Excerpts from the briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow, October 26, 2023
- The Ukraine crisis
- Palestine-Israel conflict update
- US Republican Senator Mitch McConnell’s scandalous remarks
- Lithuanian Foreign Minister’s meeting with Mikhail Khodorkovsky
- The threat of expulsion of Russian citizens living in Latvia
- EU industrial production
- Increase in US activity on the Korean peninsula
- Israel’s permanent representative calls for UN Secretary-General’s resignation
- Visits by leaders of Western countries to Israel
- Moldova bans Russian media
- Statements by Prime Minister of Armenia
- Statements by US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy
- Evan Gershkovich
- Media reports on visits to Moscow by Abu Marzook, member of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas movement, and Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran Ali Bagheri Kani
- The Pentagon’s decision to deploy THAAD and Patriot systems in the Middle East
- Various ideas on how to settle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
- Seymour Hersh’s comments
- The evacuation of Russian nationals from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone
Ukrainian punitive units of the Kiev regime continue to ruthlessly strike communities in Donbass, areas near the Sea of Azov, in the Kherson Region and other Russian territories. Attacks launched by the Armed Forces of Ukraine are killing innocent civilians, including children. Ukrainian forces have a special hatred of civilian infrastructure facilities.
On October 22, 2023, artillery barrages launched by Ukrainian neo-Nazis killed one person in the Kherson Region, and two more were wounded by fragments. On October 24, 2023, attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine resulted in the deaths of two civilians in this Russian region, and another person was wounded. The cold-blooded shelling of Donetsk continues unabated. On October 23-24, 2023, Ukrainian artillery strikes killed two and wounded four people in the city.
According to authorities in the Lugansk People’s Republic, from January 1 through October 22, 2023, Ukrainian artillery strikes and explosive devices killed 65 people, including one child, on the territory of the republic and wounded 223 more, including 20 children.
All this confirms once again that for the criminal Kiev regime human lives are not worth a red cent. The regime leaves nothing but destruction and scorched earth in its wake. This is their objective, but we will counter their actions.
Courts in the Russian Federation continue to sentence Ukrainian neo-Nazis who have committed grave crimes against civilians, using evidence collected by the Investigative Committee of Russia.
N. Morozov and A. Yegorov, militants serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, killed two civilians in Mariupol in the spring of 2022; they were sentenced to 26 years in prison each.
Y. Krotyuk, another Ukrainian neo-Nazi who shot two civilians in Mariupol in April 2022, was handed a 25-year prison sentence in absentia.
In June 2022, V. Shapovalov, a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, fired a grenade launcher round at a residential building in Severodonetsk and damaged the property of an elderly woman. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Russia will continue to prosecute people involved in such crimes. We will inform you about this process, and no one will escape justice.
Even the biased Western media are beginning to publish stories about the crimes committed by the Kiev regime. On October 23, 2023, The Washington Post carried a detailed story about the involvement of Ukrainian security services in the assassination of Darya Dugina, the explosions of the Crimean Bridge and other crimes. According to the paper, since 2015, the CIA spent tens of millions of dollars on training Ukrainian security services and turning them into America’s allies in the fight against Russia. It also mentions the UK’s MI-6 in the same context. Those Anglo-Saxon intelligence services reportedly established the No 5 and No 6 divisions at the Security Service of Ukraine. Both divisions were directly subordinated to them and were expected to focus on active measures (acts of sabotage) against Russia.
According to the publication, the CIA was behind Ukrainian security services’ operations all the time. The Ukrainian side coordinated all high-profile operations with the CIA which provided the perpetrators with all the essentials. Now that it has become clear that Ukrainian neo-Nazis will not hesitate to use modern weapons and technologies to perpetrate terrorist attacks and contract slayings on the territory of third countries, the Zelensky regime’s US handlers are trying to deny their involvement in its deranged and bloody terrorist outrages.
Let me explain why and for what purpose the media came out with these stories. We have repeatedly mentioned
First, the
Hence the sudden desire to shed responsibility. After all, they did publish stories about the
On the one hand, this is an obvious thing. We have spoken about it for years, and we did so after the terrorist attacks against Darya Dugina and the
On October 19, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told the Atlantic Council forum that
This is a story of
It is not for the first time that we hear members of the European or US political establishment utter variations on one and the same basic idea:
We hope that awareness of this obvious fact will come to people in their right mind in the West and in Ukraine, who will try to curb their leaders, rulers, and puppet masters.
Kiev is still dreaming of opening a “second front” against Russia. Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine Alexey Danilov, following Vladimir Zelensky, who has recently called on Georgia to begin similar military operations, addressed a similar call to the authorities of Moldova. In fact, the Kiev junta is inciting war in the Caucasus and Transnistria. Who is behind them? Of course, the United States. Why? Because certain forces in the United States believe the world should “flare up.” We can see that they cannot even bear the word “ceasefire” and calming down the situation in the Middle East. That is why they have blocked the corresponding Russian proposals to include calls for appeasement in UN Security Council resolutions. The world should burn because the US wants it that way.
It is significant that Alexey Danilov also threatens with violence all Ukrainians who say on social media that Ukraine needs to stop hostilities. This is American logic.
Vladimir Zelensky’s neo-Nazi regime does not accept any talk about peace; it is guided exclusively by the logic of war. This once again comes from the United States; it was imposed on the Kiev regime, incorporated and well paid for.
We have noted that the next meeting of national security advisers to state leaders in the Copenhagen format will take place in Malta on October 28-29. Within its framework, Kiev and the West are trying to convince representatives of the world majority to take the right side of history, as they see it, and join the implementation of Vladimir Zelensky’s notorious peace formula, which has nothing to do with resolving the conflict and is, in fact, a formula of war.
The Copenhagen format is a completely non-transparent platform that does not take into account the opinions of its participants. The organisers of events in this format use all means, including fraud, blackmail and threats, to lure as many countries as possible to attend, especially those who have taken a neutral position regarding the Ukrainian crisis. At the same time, it is obvious that such meetings are futile and counterproductive.
The person acting as Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmitry Kuleba, said that each country must take a point from Vladimir Zelensky’s peace formula and begin implementing it. Nonsense. Anti-logic. Usually documents (no matter what they are called) are regarded in the totality of all points. Someone may disagree with something and amend it. But what does the Kiev regime offer at the initiative of the United States? They came up with several points and invite countries to choose from the list what suits them. Thus, they will consider these states to have joined the peace formula. The remaining points may run counter to the fundamental views of these countries.
This is absurd from the common-sense point of view. But in the Kiev regime’s twisted psychology, it all adds up. At least somehow, at least in some way, some states (the more, the better) will be linked with the support for Kiev. It doesn’t matter that it is not true. It doesn’t matter that these countries are not going to become co-sponsors or participants in a pseudo-peace initiative. The Kiev regime’s task is to create a feeling of support by the world majority for its initiatives in the public space. But this won’t happen. Any format for discussing the possible outlines of a peaceful settlement without Russia’s participation will certainly have no added value.
Moreover, it is very unfortunate that Malta, which for many decades has emphasised the country’s strict neutrality in military-political matters of its foreign policy, today provides a platform for a purely biased, openly anti-Russia event that has nothing to do with looking for a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian crisis.
According to media reports, the Ukrainian authorities have gone as far in their criminal activities as to close two of the three regional hospitals in Kherson. Their medical personnel have been reassigned to military recruitment offices. The hospitals only serve Ukrainian citizens and deny assistance to the “enemies of Ukraine.” But it is not their mission. The Kiev regime’s only goal is to kill as many of its own citizens as possible. The residents of Kherson have actually been cynically left without any medical assistance or treatment.
The Kiev regime continues with its aggressive Russophobic campaign in Ukraine. This week, the plaque with the portrait of Mikhail Glinka has been dismantled from the façade of the Dnepropetrovsk Academy of Music named after the great Russian composer. He has been found at fault. Last summer, the city administration removed the name of the composer from the academy’s name. What is Glinka guilty of? To please its Western handlers, Kiev is carrying on its policy of destroying everything that is connected with Russian culture and everything that is Russian. It is further proof of the Nazi essence of the current Kiev authorities. Don’t trust those who explain this by the “pained reaction” of the Kiev regime and all Ukrainians to the events of 2022. This is not true. It began long before that and became visceral in 2022, but it was actually a pre-planned campaign that lasted for years. They banned the Russian language, renamed people, prohibited the development of culture and arts on the basis of national history, and dismantled and altered monuments.
Zelensky’s regime is resolved to eliminate canonical Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine. Nobody believed us before. We were told that we were exaggerating. On October 19, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading a government-proposed bill aimed at prohibiting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is to be taken over by the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine, a political project of Washington and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
That bill is legally invalid, violates the Constitution of Ukraine and is dividing society by wounding the feelings of millions of Orthodox believers. But the neo-Nazis in Kiev don’t care. The anti-popular authorities are protecting the interests of their Western sponsors rather than of their own citizens. They don’t care about the people’s faith, their feelings and their views of the world, themselves and the country. They continue to take Washington’s money to carry on the destruction of Ukraine as a society, an ethno-cultural community and a state. There are plans to build a new structure on the ruins, a structure that will have nothing in common with the history and culture of the place. They are good at this. They believe that they can do it again.
We hope that the international community will not remain aloof and that it will not only draw conclusions but will also make statements about that lawlessness, and that the concerned international institutions will demand that the Zelensky regime give up these plans.
On October 23, 2023, we marked a major date in the history of our country, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Melitopol from the German occupiers. The Nazis fought to keep the city at all costs; they built 150 kilometres of reinforcements. But the city was liberated thanks to the courage and heroism of Red Army soldiers, who were fighting for every building.
These days, the Kiev regime, acting in the spirit of its Nazi idols, intended to retake the city during the well-postered “counteroffensive.” But its plans fell through and were a complete failure. Like the rest of the Azov region, Melitopol has become part of its historical homeland forever.
On October 25, 2023, we celebrated 80 years since the liberation of Dnepropetrovsk from the Nazi invaders. As the result of a lightning Red Army offensive and a large-scale operation to cross the Dnieper, the German forces were forced to leave the city, which they occupied in 1941. During the occupation, they ruined the city and exterminated thousands of its residents. The courageous soldiers of the 3rd Ukrainian Front commanded by General of the Army Fyodor Tolbukhin were instrumental in liberating Dnepropetrovsk.
We remember the glorious pages from the history of our battle against the Nazi scourge. We have no doubt that the residents of Dnepropetrovsk and Ukraine will eventually get rid of the modern-day Nazis, who are ready to sacrifice their lives to the mercenary interests of their Western handlers.
All this is just another way of explaining the goals and tasks of the special military operation.
Palestine-Israel conflict update
We note with regret that the situation is headed in the wrong direction in the conflict zone. The death toll is steadily increasing. Nearly 6,000 Palestinians and 1,500 Israelis have reportedly been killed since October 7, including more than 2,000 children on both sides. Do the children who die have a nationality? The number of wounded exceeded 20,000 – that’s in two weeks.
The humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip is growing. More than 1 million people were forced to leave their homes. There is an acute shortage of fuel, food, and medicine in the enclave. Access to drinking water is limited. Civilians are the first to suffer the consequences of the severe blockade of the Gaza Strip. Children suffer.
We are deeply concerned about the reported geographical expansion of fighting in the West Bank. More than 100 Palestinians have already been killed there. The potential for conflict is growing along the Blue Line on the Lebanese-Israeli border. We are watching with concern as Israel steps up air strikes on Syrian territory. We are extremely concerned about the military manoeuvres by non-regional parties in the Eastern Mediterranean. These factors, along with the increasing bellicose rhetoric from various sides, heighten the risks of the conflict escalating into a region-wide one.
In this regard, we reiterate the need for an early ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors for evacuation and delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. We also reiterate our call for the release of the hostages.
Joining the effort to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population, on October 19, Russian Emergencies Ministry planes delivered food to Egypt to be sent to the residents of the Palestinian enclave. Only three humanitarian convoys have crossed into the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of hostilities. It is clear that this is not enough to cover the existing need. We sincerely hope for an expansion of humanitarian aid that the Palestinian population needs so badly.
Russia is continuing its efforts towards a faster resolution of this crisis. We maintain close coordination with key regional players and our BRICS partners. On October 21, Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov took part in the Cairo Peace Summit organised by Egypt. Together with our constructively minded partners, we are pursuing an active policy at the UN Security Council to achieve an early ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
We reaffirm our principled and consistent belief that this long-standing conflict cannot be resolved by force and can only be addressed by political and diplomatic means, through the establishment of a full-scale negotiation process within the well-known international legal framework, which should result in the creation of an independent Palestinian state within its 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, coexisting with Israel in peace and security.
US Republican Senator Mitch McConnell’s scandalous remarks
We are keeping a close eye on his anti-Russia statements, in which this American politician, who cannot be described as anything other than agenda-driven, makes systematic attempts to rewrite the history and results of the Second World War.
On October 22, 2023, he distinguished himself at Fox News by branding the union of Russia, Iran and China the “axis of evil” that poses a direct threat to the United States.
There are two sayings that can describe what is going on: “to turn everything on its head” and “to lay the blame at someone else’s doorstep.” As regards the statement by Mitch McConnell, I would add that he turned everything on his sick head. There is no other way of putting it. He probably forgot that it is not Russia or China that threaten the US, but on the contrary, the US says that its task is to deliver a strategic defeat on our country and to contain China (which is called many names, from adversary to a rival).
As for Iran. For decades, we have been hearing statements by Washington about the need to achieve a final solution to the Iranian question through the use of force. Moreover, the ideologists of the aggressive solution occupy high positions in the Washington administration. Now, Mitch McConnell says that Russia, China and Iran threaten America. And he dares call us the “axis of evil.” All of this is happening while Russia is named as the main target in the doctrinal documents of NATO, a US-made military and political bloc.
We understand the motives behind the US senator’s statement. It is obvious that it is connected to the recent budget request by US President Joe Biden, who suggested allocating over $100 billion to Ukraine, Israel and other military needs. That is, allocating money for the continued bloodbath and escalation of violence.
But the thing is, he draws historical parallels with the events of the Second World War, which are quoted with such ease by these American politicians. At that time, we were part of a military brotherhood with the Americans.
We got used to historical knowledge being an object of special operations in the information space, in which Western politicians participate. But they cannot deny their own current statements. The weapons that Joe Biden asked to finance will be used against our country, against Russia. And at the same time, we are called a threat to the US. This is absurd.
I want to point out another thing. It is amazing that the US continues to associate itself with goodness and virtue, to promote the principles of their liberal democracy and contemplate how they will create a new international “rules-based order.” On what grounds do they call us the “axis of evil” and themselves the “axis of good”?
Let us recall who invaded Serbia, who bombed Serbian cities and killed civilians, who tore apart that country. Let us recall who occupied Iraq through a massacre, who executed the country’s leaders while using Iraq’s judicial system as a cover. Who killed a million civilians in Iraq? This number is given by non-governmental organisations, but we know that nobody counted them. Who ruled Afghanistan for 20 years with an unintelligible result (we all know the result)? The US is too shy to say it. Who tried to rebuild Syria at their own discretion? Who did all that? The “axis of good”? All of this was done by the United States and its coalitions. It does not matter that the countries that were part of these coalitions provided one person, two or fifteen or more. What is important is the number of such countries.
This is the same way they are recruiting states to support Vladimir Zelensky’s “peace formula” (in reality, a formula of war). “You simply support one of the provisions, nothing else is needed. Say that you support at least one letter of this nonsense.” Why are they doing it? Because they need to create an image of broad support. These do-gooders from this axis have created such coalitions over the past decades. It does not matter how many people are involved. The main thing is to receive someone and record all those in support. This is blurred, collective responsibility. These “facts” give the US the right to call itself a land of virtue and doing good all around the planet by calling it a “rules-based world order.”
In the new strategic concept of the North Atlantic Alliance, it is stated directly at the behest of Washington about plans to develop relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the intent to create a global NATO. This is a new axis, but is it good?
I listed all the “achievements” of the US and NATO members over the past decades. When US senators once again decide to think about who is the “axis of evil” and who is the “axis of good,” let them look in the mirror of history first. They have the Library of Congress and other archives. They should read about themselves. Or else, they can have a look at Wikileaks.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister’s meeting with Mikhail Khodorkovsky
We have noted the anti-Russia statements by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis made at his meeting with Mikhail Khodorkovsky. They amount to a direct and undisguised call for a violent change of power in Russia. This is completely unacceptable for the head of another country’s foreign policy agency. We realise that they have ventured completely beyond any legal frameworks and violated the law long ago.
This is not the first time that Gabrielius Landsbergis voices similar extremist ideas. As a result, he has been included in the list of persons who are denied entry into Russia. In case he does not know this, we can inform him that, under Russian legislation and in accordance with international practice, he faces criminal liability for such statements.
The threat of expulsion of Russian citizens living in Latvia
The discriminatory requirements of Latvian migration legislation have deprived over 3,000 Russian citizens of residence permits, and these people have been ordered to leave the territory of this Baltic state by the end of November.
Latvian authorities are suspending the payment of social benefits and pensions to this category of Russian citizens. These people will find themselves in an extremely difficult financial situation, and they will also have problems obtaining medical services. The democratic, free and open Latvian government has accomplished all this. It appears that the Latvian government also lists itself among members of the axis of good and virtuous.
Russia continues its persistent efforts to draw the attention of the international community to rampant lawlessness in Latvia which is based on openly racist precepts. Where is the OSCE, I wonder? It has so many human rights institutions, with staff and functionaries guaranteeing human rights and freedoms in this region. Where are they all? Have you ever heard authorised OSCE representatives discuss compliance with the law in Latvia? I have heard nothing of the kind. Are they unaware or uninformed about it? Does it not concern them? It is convenient not to hear or see any uncomfortable issues they find awkward to comment on. And it is awkward because they have been trying to prove all this time that the Western world is so civilised, legitimate and democratic. However, this situation does not seem to fit into the overall picture that took many years to create. Nevertheless, they will have to comment on this.
The Russian Embassy in Latvia provides the required consular and legal support to our compatriots. Its officials meticulously document all cases of discrimination against representatives of the Russian diaspora and submit their findings to human rights activists and those of the Russian-speaking diaspora, as well as to the OSCE and the UN. They collect evidence based on written statements by Russian citizens who have been affected by the arbitrary rule of Latvian authorities, which will be used to prepare for collective and individual lawsuits at local and international courts.
The media actively covers the most glaring cases of infringing upon individuals’ rights on linguistic and ethnic grounds in Latvia. This includes the mistreatment of hearing impaired and blind persons with disability categories. Where are all those multiple NGOs that have mushroomed over the past few years with Western financing, which have closely monitored developments in Russia and supported every punk prayer? You have a new job and lots to do in Latvia. Where is the Human Rights Watch?
We will continue to demand at the international level that the Latvian ruling elite rescind their man-hating decisions with regard to the Russian population. At the same time, we will provide essential assistance to the people affected by the lawlessness of Latvian authorities.
While President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen declares from the tribune of the European Parliament that the EU’s chosen course to curtail cooperation with Russia is correct, economic indicators and the reaction of the business community to the dramatically changed conditions of economic activity in this area indicate the opposite.
The main negative factors hindering the growth of the union’s economy at the moment include the worsening energy crisis, rising inflation, repeated increases in the key rate and, as a result, a reduction in real incomes of the population and consumer demand.
In its attempts to hold down inflation, the European Central Bank has needed to tighten its monetary policy. Since the beginning of 2022, a total of 10 decisions have been made to increase the main refinancing rate. In September 2023 it reached 4.5 percent, the highest since the introduction of the euro.
At the same time, Brussels has significantly reduced the share of Russian energy resources in its imports in the context of its anti-Russia sanctions policy. For example, if monthly imports of oil from Russia amounted to 8.7 million tonnes, and natural gas − 5.1 million tonnes in the second quarter of 2022, then in the second quarter of 2023 the figures decreased to 1.6 million tonnes and 2.5 million tonnes accordingly. The subsequent increase in energy costs had a negative impact on the main EU industries.
The chief impact following the European Union’s slide away from Russia was on energy-intensive industries, primarily the automotive industry, chemical industry, production of glass and ceramics, metal, fertilisers, pulp and paper products, and cement, which have already experienced structural difficulties in recent years, exacerbated by the EU policy of transition to a climate-neutral economy. In essence, it is suicide. There is such a term, “incitement to suicide.” This is exactly what is happening between the US and the European Union. Exactly. This is the United States bringing the European Union to economic, social, and humanitarian suicide.
In June 2018 – August 2022, car production in the EU countries declined by 30.4 percent. According to expert data, a third of this decline was caused by the consequences of the pandemic and stricter requirements in terms of reducing CO2 emissions, but two thirds of it was due to disruption in supply chains for components, a reorientation to new, more expensive energy sources and a general deterioration in the investment climate on the European continent. This further affected demand for and sales of new cars in the EU. In 2022, sales slumped by 4.6 percent compared with 2021.
Don’t think that we are worrying in the sense that we are more concerned about European and EU consumers, producers, etc. We are worrying about our own. We present this data in order to prove who really is behind the whole story called the Ukrainian crisis, who is the main beneficiary of this development. After all, they kept saying that we are, that we need this. No, that is not true.
The European Chemical Industry Council notes that EU industry is losing its competitiveness in the global market. In January − July 2023, chemical production fell sharply: by 11.9 percent compared with the same period in 2022. Domestic demand and exports have weakened significantly, and there is the prospect of a reduction in inventories. According to forecasts, by the end of 2023, the drop in chemical industry production will be up to 8 percent.
These changes in the economic activity have also affected related sectors. With increasing energy costs, many producers raised prices of intermediate goods and raw materials. The pharmaceutical sector was the first to suffer. As a result, the EU ran low on antibiotics, partly as a result of disrupted logistics. Pharmaceutical manufacturing slumped by 6 percent in 2022, and this after the pandemic exposed the EU’s weakness as a supplier. France and Germany used to be high performers and trailblazers in pharmaceutics, as evidenced by the pharmaceutical business and manufacturing fair held in Frankfurt for many years. What did we see in 2021 and 2022? The EU failed to provide Europe or the world with any anti-Covid innovations. The countries that offered their expertise were Russia, China and, one way or another, the United States. The EU, which used to be a pharmaceutical giant, did not create its own vaccine. What did it do during the pandemic? It paid tens if not hundreds of millions of euros for the American vaccine. This is one more example showing who is benefitting from the EU’s attrition.
According to the European Commission, industry confidence based on overall order books, stocks of finished products and production expectations plunged to a historical low of -9.8 in August 2023. This is how much industrial enterprises “trust” Brussels’ policy. The management of companies are often faced with a difficult choice: to raise prices and so relinquish their share of the market to cheaper (mostly Chinese) goods or streamline their operation by reducing the output.
A new problem in the EU is the transfer of industrial production to the United States following the adoption of the Inflation Reduction Act (2022), which promises large subsidies to producers who manufacture electric vehicles, batteries and power generating equipment in the United States. It is America’s ingenious way of dealing with its own crisis before it becomes too late. It is undermining the other economic centres to prevent the worst scenario at home. European producers Automotive Cells Company (batteries and electric vehicles), Plastic Omnium (equipment and component parts for vehicles, storage and purification systems), and Northvolt (batteries for electric vehicles) have announced their intention to localise assembly in the United States.
I am sure that the next Munich Conference on Security Policy in Europe will focus on the situation in the Middle East. After all, this conference takes place in Munich. It should raise doubts in clear-thinking people in both Munich, Germany, and the EU as a whole. It should focus on the economic and industrial decline of the EU, caused not only by some unpredictable man-made circumstances, but by a man-made crisis created for the EU by the United States. For this purpose, leading experts, politicians, political scientists, economists, industrialists and manufacturers should gather in Munich. This is what they should talk about.
After all, the EU unites so many countries, dozens of countries with leading economies. What will become of them in the next five to seven years? What has become of them now? But no. Those who gather in Munich will discuss any problem apart from that: Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Russia and Ukraine. They will not talk about the main thing, the future of the very part of our planet where they will gather.
Some EU member states, notably France, Germany and Belgium, have already begun to sound the alarm about the deindustrialisation of their economies, the loss of potential investments and sources of economic growth. Having come under US pressure to impose unprecedented anti-Russian sanctions, Brussels now has to put up with the discriminatory economic policy of its US partners, becoming increasingly dependent on Washington. Meanwhile, the question of how soon the “made in the EU” product labelling will come to an end is being raised more and more frequently in expert circles.
I believe that this is an excellent topic for the Munich Conference on Security Policy.
Increase in US activity on the Korean peninsula
We are closely following the developments on the Korean peninsula. The United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan continue to increase their military activity there, provoking further escalation of tensions.
In this connection, we have drawn attention to the unprecedented trilateral air exercises on October 22 involving a US strategic bomber. Such a show of force is not conducive to the establishment of a negotiation process for a political and diplomatic settlement of problems on the Korean peninsula.
We know very well that the US is fuelling the fire of global confrontation all over the planet. They view this region in this very context.
Maria Zakharova: Probably only a few of the current generation of journalists know this, but I will remind them. The activity of the UN Secretary-General is not determined by a country or a group of countries, or even by permanent representatives of the most respectable countries. The activity of the UN Secretary-General is defined by the UN Charter.
Let me quote the UN Charter, is particular, Articles 97 and 100: the Secretary-General, being “the chief administrative officer of the Organisation,” and “in the performance of their duties <…> shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the Organisation. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their position as international officials responsible only to the Organisation.”
At the same time, Clause 2 of Article 100 clearly states that every UN member state, and this includes Israel, “undertakes to respect the exclusively international character of the responsibilities of the Secretary-General <…> and not to seek to influence them in the discharge of their responsibilities.”
For our part, we have to note that we have repeatedly and directly urged both the UN Secretariat and Antonio Guterres personally, as well as other member states, to respect and comply with these articles of the UN Charter. Their systematic violation, as well as the violation of the known key principles of the Organisation’s founding document, with the aim of pursuing selfish geopolitical interests leads to catastrophic results. The developments in the Palestine-Israel conflict area are a striking example of this.
Maria Zakharova: Each country has the right to conduct its own foreign policy. Diplomacy involves contacts. Diplomacy that does not have bilateral contacts is weird and eccentric. This is the basic answer to your question.
We also maintain these contacts. I do not know what it is best to call them, shuttle diplomacy or something else, but we have them. They include telephone conversations, visits to the region by, in particular, Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov, as well as contacts with our partners outside the region. It also involves active work on the UN platform where we have contacts with the representatives of states. Each state chooses their own forms of communication.
A different matter, which we are really concerned about, is that due to the Westerners’ openly confrontational and politicised position, it has not been possible for the international community to find a common approach towards the measures that need to be taken to promptly de-escalate the situation in the conflict zone.
As you know, the US and its allies have blocked the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution developed by Russia that called for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian corridors. These are measures that will help de-escalation. Then, Washington also vetoed a draft submitted by Brazil, which currently presides in the council.
We once again urge the Western countries to be guided by the interests of people in distress, and not by their own geopolitical ambitions, and to join the constructive efforts aimed at the prompt settlement of the crisis in the Palestine-Israel conflict zone.
As for contacts, each country has the right to conduct them; however, they should adhere to international law. It is not secret knowledge hidden from the public eye, neither is it the Holy Grail that everyone is trying to find to no avail. These are the internationally acknowledged legal solutions for the region, which are described on the UN website as a concrete platform or settlement roadmap. These documents have a long history. Relevant contacts of the parties should be made based on these documents, and not contrary to them.
Maria Zakharova: We have already commented on the decision by the Moldovan Service of Information and Security to block access to 22 Russian-language news portals in the republic starting from October 24 because they are allegedly “used in the information war against the Republic of Moldova.”
This step indicates the steady decline of freedom of expression and access to information in Moldova through the efforts of the Maia Sandu regime. Ignoring the legitimate interests of a huge part of the country’s population, who prefer to speak and learn news in Russian, Moldova’s current leadership is systematically clearing the national information space of any inconvenient sources of information, demonstrating complete disregard (and violation) of its international obligations to respect the right to access and spread information. In fact, the regime of Maia Sandu elevates political censorship to the status of state policy and ideology.
I am not the one who is saying this. That country’s people are saying this. They are not heard, because they are not given the floor. And now, they are not given opportunities to listen and read. They cannot speak, listen, or perceive. Can you see what level Western “democracy” has reached?
In the last year alone, the Chisinau authorities revoked the licences of six Russian-language channels: Orhei TV, NV6, NTV Moldova, Accent TV, RTR Moldova and Primul in Moldova (December 17, 2022). They blocked Russian-language news websites EADaily and Bloknot (January 19, 2023), the website of the popular Russian information and analytical website, Rubaltic.ru (February 6, 2023) and five websites of the Sputnik news agency (on March 22, 2023, with the following websites subject to restrictions: sputniknews.com, md.sputniknews.com, ro.sputniknews.com, sputniknews.ru and md.sputniknews.ru). The Moldovan authorities also blocked Russian-language websites politnavigator.net, politnavigator.news and news-front.info (April 20, 2023), while two TV channels of Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (Oguzatlink and Ilk Halk Televizionu) were fined for rebroadcasting analytical programmes from Russia (July 6, 2023). This is a systemic policy aimed at destroying any alternative point of view. On September 13, 2023, employees of the Moldavian Migration Service broke into the house of the head of the Sputnik Moldova news agency, Vitaly Denisov, detained him and then deported him on accusations of interfering in the internal affairs of the Republic.
The Moldovan leadership, with its repressive reflexes, does not want to draw conclusions from the mistakes of others, instead exacerbating the polarisation of society and the development of intolerance towards people’s points of view. What does all this lead to? It leads to the collapse of statehood and an erosion of its democratic basis, and opens a gap in understanding between the ruling elite and society.
This blatantly hostile move towards Russia by official Chisinau will certainly not go unanswered. In addition, we will provide you with information on what this will be.
Maria Zakharova: We noticed that the Western media were literally exerting pressure on the representatives of official Yerevan, dragging answers out of them to provocative questions that were clearly aimed at inflicting maximum damage on the diverse ties between Moscow and Yerevan. Unfortunately, given the current situation in
We are also often asked provocative questions. However, we prefer to answer that we use bilateral channels to resolve disagreements in our relations, with Armenia in particular. We do not lay the ground for this bacillus of provocation to spawn.
An attempt is made in this interview to belittle the importance of the Armenian-Russian relationship and play down the role of our military and border guards in ensuring the security of
I want to remind you that the strong economic growth in Armenia in recent years – by 12.6 percent in 2022 – and the improvement in the well-being of its population can largely be ascribed to the close cooperation with Russia in trade and the economy, to major joint projects that are ongoing and the country’s membership of the EAEU.
Armenia benefits more than anyone else from being an EAEU member: in 2022, Armenian exports to other member countries increased by $1.6 billion, an almost threefold increase on the figures for 2021.
Since the 1990s, Russia’s military presence and the deployment of our border guards have been seen as an important factor in Armenia, given the difficult situation in the South Caucasus and Yerevan’s unsettled relations with its neighbours. The 102nd Russian military base regularly holds drills to boost combat readiness and cohesion with our Armenian colleagues. Our border guards counter attempts to illegally cross the Armenia-Türkiye border, foil attempts at smuggling on the Armenia-Iran border and, since December 2020, they have also started monitoring the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. All activities are carried out jointly with
As for the Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh, but for them, the situation in the region since the autumn of 2020 might have developed according to a much tougher scenario for
Regarding
The fallacy of Yerevan’s decision to rely on the mediation of Western countries to normalise Armenia-Azerbaijan relations is becoming increasingly obvious, along with the impropriety of attempts to emasculate the efforts to carry out the package of trilateral agreements reached at the top level in 2020-2022 (1,2,3,4). If Yerevan has the political will, we are still ready to receive the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Russia with a view to holding a proper trilateral summit.
Maria Zakharova: Consider it election rhetoric. Other comments are unnecessary.
Now we will hear things like this: good, bad, original, strange, extravagant. There is no point in commenting on it all. This is the candidate's vision within the electoral process. Whether he has formalised it as a programme, who supports him with it, is also a completely open question. This is election rhetoric.
Maria Zakharova: Do you think we're accepting requests for greetings here?
Today is Andrey Kokoshin's birthday. It would be a pleasure to wish him a happy birthday. I would like to remind you that in 1998 he pushed for the creation of Sineva ballistic missiles for Project 667 BDRM strategic submarine missile carriers, which made it possible to keep the naval component of Russia's strategic nuclear forces combat-ready. Thank you very much for this, Mr Kokoshin. Happy birthday!
Regarding Evan Gershkovich, I would like to express my regret and sincere sympathy to this man who has traded his profession of journalist for cooperation and espionage against our country, for cooperation with American or other (I do not know) special services. This is indeed a depressing fact. But it is already a fact of his biography.
As for your question regarding what the American authorities can do. Probably, first of all, they can refrain from forcing their journalists to cooperate with the US special services, from confusing the profession of a journalist with another profession related to different tasks, and follow the US law. That's one.
Secondly, they can stop malicious activities against our country.
Thirdly, with regard to American prisoners (this is not just about Evan Gershkovich, there are others), the US authorities can use the appropriate channels available between our countries to clarify and resolve their fate. Let me remind you that all of this is a matter of judicial decisions and decisions by law enforcement agencies.
Maria Zakharova: I can confirm that today, October 26, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin met with Ali Bagheri Kani, Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
I can also say that representatives of the relevant Palestinian movement are in Moscow. As for contacts, we will inform you additionally.
As for the other issues, I think that we will also give appropriate answers in the near future. Not only personally, but also to all those who took part in the briefing today.
Maria Zakharova: We do not see the US presence in the Middle East as contributing to the stability of the situation in the region. Quite the contrary. It was Washington’s earlier attempts to monopolise the Middle East settlement process while ignoring the reasons for the protracted conflict that largely led to the present disastrous consequences.
The region needs a prompt de-escalation of the Palestine-Israel conflict rather than US’s provocative deliveries and deployment of the above anti-missile systems. Such actions, proceeding in line with America’s tactics of enhancing its own security at the expense of others’ – and this is how it should be characterised – will on the contrary further aggravate the situation in the Middle East and create additional tensions that could spill out beyond the region.
As for the response plans, this questions should be addressed to the Defence Ministry.
If I may, I would like to make one more remark. Over the past six to seven years, at all the talks with the Western countries that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took part in, the same idea was constantly reiterated: the situation will only deteriorate unless there is an understanding or resolution or, at least, a focus on facilitating dialogue between the parties or intermediaries on the Palestine-Israel track of the Middle East settlement.
I have witnessed dozens, or perhaps I should say hundreds of these talks. They involved Americans, EU officials and NATO representatives etc. Until the talks were frozen at the West’s initiative under trumped-up pretexts, each time Moscow kept raising the issue (I heard this for myself and I can confirm it) that the Palestine-Israel track must not be neglected or it would lead to disastrous consequences. Moreover, Sergey Lavrov revealed the true reasons for what was happening and explained what could lead to an escalation, with the situation changing from a predictable outcome to a sudden and unexpected one. He revealed the factors that could lead to escalation, one block after another, not only from a historical perspective but also from the vantage point of the current stage in the development of the situation in the region.
We witnessed the Western world turning a blind eye to this topic, “betting” on settling the situation either by force or by some other financial and economic means of dragging out the situation, even if with noble intentions. They mistakenly thought that the issue could be resolved with money. We saw a lot. What you have mentioned will further exacerbate the situation in the region. This situation has an absolutely clear and understandable path, a roadmap for settlement. It is not easy but hard and painful, yet it leads to the issue being resolved and not aggravated.
Of course, no air defence systems, weapons supplies or material contributions to some “security complexes” will be able to settle this situation. Today’s lesson must be learnt. The Americans have deployed so much (bases, experts, satellites) yet none of it has succeeded in preventing a bloody scenario where both Palestinians and Israelis are victims.
Maria Zakharova: I would like to stress once again that the international legal basis for a long-term settlement was agreed upon long ago. The common goal is to help the parties provide conditions for launching the negotiation process on the entire range of final status issues, which should result in the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem, coexisting in peace and security with Israel. Only this approach can guarantee peace on the planet.
We consistently advocate the restoration of intra-Palestinian unity. We are ready to further facilitate the rapprochment of all influential Palestinian political forces and their consolidation on the platform of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Maria Zakharova: This question should be addressed not to the Russian Federation but to Israel. This is their decision, tactics, strategy. You should ask them.
We have repeatedly expressed our position on the situation. We can see that military solutions, flooding the region with weapons, and statements that “America will help everyone” do not work and are counterproductive. We recognise the meaning and essence of the solution, which will actually work and ensure peace in the implementation of the international legal framework of this settlement track.
Maria Zakharova: We regularly publish information on this subject. Our diplomatic services in Israel and Palestine also make statements. Due to the aggravation of the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, Russian citizens are advised to avoid visiting that region. Those wishing to leave Israel can do so through Ben Gurion International Airport, which continues to operate in Tel Aviv. Since October 7 this year, more than 9,000 people have arrived in Russia from Israel on direct flights provided by Russian companies Red Wings and Azimut and the Israeli carrier El Al. At the same time, people are travelling from Russia to Israel but I would like to emphasise once again that we advise against visits to that region.
The situation is more complicated in the Palestinian territories, above all, in the Gaza Strip. To date, about 1,000 people from Russia and CIS countries have contacted our diplomatic missions requesting evacuation from the enclave.
On the instructions of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, we are implementing a set of measures to ensure the speedy and safe evacuation of compatriots who have requested assistance. We have set up an interdepartmental operational headquarters and mobilised the forces and resources necessary for evacuation. We are working in close contact with the Israeli, Egyptian and Palestinian authorities and with relevant international organisations. We will be ready to commence the evacuation process immediately after the opening of the Rafah checkpoint on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
I would like to draw your attention to the reports that the Israeli side has given about the deaths of Russian citizens. These were people who permanently resided in Israel and had dual Israeli and Russian citizenship. Yesterday, there were reports that more than 20 Russians had been killed. I can say with reference to our diplomatic mission that with regard to these people (that is, permanent residents of Israel and not permanent residents of Russia who were in Israel, as tourists or businesspeople) we are checking each name to confirm whether or not they are Russian citizens. So far, we have confirmed that 15 people had Russian citizenship. We are checking the rest of them.
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