security Council has one vote, but their agreement does not mean that they have a consolidated, joint or similar stand, because their stand is prepared for them at their collective decision-making bodies. It is an intriguing issue. It appears that they have one stand but have many votes to support it. This seemingly demonstrates how strongly their position is supported, which is not true. It is one and the same position. None of these countries are allowed to act independently, let alone voice a dissenting opinion. You can see what happens to those at the EU who try to pursue an independent national policy. I am not saying that this is good or bad. I am only saying that restrictions are applied to them to make them toe the Brussels line.
We believe that the ambitions of Germany and Japan to have permanent seats at the council are unjustified. I have already explained our reasoning.
Maria Zakharova: I don’t even remember when he called for peace. Quite likely, these were off and on theoretical remarks. We see the conflict in Ukraine at its violent stage and hear Mr Borrell say that everything should be decided “on the battlefield.” “Wrong time for talks or peace initiatives…” We see how he says this. What appeals for peace do you mean? I haven’t heard them. If there were any, they are immediately interrupted by his demands for more weapons and stronger support for the Kiev regime. They no longer talk about democracy and freedom. They only insist that their point of view, mentality and ideology should win. Otherwise, as they say, they will not survive. This is practically a direct quote from Josep Borrell.
Josep Borrell made the comment you are talking about on the sidelines of the meetings of EU foreign and defence ministers in Brussels on May 22 and 23. It is further evidence of the total absurdity of the EU’s fundamental approaches based on a political expediency.
Yet another instalment of his belligerent utterances contradicts the core interests of Europeans, the ordinary people and citizens of European countries, whom their current political leaders have dragged into the conflict in Ukraine, turning them into accomplices of the crimes committed by the Kiev-based Ukrainian neo-Nazi regime. The moral and ethical decline of EU diplomacy is obvious. When a high representative demands that the fate of a conflict be decided “on the battlefield” or says that there is no place for diplomacy, it is clear that we are witnessing an absolute dysfunction.
It goes without saying that only an irrational vision of the world projected by Josep Borrell can pass off the rushing of heavy weapons and equipment, missiles, artillery systems, and now combat aircraft to Ukraine, which only serves to drag out and intensify the hostilities, as a method to save human lives. The EU is unlikely to profess this perverted logic in any other conflict in the world. There are no instances of this sort. I will not even talk about human rights. This is their pet theme. Human rights are the be all and end all for them. But now they don’t even mention them. It is clear, therefore, that Brussels is guided solely by political expediency that they verbalise as a “strategic defeat” of Russia. In fact, however, this is an attempt to ensure the West’s continued domination in Europe and the world at large.
In his three and a half years as High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell has discredited not only himself, but his position as well. There is almost nothing left of true diplomacy in his work. He has actually admitted this, cynically enjoying his new role as “EU defence minister.” In fact, he has indirectly confirmed being responsible for the numerous casualties among the civilian population when the Armed Forces of Ukraine shell civilian facilities with heavy weapons supplied by the EU countries.
In fact, he has become the glorifier of the EU’s policy of confrontation, if not its ideologist. He continues to justify the protracted nature of the hostilities in Ukraine and outright anti-Russia propaganda. He covers up gross geopolitical blunders (made while trying to secure new spheres of influence in Europe) and the criminal acts EU representatives and Washington have committed in Ukraine in recent years – involvement in state coups, remodeling and adjusting the sovereign state’s internal policies to suit themselves, demanding to forget historical, economic and commercial ties with neighbours and re-launch them in a way that is approved by the European Union. This criminal logic and these criminal deeds have led to the current situation.
There is no end to the flow of outright misinformation. Consider Josep Borrell’s untrue statement that Ukraine was not included in NATO’s expansion plans. Let us remind him that the final declaration of the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest explicitly expressed that “Ukraine and Georgia will become NATO members.” I think Josep Borrell can find and read that document.
But there is a nuance. Perhaps he meant that when they wrote that in 2008, they were not actually planning to translate it into action and were deceiving the countries mentioned. There is no other explanation. Either his recent statement is misinformation, or back then, they were mired in political intrigue – even worse, crime – and have been engaged in provocations ever since.
Josep Borrell’s confessions do not simply reflect his personal point of view; they reveal the European Union’s intentions to accelerate militarisation and become a military-economic tool under America’s global diktat. It is obvious that the EU’s current leaders are comfortable in their subordinate position, under the American “umbrella.” Apparently, they feel comfortable so far. Another thing is that the results are catastrophic for Europe and for specific countries. For now, they think they’re better off like this. They aren’t ready to recognise and accept a multipolar world as a fact, where they will have to deal with other centres of power on an equal footing, respect the sovereignty of other countries and peoples, and take into account their socioeconomic, cultural and civilisational peculiarities. The European Union, as well as the West in general, is used to achieving prosperity based on colonial forms of interaction – as in subjugating others and draining their resources. The same colonial logic underlaid the EU’s statements even before the special military operation, when they adopted three principles – “to push back, constrain and engage” with Russia at the same time. This is the same colonial logic all over again. This means the European Union advocates the preservation of the Western-centric status quo, dividing the world into “gardens” and “jungles,” and believes it is entitled “to mobilise the combined set of instruments at our disposal, be they political, economic or military, to pursue our common objectives to the benefit of our one billion citizens.” This is exactly what the January 10, 2023 joint EU-NATO declaration says. I didn’t invent any of this, it’s all there in various documents.
There can be no trust in this kind of EU, which has lost its political identity and is acting in foreign interests, not responding to the interests of its own people or considering the interests of sovereign countries. It is unlikely that the European Union will be able to claim the role of “honest broker” in any settlement or mediation, whether in the South Caucasus, the Western Balkans, Africa, Asia or Latin America. The EU’s independent role remains on paper only, declared but unrealised.
Maria Zakharova: This is global fraud and a big lie by the Western states. We have heard declarations and announcements stating concern for those in need. This is a well-known Brussels trick to divert the international community’s attention from the EU’s “humanitarian” initiatives’ true goals and outcomes. The EU project you mentioned is yet another compelling example of that.
As you may be aware, from the very beginning, these “corridors” were positioned primarily as a tool to ensure the Global South’s interests. But what are we seeing now?
In the year the initiative has been active, the markets of the EU countries bordering Ukraine such as Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have been overstocked with agricultural products from Ukraine. So much so, that in April they came forward and said they were “impacted” by overabundant supplies of Ukrainian agricultural products. This is preposterous, but true. They used extreme measures and imposed a unilateral ban on imports – and in some cases even on transit through their territory, of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine. They were so deeply immersed in taking care of the needy countries in Africa and Asia that they had run their stocks up to the point where their own markets collapsed.
The European Commission was openly confronted with a demand to protect the market from a “landslide” of cheap and, as it turns out, far from always high-quality agricultural products (food safety experts from Hungary, Poland and Slovakia found that the Ukrainian grain contained 22 chemicals that are illegal in the EU, including pesticides, microtoxins and GMOs). A classic line from the American film The Mask comes to mind, “Someone stop me!” It’s the same here. They themselves manufactured this whole thing under the false flag of protecting others, made themselves richer and then demanded protection from themselves.
To secure a place on the safe side (at a meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council on April 25), a group of the above EU member states proposed conducting joint purchases of Ukrainian agricultural products through the EU and the UN WFP in order to guarantee its supply to the most needy countries. In other words, just a year after the “corridors” became operational, the EU members suddenly “remembered” who this project was designed for in the first place, and did so under the threat of their warehouses becoming overstocked with grain ruining their own agricultural producers. They are now trying to overcome this crisis of their own making with external help, this time from the UN.
The real undertow of this project can be clearly seen from the fact that the opening of the corridors went hand-in-hand with extra measures to liberalise Ukrainian exports to the EU (cancellation of customs rates, suspension of the entry price system and tariff quotas), that is, they were gearing up for it in advance and in earnest. All of that facilitated the process of Ukrainian products going to the EU market, rather than the markets of the developing countries. We have the evidence now. Less than a year later, everything was exposed and fell into place.
The accelerated development of the supply routes, again within the EU, speaks volumes as well. The data about the participants of the dedicated IT platform for identifying business partners for selling the agricultural products that were exported along the corridors is telling as well. Of about 1,000 registered companies, over 90 percent are from the EU and Ukraine, with only four from Africa (Botswana, Nigeria and South Africa). Does anyone need more evidence to see why all of that was engineered?
As it turns out, the “corridors of solidarity” didn’t help Ukrainian farmers too much, either. Speaking at the European Parliament in April, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Markiyan Dmitrasevich said 90 percent of Ukrainian agricultural enterprises were operating at a loss.
Still, the EU continues to publicly emphasise the importance of uninterrupted supplies of agricultural products exclusively from Ukraine as it turns a blind eye to the difficulties that are artificially created by the unilateral EU sanctions and that affect Russian agricultural export access to international agricultural markets, which inevitably affects prices for these products. This is extremely beneficial for European traders and agricultural holdings which are buying up Ukrainian food for peanuts, regardless of their final destination or the need for processing. Business is so good that Brussels continues to strongly promote these “corridors of solidarity” despite the fact that they are damaging the interests of their own citizens.
Also important is the fact that much of Ukraine’s agricultural products are de facto no longer Ukrainian given the aggregate areas of agricultural land in Ukraine that are in one form or another controlled by the EU and transnational agribusiness, as well as various Western lending institutions from the EU countries.
The European Commission’s decision adopted in early May which has, in fact, legalised the Eastern European EU members’ interim unilateral ban on Ukrainian agricultural product imports to their markets, thus guaranteeing free distribution within the borders of other EU member states, shows once again in whose interests these “corridors” were opened. Clearly, not everyone in the EU has had enough of Ukrainian grain, the bulk of which is used to feed livestock in Western European countries. This is how the West took care of the needy developing countries.
The EU’s dependence on imports of fodder crops is a well-known fact. According to the European Parliament’s research service, more than 50 percent of Ukrainian corn exports, which is the staple element in animal feed, traditionally go to the EU.
In other words, as it continues to fill its bins and line its pockets at the expense of the most vulnerable countries, the European Union is exacerbating the risk factors that affect global food security. This whole story shows that the West is using false goals and objectives and false narratives to attack global food security and shift responsibility to Russia or anyone else, but not itself.
Maria Zakharova: Your question implies that you do not now about our materials or about our assistance to Republika Srpska, or our relations.
We understand perfectly well what efforts the West is taking to make our Serbian friends abandon cooperation with Russia. We know the level and volume of pressure they are under. We can see the pressure put on various countries. But in the historical context, it is unprecedented. They are using a wide range of threats, blackmail and sanctions, all in the worst European traditions.
We value Republika Srpska’s independent course and its principled choice to develop interaction with us, which is getting closer to strategic partnership. We are confident that the further expansion and improvement of multifaceted relations between the Russian Federation and Republika Srpska are in the interests of our peoples and definitely are not aimed against anyone.
The striving of those whom we consider ill-wishers to harm our partnership is futile. No Western “high representatives” – who can no longer be called this because they stooped so low that they can only dream of anything high – nobody who preaches these neo-colonial practices and approaches can stop Russia, Serbia and Republika Srpska from developing mutually beneficial cooperation, taking joint efforts to facilitate the strengthening of the atmosphere of peace, security and stability in the Balkans in accordance with the existing international legal agreements.
Maria Zakharova: This initiative is designed to improve accessibility of Russian energy commodities amid the ideologised sanctions war waged against us by the Brussels bureaucrats. This war is to the detriment of Europe itself, and every day it inflicts serious damage. We consider this project an example of the sensible striving of certain countries to be guided by their own national interests, the demands of their economies and people while not doing harm to anyone else.
Russia respects the sovereign right of foreign states to develop their energy infrastructure, including cross-border infrastructure.
Russia is a responsible exporter of energy to global markets. We are ready to export these resources to any interested country at fair market prices. Serbia is a friendly country, and we are interested in improving its energy security.
Maria Zakharova: NATO’s activities in the Balkans are essentially aimed at destroying international legal order and stability, and causing damage to the countries in the region. It has nothing to do with the values of freedom and democracy as declared by the alliance. Under the guise of false claims of boosting regional security, the US and its allies are purposefully undermining the already fragile stability in this part of Europe, aggravating the dividing lines, and driving the local population to a state of increasing anxiety amidst externally imposed threats.
Choosing Kosovo, the major hotbed of tensions in the Balkans, as the territory for large-scale military exercises has once again proven the actual goal of these initiatives. This is not simply an anti-Serbian provocation, but also sabotage against the basis for a Kosovo settlement. The militarisation of the region along with the training of local “security forces” aiming to transform them into a full-fledged army are a gross violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which authorises the deployment of an exclusively international military presence to ensure security in this territory, such as the Kosovo Force international peacekeeping force deployed in 1999 whose mandate does not include boosting the military potential of Pristina.
Maria Zakharova: I call this “the European Union’s self-mutilation.” Apparently, it requires a new flight of imagination. They no longer know how else to hurt themselves. No matter how much the EU countries restrict their opportunities for cooperation with our country, no matter how much they console themselves with the illusion of the collapse of the Russian economy under sanctions, this will not change anything for us. If you listen to former US President Barack Obama, then our economy was “in tatters” eight years ago. He said: That’s it, the Russian economy has “ground to a halt.” Now, it turns out that they do not know what else to come up with in order to finally destroy it. Absurdity, stupidity, madness.
Choose what suits you best. No matter how hard they are trying to do this, to come up with something new, it will not change anything for us. We have adapted to the new reality. There are specific figures and indicators. The European Union admits that it has exhausted the range of tools to pressure Russia. They admit that their goals were to collapse the Russian economy and destabilise it politically, but they only hurt themselves. Our economy has survived. They only think about how to get benefits, loans and opportunities for themselves amid systemic crises. Some EU member states – ones that are bolder, that still can speak up to defend themselves – declare plainly that restrictions cause more damage to the EU economy than to Russia.
Our economy is back on a growth trajectory; inflation is minimal, and unemployment is at an all-time low. In addition, thanks to Western sanctions, a radical restructuring of our foreign economic relations took place, which only strengthened Russia’s economic sovereignty. This does not mean at all that we do not have problems and we do not feel the madness that the West is ramping up. It’s all there. This is reality. But so far, we have managed to overcome these problems.
The EU members have realised that the sanctions have hurt themselves above all. It is clear that they are looking for a way out. There is a feeling that after their sanctions policy failed, they want to take it out on third countries. Judging by numerous comments from Brussels and other European capitals, the next package of sanctions will focus on secondary sanctions against the countries that refuse to follow the diktat of the European Union regarding compliance with its unilateral anti-Russia restrictions. It looks like that they want to put “control beacons” around the world. And in order to do this, they use anti-Russia activities as a pretext. In fact, this is a policy of controlling the regions of the world, which they definitely should not rule, push around or dominate. What does this mean? This is the logic of the “beautiful garden” and the “wild jungle”: some live at the expense of others, and everyone must serve the golden billion. The rest are obliged to serve any whims of the golden billion. This is disrespectful and disregards the interests of sovereign states. Western sanctions against Russia are illegitimate and illegal, because they were adopted in circumvention of the UN Security Council. The extraterritorial restrictions currently being drafted are doubly illegitimate. This is some kind of hybrid blow to international law. Such arrogant behaviour of the European Union will further alienate other countries from it and strengthen the trend towards forming a multipolar world.
As you understand, and as it was done before, Russia will develop a well-balanced response to the next EU sanctions, and most importantly, will continue to build up mutually beneficial cooperation with its reliable partners, regardless of any restrictions and blackmail from the West.
Maria Zakharova: A lot was said in the run-up to and during the visit. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin himself addressed the Chinese audience and spoke about the visit, its goals and objectives. This visit is multidimensional in nature.
Russian-Chinese relations are developing dynamically. In March, Putin and Xi Jinping held talks during the Chinese leader’s first foreign trip after his re-election as President of the People’s Republic of China. A new high-level contact is now in progress: Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is on an official visit to China.
An impressive delegation of heads of Russian government agencies and major commercial organisations arrived in China with the prime minister. Nearly 1,500 Russian and Chinese participants were able to exchange opinions, share ideas and establish business contacts. We are confident that we will see a positive impact from the forum in the foreseeable future.
During the talks the heads of government are giving priority to the implementation of the agreements reached this March by the leaders of our states on the comprehensive promotion of Russian-Chinese economic ties. The plan is to concentrate efforts on bringing practical co-operation to a qualitatively new level, including in such areas as energy, transport, finance, agriculture, science and technology.
We would like to note that the high intensity of Russia-China political contacts coincides with the accelerated growth of bilateral trade and economic relations. Over the previous two years, bilateral trade increased by a third annually and reached a new record of $185 billion in 2022. This year, Russia has already risen from 10th to 7th place on the list of China’s major trading partners. We aim to fulfil the instruction of the two heads of state to bring trade to $200 billion by 2024 and actively pursue new ambitious goals.
Maria Zakharova: Russia’s “meddling” in elections has already become a hackneyed political phrase used by domestic opponents to score more points or somehow mend their political ratings. How many stories were there about Russia’s alleged interference in elections? And how did they end? They ended either with nothing, because there were no facts to support them, or with a refutation.
For example, this is what happened in the US. If you can, please tell your audience more about how many accusations were heaped on Russia during the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. This was before, during, and after the elections, as well as all four years of Donald Trump’s tenure, which went by under the shadow of alleged Russian meddling, involvement, or influence on the electoral cycles and the policy of the US President. As a result, a report has now been published, and it did not leave a shadow of doubt that everything had been invented, faked, and so on. This is my first point.
Second, we always declare and practice a policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. We can and know how to cooperate and interact, provide assistance, support, promote contacts, etc. All these are our tools. Greece has seen this from Russia more than once. You are asking the wrong country about the meddling. Your region knows firsthand who usually meddles in elections.
Of course, we follow the processes, including electoral ones, in other countries. But this is part of the normal functioning of any state. We respect whatever choice is made by the voters. We are open to a dialogue with all constructively minded political forces.
As for the parliamentary elections in Greece held on May 21, we took note of their results. We have to state that the once special, traditionally friendly Russian-Greek relations are today in a deep crisis for well-known reasons that emerged through no fault of ours. There are no signs of Athens being interested in resuming cooperation, which the Greek side has dismantled on its own.
Maria Zakharova: It would be nice if you could contact official Athens to find out why our relations with Greece are not that good, and who is to blame for this.
We have repeatedly confirmed our unwavering approach to resolving the Cyprus issue. We are in favour of a settlement within the international legal framework and in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions. We believe it is important for the residents of the island to come up with the final solution themselves. There is no need to impose time schedules or ready-made recipes on them, to think for them, or to put pressure on them. Most importantly, the interests and fair concerns of the two communities must be taken into account.
We cooperate productively with Türkiye on the entire spectrum of international and regional issues. We are discussing many issues. The Cyprus issue is no exception.
Maria Zakharova: It’s like someone would say they buy weapons from the US Academi PMC (formerly known as Blackwater). There’s nothing to comment on.
I believe that instead of planting fake news stories the US State Department should take up the specific and substantive weapons-related issue. I’m talking about unchecked supplies in that region through their entities under the pretext of providing assistance to the Kiev regime. In fact, these weapons have been popping up for a long time now not only in Europe, but other continents as well. Instead of engaging irresponsibly in this rhetoric, the US State Department should open up on whether it realises the fact that the weapons it supplies to Kiev as part of an assistance effort go immediately to the black market. Do they have any information on that? What can they say to this? Do they feel any responsibility?
Maria Zakharova: Our high-ranking officials provided comments on this issue earlier. This is another phase in escalating the conflict and destabilising the situation in Europe. Our Western partners (I mean EU members) are not thinking about the consequences. They are following in the steps of the United States oblivious to how this experiment will end.
Maria Zakharova: We are currently looking into the situation on the ground based on our status as an intermediary. We are using every tool we have to calm the situation on the ground and politically. Negotiations are underway at all levels. The foreign ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia had a meeting in Moscow. To reiterate, these meetings are held at all levels. We are working on this in a number of areas and though a number of agencies, keeping in mind the fact that Russian peacekeepers are stationed there.
The same goes for the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, although it has its own speakers. As members of this treaty, we consider the CSTO a highly effective organisation with a proven track record. Each country has its rights and opportunities to evaluate its performance. This is the way we see it.
Maria Zakharova: If you are referring to the May 21 rally, I would like to say that rallies were held at the same time in other Moldovan cities, including Balti, Orhei and Comrat. These were large rallies. As for the rally held under slogans for a pro-European Moldovan future you mentioned, according to reports, the organisers claimed that it was attended by twice as many people as were really there. At the same time, many people attended the alternative rallies to call for continuing cooperation with Russia, and nobody overstated attendance figures.
I would like to say that this is yet another example of faulty logic. It is not a logic of alignment through cooperation with Russia, the EU and other regions, countries or integration platforms in the interests of the Moldovan people, but a logic of choice through blackmail, without any alternative or a balanced approach. Did this happen for the first time? No. Did it happen in the distant past? No, this is happening now, but others faced the same choice before, and their negative experience could be used to avoid mistakes.
Regrettably, those who live by this logic prefer to make their own mistakes and refuse to draw conclusions from others’ mistakes. In countries with a complex structure and history of sovereignty and independence, and with unsettled conflicts in their national territory, this “us or them” logic usually has dramatic consequences. I am not making any forecasts or predictions. I only draw conclusions by analysing historical experience, facts and reality. Regrettably, this faulty logic is hitting the Moldovan people, who are told categorically to make a choice, or else. Nobody has used facts to explain what would happen if they don’t make a choice. What we see instead is intimidation, threats, anti-popular decisions on referring to the national language as Romanian, and the persecution of those who have always had economic, family or cultural ties with Russia.
The citizens of Moldova are increasingly feeling the difference between the authorities’ promises of freedom and prosperity, on the one hand, and socioeconomic deterioration, falling incomes, rising inflation and the suppression of dissent. They are being told that they will live “like in Europe.” But geographically they live in Europe. They are being told about “European values.” But if we look at Western European (EU and NATO) values, they are already being promoted in Moldova: there is no freedom of speech or ability to realise one’s democratic rights, where dissent is suppressed, and liberal ideology holds sway. Nobody explained the essence of European values to Moldovan citizens during the election campaigns. They were only told about freedom, democracy and democratic institutions on which their state should stand. What they are getting now is the complete opposite of what they were promised.
Moldovans see that the authorities have no regard for their opinion. I believe that nothing like this has ever happened in modern history. In the 1930s and 1940s, “ideologically correct” fonts were approved in Germany. But people were never told that they will not speak their native language any more and that it would be called differently. The situation is only comparable to Ukraine, but it was different there too. I don’t remember any other example than Moldova, where a decision was adopted within a day to identify the Moldovan language as Romanian. The authorities have also called into question the outcome of the Gagauz gubernatorial election. There are many such examples: media outlets have been shut down, etc. Taken together, this has provoked discontent and protests in Moldovan society.
We believe that the Moldovan proponents of European integration should stop blaming their failures on “Russian propaganda” and the “hybrid war by Russia” and empty promises to comply with the International Criminal Court ruling to arrest Russian leaders if they come to Moldova. Unlike Western countries, Russia does not interfere in the internal affairs of other states, including the Republic of Moldova.
We are sure that normalising relation with Russia and using the current advantages of CIS membership would be in the best interests of Moldova and its citizens. We call on the Moldovan authorities to consider all opinions and to avoid moves that can polarise the political environment and destabilise society.
Maria Zakharova: Such statements on the political vision of the state structure are the prerogative of Armenia and its people.
I only accept your question in the context that Russia is an intermediary in the settlement process. It is not just an issue, but a conflict that has lasted for many years; mediation efforts have been taken by international organisations and regional countries to move forward. It is necessary to understand the state’s clear stance, including as regards the relevant signed documents.
We consider the Armenian Prime Minister’s statement as the confirmation of the position the country took at the Prague summit on October 7, 2022, held with the participation of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, France and the EU. At that summit, a joint statement was adopted that contained a reference to the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991, which recognises the administrative borders between the former Soviet republics as interstate borders. As we repeatedly said, the Prague agreement outlined a whole new dimension for the negotiation process between Baku and Yerevan. The parties to the meeting in Prague were Azerbaijan, Armenia, France and the EU. We also note that the recent statements by Nikol Pashinyan has evoked a mixed reaction in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. I mention it only in the context of their domestic political polemics.
As for the draft peace treaty, the recent round of talks between the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan took place on May 19, 2023, in Moscow. We believe that it helped to improve mutual understanding between the parties and align their positions on a series of issues. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke about it in detail.
Maria Zakharova: We consider it to be nothing but interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state. Our countries are not just neighbours in terms of geography. We have multiple ties in the historical context as well. I do not see what it has to do with the United States. There is no sensible explanation. There can be none. Why does the US consider it possible to comment on what two sovereign states are agreeing on?
If the Americans prioritise human rights everywhere in their policy, then human rights protection must also be the criteria for judging this concrete humanitarian situation. It is extremely difficult to cross the border between two countries that have such close ties (including family and cultural ties) when there are no direct flights for a long time. For many years, the people (it all came from the people) sent letters, requests and claims. No PR or advertising campaign can keep this issue in the focus of public attention for so many years without the people’s desire to resume direct flights.
One of my good friends who lives in Georgia and Russia asked me why the US is concerned about direct flights between Russia and Georgia and not between other neighbouring countries? It is incomprehensible. We have direct air travel with Armenia and Azerbaijan. The US is not concerned about that. So why not Georgia? It looks like a case of discrimination against Georgia as opposed to other countries in the Caucasus. It is absurd.
I want to note that especially after the pandemic, when people faced difficulties with traveling, it became obvious that it is necessary to maintain the possibility of having direct contacts and remember how hard people’s lives become when these logistics chains are disrupted.
We see Washington’s mentoring statements as interference in the domestic affairs of other states and their relations with third countries, and as blatant pressure.
As for the protests, Russia and Georgia are democratic countries where people can voice various opinions. They have an absolute right to do that. The most important thing is that the protests are held as outlined by law. But this is a question for Georgia, how the process is organised there.
Maria Zakharova: Statements like this by Western leaders are surprising. To understand their intentions to fulfill their promises, we can look at the facts. They are not fond of doing this, but I am.
Having refused Russian natural gas, the most affordable low-carbon fuel, the EU countries are expanding the use of coal, which they were going to completely abandon a couple of years ago for environmental reasons. Back then, it was relevant. The G7 states are pouring tens of billions of dollars into the conflict in Ukraine to keep the confrontation going – but they have failed to begin fulfilling the commitment made more than a decade ago on allocating at least $100 billion annually as assistance to developing countries in order to reduce GHG emissions.
This sounds a lot like the grain deal. They claimed to have much concern about the countries in need of grain, but they just kept stuffing their own bins, banning grain imports and transit. Now they have no idea what to do with it except to feed this grain to cattle. This is the same story. They claimed to be so worried about the environment that they switched from gas to coal. The money they wanted to allocate has not been allocated. There is another important factor: they are delivering depleted uranium shells to the conflict zone. The use of depleted uranium shells and concern for the environment are two opposite things. On the one hand, they claim to care about the environment – but at the same time, they fully justify the use of depleted uranium munitions.
In this context, a recent decision by the Europeans to declare military products ‘carbon neutral’ seems like only a sad irony. Given all this, Russia is skeptical about the G7 leaders making promises of ‘zero emissions.’
As for our plans, in accordance with the Russian President’s executive order of November 4, 2020 on the national goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the level is not to exceed 70 percent of the 1990 volumes by 2030, which is an unprecedented phenomenon as Russia will keep emissions at the same level for a long time. By doing so, we will considerably offset the increasing GHG emissions in other countries and regions.
As regards a carbon neutral economy, we set objectives that can ultimately be obtained. In accordance with our strategic goals, we plan to achieve a balance of emissions and absorption of greenhouse gases by 2060. We expect to do this by introducing new technologies and implementing measures aimed at increasing energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in economic sectors.
Maria Zakharova: All highest-level meetings are commented on by the Presidential Executive Office.
Maria Zakhartova: We welcome the development of equitable, mutually beneficial cooperation between all members of the international community, especially when these are friendly states, including China and the Central Asian countries. We consider the strengthening of their ties to be a factor in maintaining stability and encouraging economic growth in the region in both the short-term and the long-term perspective.
The security, stability and wellbeing of the region’s countries meet the interests of both Russia and China and these countries themselves. We are ready to strengthen our mutual coordination in assisting the Central Asian states in ensuring their sovereignty and national development and will not accept any attempts to import “colour revolutions” or external interference in the region’s affairs.
China’s approach to developing cooperation with the Central Asian states stands in contrast to the policy of the US and its allies. We are seeing that they have stepped up their usual attempts to exert pressure on these states and take other actions that are at variance with the principle of non-interference in the affairs of sovereign states. The collective West views its interaction with the region’s countries primarily in terms of promoting their anti-Russia and anti-China agendas. This is unacceptable. This is exactly the opposite of our approach.
It is no exaggeration to say that Russia has privileged allied relations or strategic partnerships with these states. We concentrate on full-scale implementation of large bilateral and multilateral agreements, including those in the CIS, the CSTO, the EAEU, the SCO and the Central Asia 5+Russia formats.
Our country continues to make a tangible contribution to ensuring the region’s security guarantees. Russia and the EAEU as a whole account for about 40 percent of Central Asia’s trade. Today, over 10,000 Russian companies and joint ventures are working there. They are creating about 900,000 jobs. Some 170,000 citizens from the Central Asian countries study at Russian universities or their branches in the regions. Russia is paying for the education of about 68,000 of these students.
We hope the development of cooperation between China and the Central Asian states will make an important contribution to our common efforts in the alignment of the EAEU’s goals with the Belt and Road Initiative with a view to promoting the Greater Eurasian partnership.
Maria Zakharova: If you are referring to a figure of speech, it is better to ask our Belarusian partners about this. If you are asking about the status of our bilateral relations, I can say that Belarus is our closest ally and strategic partner. Our countries are developing intensive dialogue at all levels, including top level, in the spirit of fraternal relations.
The multifaceted character of Russian-Belarusian cooperation determines the busy agenda of the talks between our presidents.
They are permanently focused on the union development issues, based on the 2021 decisions to speed up economic integration. Implementation by the governments of the instructions on removing trade barriers, evening out conditions for the economic activity and jointly developing transport and logistics infrastructure is subjected to regular analysis at the top level. All these areas are critical for minimising the consequences of illegal Western sanctions aimed against the wellbeing of our citizens.
Another pressing issue is the deepening of industrial cooperation between Russian and Belarusian companies. Our common goal is to create the best conditions for developing production in our countries with a view to eliminating dependence on foreign supplies.
At their meetings, the presidents regularly exchange views on the military-political situation around the Union State, discuss current international and regional issues and ways of jointly ensuring reliable defence of Russia and Belarus, as well as issues of military-technical cooperation.
Naturally, considering our busy bilateral agenda, different problems may arise between us, like between any friends or even close relatives. However, as our Belarusian allies emphasised more than once, none of these problems are insoluble. Using Alexander Lukashenko’s lexicon, there are “discrepancies” on some issues. Talks are conducted at different levels to draft common, mutually acceptable approaches during a friendly, open and constructive dialogue. I am sure that everything will continue developing in the same vein.
It would be best to ask our Belarusian partners about this specific citation.
Maria Zakharova: Technically, I don’t understand how all this is presented there. We have talked about this more than once. If this is a figure of speech to lobby Armenia’s withdrawal from the CSTO, it is necessary to understand how dangerous manipulations with words may be.
We have already discussed how the CSTO may withdraw from Armenia. It is unclear what this means.
Maria Zakharova: Talks are conducted, when sides are eager to seek a solution to the problem. We saw that Finland wanted to exacerbate the matter or create a problem. Talks and an exacerbation are different things. The only thing we see is that Finland is exacerbating the matter or creating a problem. To this, we have given a tit-for-tat response, or a symmetrical response, call it whatever you like
Let me stress that the restrictions imposed on the Finnish missions are a relevant response to the conditions created for the Russian foreign missions in Finland.
I would advise to representatives of the Finnish authorities and all others – when they introduce restrictions against Russia, no matter whether this is a closure of embassy accounts, cuts in diplomatic staff numbers, or new sanctions – when they announce these decisions, it would be absolutely right for them to say the following for the benefit of the public in Finland and other countries: “As a rule, Russia comes up with a tit-for-tat response. So, don’t be surprised, if identical restrictive measures are adopted in our regard.” Then, the Finnish public would not be shocked by what happened.
As you understand, retaliatory measures are adopted after interagency coordination. This takes certain time. The fact of Finland creating this problem would fade from memory. After retaliation takes effect, everyone feels that it is Russia that behaves in a destructive manner. But this is wrong. We just respond to similar steps, this time on the part of the Finnish government.
Next time, when the Finnish government has a desire to do something destructive to Russia, it would be right for them to remind their public, when announcing the decision, that as a rule Russia retaliates and will certainly retaliate this time. It would be an honest deal.
Right now, the Russian diplomatic missions in Finland and the Finnish ones in Russia can use accounts only in one host-country bank. Let me remind you that the Russian Embassy has to pay to the Finnish bank what is actually a prohibitive tax of 5,000 euros for each money transfer from Russia. The Finnish colleagues will be placed in similar conditions. This is a response measure.
We have repeatedly urged the Finnish side to cancel the restrictions. I can confirm this to you. We warned them that we would have to respond if the state of affairs did not change. Now we have adopted these measures. But this is not our choice. We gave Finland a chance for talks, but they ignored our offer.
To reiterate: while taking decisions on introducing restrictions with regard to Russia, unfriendly countries should be aware that these steps will inevitably entail a fitting response. We are ready for a dialogue on problems they create themselves. That’s absurd: First to create problems and then discuss how to solve them. The problems should not be created in the first place.
Maria Zakharova: This is not about hopes or foundations, but about the fact that no one is in a position to dismantle them, because they are part of the package agreement. These foundations remain where they were, but they must be implemented. Indeed, we make it a point that no efforts announced by the parties on whom it depended have led to an effective and positive outcome. We do confirm this in the context of the issue you mentioned.
To reiterate, this is not about hope or faith, but a demand to comply with the agreements that were discussed and laid down in a document.
Maria Zakharova: I can say that in the context that you mentioned, the Russian side has repeatedly made its position known to other stakeholders during expert meetings that expanding these two categories (the list of goods and the number of ports) is out of the question.
Maria Zakharova: This is a question for law enforcement agencies, which should determine the facts.
As far as I understand, criminal cases have been initiated. It’s just a matter of getting evidence. I can only assist you in getting an answer to this question from the law enforcement agencies. I have no facts that would corroborate either theory. I think it would be incorrect on my part to comment on a specific episode.
However, I would like to bring to your attention the fact (without commenting on this particular case, because we must be based on facts if we want to discuss this issue) that we have seen earlier how the Kiev regime, including under Western supervision, carried out acts of sabotage, terrorism and extremism on our country’s territory. To do so, they recruit and implicate into these terrorist networks not only citizens of Ukraine. This is a classic method used by international terrorists.
Maria Zakharova: It is too early to say how long it will take to review all applications. In accordance with the leaders’ instructions, work is underway in BRICS to coordinate the expansion process modalities. After a consensus is reached on all variables and an appropriate decision is made at the BRICS summit, it will be possible to start reviewing specific applications. Then, we can return to your question. We still have to go through the preparatory phase.
This process takes time and painstaking work. It would not make much sense to give any dates at this point. It will be a far-fetched assumption. We are talking about decisions that will largely determine the association’s future. Much work remains to be done.
Having said that, I would like to make it clear that we welcome the South African Chairmanship’s commitment to achieving progress in discussing BRICS enlargement. I hope this issue will have been properly reviewed by the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on August 22-24, 2023. In any case, it is on the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers in Cape Town on June 1-2.
Maria Zakharova: There is no alternative to that. I think you have clearly stated this in your question. It is difficult to come up with an example that is worse than the situation in Ukraine. I believe it is important to hear and see what is now being offered to Serbia, Moldova and other countries: to make a choice between their natural, historical, geopolitical and geographical interests (not a narrow group of people or elites, but peoples), which are being quite successfully implemented, and European integration (a movement towards European values a list of which no one has ever presented). All of that is wrapped in rhetoric about freedom and democracy. Everyone had the chance to see the kind of “freedom” in the EU ranging from blocking media outlets to unilateral sanctions, from persecution of their own politicians to stick discipline in economy, finance and politics under the auspices of Brussels.
Much was said today about the artificial nature (on the verge of blackmail, and sometimes even beyond it) of the question to make a choice and decide, not to harmonise, not to integrate, not to put together the possibilities in favour of what has not yet been determined. They are talking about European integration without a clear plan, prospects or thinking about the damage that the people of a particular country will incur after they break off the existing links that took years to build. This is dangerous and leads to situations like the one in Ukraine, which was torn to pieces. Different groups of people (ethnicities, religious groups, economic operators, political, public and social strata) were hurt. That’s what it led to.
I receive latest news and watch the feed during the briefing. This is to answer the question about how this framing of question may end. I have an incoming message that the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine has adopted a new calendar. From now on, it will celebrate Christmas on December 25. Here is the answer to the question what such ultimatum demands to make a choice may lead to. Where is faith, religion or canon there? What we see here is an act of fitting material to the mould. Nothing else. What’s next? I wonder if they will submit grievances to the Serbs asking them to rename their language, change holidays, or honour some other heroes. We see what it all leads to. EU officials regularly make such statements. On May 17, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, in a similarly arrogant manner, warned President of the Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik against visiting Moscow, pointing out that EU allies do not visit Russia. This is a monstrous logic. I will say more. Even those who are considered EU allies visit Russia and talk with us. They forgot to ask Mr Varhelyi what they and we should do when communicating with each other.
This is not the first time we have seen how European Union put unprecedented pressure on sovereign countries in an attempt to have them abandon their independent foreign policies. Anything goes, blackmail and threats. Sometimes it comes to national humiliation.
I think that renaming the Moldovan language into Romanian is a national humiliation. The decision to put forward the celebration of Christmas by the Orthodox in Ukraine, taken by Western curators, is also a case of national humiliation. There are vast numbers of such examples.
In its anti-Russia policy, the European Union is in direct violation of international law, including fundamental principle of the UN Charter on the sovereign equality of states. It sponsors wars and coups, infringes on the legitimate interests of the countries and weaponises its economic superiority and capabilities. With regard to neighbouring countries, the EU pursues an openly neo-colonial policy, purposefully organises disinformation campaigns, and works to establish its dominance through manipulating ethnic issues. I think that the use of one’s own currency as a tool or element of conducting hybrid wars (I’m talking about the United States, but Europe is not far behind it) is one of the most compelling examples.
The countries that are striving to become EU members see their arms twisted, as they are being demanded to join the confrontational policy of the former European integration association, which has become a tool operated by the United States and NATO. Serbia is being forced to accept the recognition of Kosovo and make concessions to EU member states to the detriment of its national interests. Ukraine is cited as an example. There will be no such thing as democracy or freedom in any form in that country in the near future. Clearly, the Western ideology failed as the West tried to use blackmail against a sovereign state. Everything went the way of totalitarianism and neo-Nazism, the suppression of dissent, and now tourism practices. There is no point in talking about censorship.
We are happy to know that the Serbian public clearly sees the malicious nature of the EU’s geopolitical ambitions, which can be seen from a rapid decline in support for the country joining the European Union. How much longer can one abuse the Serbs, luring and endlessly encouraging them to do something and lecturing them, while not making any constructive input in the development of that country and its people? We respect the choice of the country’s leadership, which, despite heavy pressure from the West, continues to act in the interests of the Serbian people.
Maria Zakharova: The Foreign Ministry of Russia has published relevant historical materials, including facts and figures, many times. We will add a link to these materials in the print version of today’s briefing, which will disclose the amount of financial, material, technical and resource assistance the Soviet Union has provided to Poland. It is strange that this issue has been raised again.
The liberation of that country from the Nazi invaders and Nazi ideology cost the lives of 600,000 Red Army soldiers. They died liberating Poland. This alone means that there can be no talking about what we owe anyone.
If anybody still has the audacity to mention the financial side of the matter, I suggest that they re-read the documents we have published and look at the amount of funds, resources, foods and light industry products, as well as equipment, including farm machinery, we have provided to Poland starting in 1944-1945. We gave it direct and targeted assistance, including rouble and US dollar loans, three years before the Marshall Plan, a US-initiated recovery programme designed for European countries. The war losses of the United States were incomparably smaller than the losses sustained by the Soviet Union. The United States preserved its economy, industry and production capacities. It was only three years after we began helping Poland that the Americans adopted and started implementing the Marshall Plan. And Poland has the audacity to raise the issue? This can only happen when historical memory has been completely erased, which many people there have been trying to do for a long time.
Maria Zakharova: These countries are UN members. Apart from that, we have signed bilateral agreements with these post-Soviet states on establishing diplomatic relations. From a legal, diplomatic and political point of view, we treat them as sovereign states. All of this is enshrined in the law. There are many different legal details and aspects. Some countries have case law, while others have common law. Things are called differently. Possibly, there is room for historical research.
You asked me as an official, and here is my official answer: we have interstate relations established with the countries in the post-Soviet space, with the respective documented status.
Maria Zakharova: Your question is quite complicated. Are you referring to the people of Russia or are you asking what the Foreign Ministry is doing in this context?
One of the goals of the wild intrigue by the West, the US and NATO structures was to splinter the notion or phenomenon of the Russian world, which embodies the unity of all those who are linked with Russia spiritually, historically and culturally and share its traditional values and culture. You can see and know it better than me how actively our compatriots have been working for many years and will continue to do this. They have become a special phenomenon not only in international relations but also in the historical context.
They witnessed the collapse of their big country and found themselves in different parts of our planet, largely not of their own will. This is how life scattered them and a tectonic split took place. It is amazing but they quickly heard the call which constitutes the unifying principle of our culture and identity. They started creating their cultural space regardless of how far they were from Russia. They were building it, as it were (observing national laws and local traditions) to restore, revive and create everything that linked them with Russia. Thus, many people that were compelled to work abroad or live there for a long time (life takes different turns) tried to grow a birch tree as a symbol of their country, their homeland, the culture of their predecessors, their historical link with them and the country. It seems our compatriots started to cultivate this image (and symbol) all over the world. They started cultivating and creating a special space of connection with Russia, our culture and common history. This was bound to evoke fierce malice on the part of those who believed that our compatriots who arrived or landed in the West should have completely renounced their Fatherland, severed all ties with it and adjusted to a new way.
Remember how Anna Akhmatova put it?
“I heard a voice. It bade consolement.
“Come hither,” was its tempting call,
“Leave your obscure and sinful homeland, abandon Russia once for all.”
Later she wrote that she completely gave up this idea. The West spent enormous funds and other resources on implementing the idea that those who had historical links with Russia had to renounce it (it is completely incomprehensible why).
You see and know well that this was not the case of any cultural expansion. The point is that the people who found themselves abroad for different reasons felt this inseparable link in their heart and soul. All they wanted was an opportunity to study their language and history and have legal, educational and humanitarian support and a connection with their homeland.
Now our compatriots are facing unprecedented attacks and ethnic and language discrimination. They have not caved in to them and have not broken down. They know the truth and try to uphold it. This rabid Russophopbia and cancel culture (this concerns not only Russia and the Russian language but also everything that does not fit in with the melting pot of Western mentality) sometimes reach absurd proportions.
I can see that this pressure has not deterred these people. On the contrary, their unity has grown. This is probably part of the Russian world and character – the greater the pressure, the stronger the resilience. It is hard to tell.
You are asking about our efforts. We are doing all we can to promote the consolidation of our compatriots who are eager to preserve their culture and identity, the common Russian cultural and language, Russian spiritual and moral values and ties with their historical homeland. We are helping them defend their rights and lawful interests in their countries of residence, primarily in unfriendly countries, where they are subjected to the reincarnation of Western Europe in the 1930s-1940s. We are supporting organisations of our compatriots that continue to popularise the Russian language and traditions wherever they can in these difficult times.
A separate area of our work is information on opportunities for resettling in the Russian Federation. The number of applications has grown considerably against the backdrop of everyday Russophobia. Our foreign missions have opened hotlines and special mailboxes on electronic resources for receiving and processing incoming mail. They have extended hours for holding consultations and receiving applications under the resettlement programme. This is a succinct summary of our efforts.
We will continue providing humanitarian aid, facilitating cultural exchanges and exhibitions and promoting educational projects. This is the way to go. However, the Foreign Ministry is not a flagship in these efforts. The Ministry of Culture and Education is responsible for this activity.
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