Excerpts from the briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow, January 12, 2024
- Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s news conference on the Foreign Ministry’s performance in 2023
- Yemen faces strikes by US and UK-led “coalition”
- The Ukrainian crisis
- Ukraine brings pressure to bear on journalist Trofim Tatarenkov
- Update on
- Details of the German Defence Ministry’s preparations to deploy a Bundeswehr brigade in
- EU charges against
- Dismantling Russian monuments in Bulgaria
- Serbia launches museum project showcasing Russian regions
- Russian Press Day
- Russian Federation’s chairmanship of BRICS
- Games of the Future 2024 accreditation
- Growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula
- Statements by Armenian politicians
- Armenian Foreign Minister’s statement on the peace treaty
- Neo-Nazi march in Armenia
- Confiscation of Russia’s financial assets by the West
- Statements by US authorities
- Preserving historical memory in Europe
- Prospects for grain deal renewal
- Voting in the Russian presidential election abroad
- Russian nationals expelled from Latvia
- The US’s destructive actions in the world
- Escalating situation in Lebanon
- Russia’s approaches to Palestinian-Israeli settlement
- Western approaches to settling the conflict in Ukraine
- South Africa sues Israel in the UN International Court of Justice
- Russia’s approaches to settling the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
- Statements by Sweden’s Civil Defence Minister
- Domestic political situation in Poland
- Envelope delivered to the Russian Embassy in Athens
- Russia’s draft UN convention on countering the use of ICT for criminal purposes
- Participation of foreign mercenaries in the Ukraine conflict
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s news conference on the Foreign Ministry’s performance in 2023
On January 18 at 11:00, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold his annual live news conference at the Foreign Ministry Press Centre. Mr Lavrov will review foreign policy performance for 2023, share forecasts for 2024, assess the state of international relations, and answer journalists’ questions.
We invite Russian and foreign media representatives to attend the conference. Accreditation will be open until noon on January 15.
This announcement was posted on the Foreign Ministry website and social media accounts.
Please note that this will be a live news conference. We will see you at
Yemen faces strikes by US and UK-led “coalition”
Based on available information, on the night of January 12, the "international coalition" (which should be referred to as the illegal coalition) led by the United States and the United Kingdom conducted missile and bombing strikes on multiple sites in sovereign Yemen under the control of the Houthi movement, Ansar Allah. Reports indicate that the areas of Sanaa, Hodeidah, and Taiz, as well as the port of Midi in the Governorate of Hajjah, were targeted. In response to these attacks, the Houthis have declared their intention to retaliate against US facilities in the region. These events further affirm our concerns that the US position in the UN Security Council regarding the Red Sea is merely a pretext for further escalating tensions in the region.
We strongly condemn these irresponsible actions by the United States and its allies. A significant military escalation in the Red Sea region has the potential to reverse the positive developments that have recently emerged in the Yemeni peace process and could instigate destabilisation across the entire Middle East region.
As we previously warned, the Anglo-Saxons are attempting to justify their aggression by citing UN Security Council Resolution 2722, which was initiated by them and adopted a day earlier under the guise of ensuring the safety of navigation in the Red Sea. The Americans have long resorted to such unscrupulous methods that run counter to international law. Everyone remembers the repercussions of their reckless military interventions in Libya and Iraq, which were also initiated through distorted interpretations of UN Security Council decisions. The people of these countries, as well as the entire region, continue to grapple with the devastating consequences of the illegal military interventions by Washington and its proxies.
We urge the international community to strongly condemn the attack on Yemen carried out by a group of countries without a UN mandate. We share the concerns expressed by our partners in the region, particularly Saudi Arabia, and call for increased international efforts to prevent further escalation of the situation. We believe that this undertaking by the forces of the illegal "coalition" poses a direct threat to global peace and security. Based on this understanding, we have called for an immediate convening of the Security Council, where we will voice our principled assessment of these unlawful actions.
Throughout 2023, the Kiev regime continued to repeat like a mantra that Ukraine's "sacred mission" is to protect the "democratic world," while continuously demanding financial and military support from the West. These appeals did not go unanswered, as the US and the EU called upon their own taxpayers to tighten their belts and pay for the needs of those who were supposedly forging a victory over Russia "on the battlefield." This is the same reckless undertaking that began decades ago with illegal coups in Ukraine, the anti-constitutional "Maidans" that overturned the country's early statehood and sovereignty. Who was behind all this? The United States, Britain (then part of the European Union), and the core of the EU, which we refer to as “collective Brussels.”
However, the anticipation of an imminent "victory" was replaced by the aftertaste of a failed "counter-offensive." As a result, efforts to support the festering Zelensky regime, deeply entrenched in widespread corruption, cost what it may, has led to severe domestic political and economic problems (to put it bluntly, a collapse) in many leading Western countries. Increasingly, voices are heard in Western Europe and the US questioning the excessive spending on Ukraine.
In addition, people have started thinking about the true nature of the ruling Ukrainian leadership, which seized power almost 10 years ago through a violent armed coup, with direct involvement from the Western regimes of Washington, London and the "collective Brussels." Ukraine cannot be considered an "outpost of democracy" by any stretch of the imagination. The country is plagued by lawlessness; any forms of dissent and political opposition are suppressed. They are waging a struggle (in every sense) against freedom of speech, religion and conscience. Strict censorship is enforced, and repressions along with extrajudicial killings have become commonplace.
In reality, Washington, London, and Brussels have nurtured an aggressive nationalist and essentially neo-Nazi dictatorship in Ukraine whose sole objective, openly expressed, is to bring a "strategic defeat" to Russia. Western countries can no longer deny that Ukraine itself has been brought to ruin as a result of these policies. However, this has yet to be officially acknowledged. Naturally, we cannot allow such a source of threat to the security of our country and our citizens to exist near our borders.
While Western capitals are trying their best to shake down their own citizens to support the Ukrainian Nazis, the Zelensky regime uses the aid they have received to carry on with their dark agenda, engaging in demagoguery, robbery and mass murder. Simultaneously, it urges Europe to "teach Russia a lesson," advocates for more NATO weapons to be sent to Ukraine, and demands that stolen Russian assets are turned over to them.
The aggressive rhetoric of the Kiev regime is accompanied by pre-planned terrorist attacks against the civilian population of Russia, as well as their own country.
In late December 2023 and early January 2024, Ukrainian neo-Nazis conducted numerous barbaric strikes on Belgorod, Donetsk, Gorlovka and other Russian cities, using cluster munitions. Let me remind you that these munitions were supplied by the West. One particularly tragic incident occurred on December 30, 2023, when the city centre of Belgorod was heavily shelled by the AFU, resulting in numerous civilian casualties. In the days leading up to New Year's Eve, 29 people died and 129 were wounded in Belgorod and the Belgorod Region. Additionally, about 150 private houses and 100 apartment buildings in Belgorod were damaged. Residents of the Donetsk People's Republic and other Russian regions were also affected by attacks from Bandera’s followers, resulting in deaths and injuries.
Those responsible for these crimes will be identified and face appropriate punishment.
The West's indifference towards the criminal terrorist acts of the Kiev regime, as well as their threats to expand these actions to other peaceful Russian cities, is outrageous.
It is worth noting that American, European and NATO representatives have failed to condemn the brutal attacks carried out by Kiev in Belgorod and other Russian regions ahead of New Year's Eve. There has been complete silence from Washington, London and Brussels. Have any relevant international organisations responded? These organisations receive substantial funding to document and condemn such crimes. Yet the UN and OSCE leadership, whose duty it is to monitor and respond to such incidents, have also remained silent or only made general statements. It appears that they are unaware of the source of these shells, who is supplying them, and who is sponsoring the Kiev regime.
Furthermore, the EU countries have gone even further (or rather, fallen even lower) by justifying these actions. The French Foreign Ministry referred to the killing of civilians in Belgorod as "Ukraine's exercise of its legitimate right to self-defence," while the EU Lead Spokesperson Peter Stano said that "no information that comes from Russia can be considered trustworthy." Such statements demonstrate the lack of counterarguments and basic decency on the part of European politicians and officials. They are afraid to call things by their proper names and continue to vindicate the Kiev Nazis and justify their bloody atrocities against civilians, even if it means resorting to blasphemy and bloodshed. The conclusion is clear: the tolerance of these so-called civilised democracies is deceitful and criminal.
With Western financial and military aid starting to dwindle, Vladimir Zelensky decided to hit the road on January 10, 2024, with a concert tour of the Baltic states. These countries, in their Russophobic frenzy, are willing to do anything to enable the Kiev regime to carry on fighting against Russia on the battlefield. This is how Washington intends to shift the burden of funding Ukraine to its submissive European satellites. It has long stopped paying attention to what people in the European Union or NATO might think about it. It is for this purpose that it has been nurturing Eurocrats for decades, using them as the regime’s backbone, which has brought the entire governance system to its heel by cleansing it and the society at large of any democratic manifestations.
However, it seems that they too have ran out of money or have very little left. Estonia has proven to be the most generous of the three, with its leaders pledging to allocate 1.2 billion euros to the Ukrainian Armed Forces by spending 0.25 percent of the country’s GDP for this purpose over the next four years. Lithuania has limited itself to offering another 200 million euros in military aid, albeit in small instalments. So far, Latvia has only reported spending 595 million euros on Ukraine without pledging any new contributions. The decision Latvia took yesterday was also staged for Vladimir Zelensky’s tour.
On January 11, 2024, the Latvian Saeima adopted a draft law in its final reading to confiscate the Moscow House, a cultural and business centre in Riga. Let me remind you that this is not about confiscating property from a Latvian owner, be it a private entity, an NGO or a public institution. This building belongs to the Government of Moscow.
We have already condemned this move as an illegal takeover, theft and state-level robbery committed in gross violation of international law, which guarantees the inviolability of other countries’ property.
The Latvian authorities and the country’s leadership must be held accountable, including in terms of their financial liability, for these illegal actions. Let me reiterate that Russia will respond firmly, which will be extremely painful for Latvia.
Vladimir Zelensky’s entourage has high expectations for his attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 15-17. In fact, members of the Presidential Office have made no secret of their plans to persuade the world’s business leaders to get their wallets out and provide new defence loans. In exchange, they are willing to offer anything, be it land, natural resources, or Ukraine’s minerals. They would even be ready to pay back with their own people, but there are too few of them left at this point. The Vladimir Zelensky regime has been killing Ukrainian nationals. I have no doubt that Vladimir Zelensky would be willing to sell Ukraine in its entirety, should the need arise. After all, there is nothing else left.
On January 1, 2024, Ukraine discreetly observed Stepan Bandera’s 115th birthday, without holding the traditional torch processions. Some may say that they have finally come to their senses and realised that holding torch processions is not fitting and that Stepan Bandera is even worse than that. But no, this is not the case. You can see that there is a different explanation. A large share of Stepan Bandera’s fans from nationalist organisations perished on the front. What an inglorious way to die. But what about those who are still alive? Some of them are in Europe, while those who stayed behind traded their principles for safety. They understand that those who take part in these torch processions will be mobilised and sent directly to the front lines. This is the way they have been asserting what they used to refer to as their core values.
It is worth noting that on January 1, 2024, the Ukrainian media reported missile strikes targeting Lvov, which damaged the university once attended by Stepan Bandera. The strikes also burned Roman Shukhevich’s memorial museum to the ground. In another interesting development, a local resident sold Shukhevich’s bust and several other exhibits from the destroyed museum for scrap metal instead of helping preserve them.
Do you know why this is happening? First, they know that no one would ever allow them to restore a museum glorifying neo-Nazis. Second, this is the essence of their false values. This demonstrates what people truly think of all these Banderas and Shukhevichs. They recycled them the moment they could do it. This was the first time they got this opportunity, since they knew what the Zelensky regime would do to them in response. This is the way to go. Indeed, all these new Ukrainian heroes, all these Shukhevichs, Banderas and the like, belong in the garbage heap, and I am not talking just about the garbage heap of history, but a liberal rubbish dump.
Still, there are people there who sincerely treasure their nation’s sacred memory. They treasure the memory of those who defended them from Nazism during the Great Patriotic War and who opposed all this frenzy for many decades. In early January, 2024, we learnt that people from Pushkino, a Transcarpathian village, refused to demolish a monument to the Soviet soldier and a pedestal commemorating the fighters from this village. They took this decision unanimously at a town hall meeting in late 2023.
We have previously discussed similar initiatives. This is more than just taking action. By acting in this way, these people are performing a true feat by continuing to resist despite all odds, despite the threats, despite all the intimidation and despite facing a totalitarian regime with kidnappings and detentions. This is a true feat. All this demonstrates that no matter what the Kiev Nazis do, they will never succeed in breaking the people’s resolve and imposing an alien, inhumane, neo-Nazi ideology on them.
On January 7, 2024, the people of Ukraine celebrated Orthodox Christmas despite all the obstacles created by the Zelensky regime. Yes, you heard me right: January 7. It happened despite all the orders and directives issued by the Kiev regime’s neo-Nazis to change the Christmas date in order to stand with the West. People flocked to churches for the Christmas service, while they remained empty on December 25, the date imposed by Kiev for celebrating Christmas.
The government’s attempt to enforce the celebration of Epiphany Day on January 6 instead of the 19th also failed. Judging by media reports, very few people showed up at Epiphany Day ice holes. All this goes to say that Ukrainians are not willing to reject their roots and centuries-old traditions. They refuse to accept the anti-Orthodox political project Washington and Constantinople are trying to impose on them under the guise of the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
All these facts confirm the relevance of the special military operation’s objectives to de-Nazify and demilitarise Ukraine and remove the threats originating from its territory. They will be achieved, as the Russian leadership has consistently stated.
Ukraine brings pressure to bear on journalist Trofim Tatarenkov
The criminal
This time, they are targeting Russian journalist and blogger Trofim Tatarenkov, against whom a criminal act was committed by a group of persons recruited by Ukrainian secret services.
The suspects have been detained and the investigation will establish the degree of responsibility. The guilty will incur just and certain punishment (criminal proceedings have been initiated under Article 167 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the
Has anyone heard anything about this, for example, from the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media? No. Did perhaps the UN say anything through its representatives or special rapporteurs? No. Did any of the related international NGOs that monitor virtually every indication of this in the media and journalism sector, say anything? After all, they react to everything without exception. No. Why? We have been exposing the West’s hypocrisy for years. We said that, from the Western point of view, human rights are only owned by those whom the Western totalitarian democracies regard as belonging to the [Western] “family.” All the rest, from the West’s point of view, are not eligible and have no rights.
It is already clear that these actions are not just crimes but qualify as terrorist attacks by the
Let me remind you that attempts to bring psychological pressure on journalists or to interfere with their professional activities are against both Russian law and the generally recognised principles and standards of international law. We call on the related international organisations to give this a proper evaluation.
Regrettably, the Moldovan government stubbornly has decided to stay its openly unfriendly anti-Russia course which is taking on increasingly wild dimensions. All of that is being done not only contrary to the historical background of bilateral relations and ties between our countries and peoples and counter to the interests of the region, but primarily against the interests of
Official Chisinau remains true to its policy of suppressing freedom of speech and dissent of any kind. Despite the fact that the state of emergency was lifted in late 2023, the Moldovan authorities are in no hurry to cancel the Commission for Emergency Situations’ ruling to ban Russian-language TV channels whose licenses were revoked in 2022-2023. The press service of the Moldovan Government attributed this move to “concern about the mental health” of the viewership. To reiterate, I just quoted the official statement by the press service of the Moldovan Government. We are familiar with such explanations from history. The people behind such falsehoods usually run into similar problems themselves.
Clearly, in the warped minds of the Moldovan leaders, the concern about the “mental health” of the people includes a daily stream of unsubstantiated accusations against Russia, the rebroadcasting by pro-government channels of lies that are spewed by the allegedly “independent” Western and Ukrainian media about the special military operation, as well as the propaganda of neoliberal values that their people find objectionable.
It appears that this “concern” (according to the Moldovan government) for the mental health of the viewers also informs the policy of the Moldovan authorities aimed at breaking off Moldovans’ business, humanitarian and people-to-people ties with Russia. This can be seen, above all, in the systematic discrimination against Russian citizens entering
The Moldovans are aware of what actually underlies the anti-Russian policy of official Chisinau. Political scientists and experts openly say that its goal is to make this country a part of the aggressive anti-Russian borderlands of the EU and NATO.
Moldova will never get any of the economic or humanitarian bonuses that the EU member states are entitled to, but will become a foothold for “breaking up” Russia and inflicting a “strategic defeat” on it (as NATO says). What will happen instead is what happened before to other countries that followed this path of lies and self-deception. Unfortunately,
It is no coincidence that the government actions to suppress dissent go hand in hand with extensive supplies of NATO weapons to
At the same time, the majority of Moldovans do not agree with the official policy which fact is confirmed by recent polls, according to which about a quarter of respondents are supportive of closer ties with NATO, whereas 58 percent believe the destructive course pursued by the country's leadership is fundamentally wrong.
I do not get this. After all, Maia Sandu assumed office with democratic rhetoric. Democracy is the power of the majority while respecting the opinion of the minority. In this case, the opinion of the majority is ignored. There is no place even for respecting (not to say considering) the opinion of either the majority or the minority. What we have here is a frenzied policy seeking to impose someone else’s point of view on the people. Occasionally, it is about undermining the national identity of Moldovans, sometimes it is about imposing someone else’s agenda through economic and other levers, and in still other instances it is forced upon people by way of intimidation or reprisals.
To reiterate,
Details of the German Defence Ministry’s preparations to deploy a Bundeswehr brigade in
In December 2023,
As soon as the brigade is combat ready, the North Atlantic Alliance will place the combat tactical NATO group that is operating in
Thus, NATO is building up its forces and facilities at high speed in the Eastern flank. It is being done both on a coalitional and bilateral basis. In addition, this year, a series of military exercises will be held in the
We would like to draw attention yet again to the provocation that is the growing activity and military potential of NATO and its member states near the Russian borders. It will only escalate military tensions, not reduce them as Western politicians are trying to convince ordinary Europeans.
EU charges against
The EU – you won’t believe it! – is accusing
If you remember, many citizens in those countries asked their governments and politicians why they pursued this sort of migration policy. Why are they recruiting hundreds of thousands and occasionally millions of citizens from other countries and continents when there is no programme for their involvement in the lives of other countries? What will all of this lead to? But they were not heard. They were suppressed and blasted, vilified and marginalised. Today, the EU countries are facing a full-scale problem they can neither resolve, nor control. This means they need a scapegoat.
The situation is all the worse for the open foreign policy adventures the EU has become involved in at the instigation of the US and UK. Let me remind you that illegal migration became particularly pronounced after NATO bombed
This is part of
We have repeatedly emphasised in public that the Western countries are trying to avoid responsibility for what they have perpetrated whenever they accuse
Just like any other anti-Russia information campaign, the accusations of Russia regarding its involvement in the EU migration crisis rely on numerous fake claims. Concrete facts will be the most effective way to expose this disinformation campaign. I would like to cite some of them.
The EU Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) documented over 330,000 illegal crossings of the EU's external borders between January and October 2023. The Central Mediterranean route traditionally remains the most challenging section of the border (over 143,000 people) followed by the Western Balkan route (over 97,000 people), the Eastern Mediterranean route (45,000 people) and the West African route (28,000 people). We are talking about hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants.
To put this in perspective, let’s look at the statistics on the Russian-Finnish border, which has literally led to a collapse of the EU migration situation. According to the UNHCR and the Finnish Migration Service, just over 800 people crossed the border from the Russian side in November 2023.
Compare 800 people (Russian-Finnish border) and 330,000 people. What threatens the security of the EU: 330,000 people in 2023 that came illegally from different directions into the EU, or 800 people who crossed the border with Finland from the Russian side in search of asylum and chances to obtain residence? I’m not going to speculate whether they had the right to do so or not, whether they had proper documents, etc. We have provided our assessments on this matter earlier. Truth be told, 800 people on the Russian-Finnish border do not threaten the security of Europe which let in 330,000 people last year alone.
Migrants come from Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Of these, 415 cases were documented at the southeastern border crossings, the closure of which the Finns announced in the first place. As you can see, there is no such thing as unchecked flow of migrants from Russian territory which is yet another example of the West's double standards or lack of standards altogether.
I will give you one more detail. On December 21, 2023 Finland’s Interior Ministry said the country’s authorities will pay 5,000 euros to refugees if they voluntarily decide to return home within 30 days. By the way, similar arrangements existed before. What is this about? Is it a solution to the migration issue or an attempt by the Finnish authorities to buy off those who need help, who came following the calls of the collective West which, under the pretext of human rights, humanitarian rescue and protection of democracy, destroyed their homes in their home countries, regions and continents?
Perhaps, Finland or the EU should, before invading, bombing or occupying these countries, hand out 5,000 euros to each citizen of the countries in question, or simply transfer this money, based on the population, to official governments for them to solve humanitarian, human rights and public health issues? Shouldn't they do that in the first place rather than afterwards, when people come to them in search of asylum and in order to collect the money promised by the collective West in order to send them back home?
In order to solve the migration problem, the EU does not need to look for the culprits. All it needs to do is eliminate the root cause of migration crises. What needs to be done? They need to look in the mirror and see the reflection. These root causes are not in the countries of exodus, as social anthropologists call them, but in the Western capitals, where the white man’s philosophy, to use the language of colonisers like Rudyard Kipling, still reigns.
To use the language of political science, migration crises will never end unless the West stops interfering in the domestic affairs of the Global Majority countries. Russia is not part of that problem.
Dismantling Russian monuments in Bulgaria
Another attack against common Russian-Bulgarian history has occurred in Bulgaria. On January 10, 2024, the monument to the ambassador of the Russian Empire in Constantinople in 1864-1877, Count Nikolai Ignatyev – a Russian diplomat who made an invaluable contribution to the restoration of this country’s statehood after five centuries under foreign yoke – was thrown from the pedestal and damaged in the centre of Varna. The local authorities have offered assurances that the monument will be restored and returned to its place, and the vandals will be identified. We hope that this will be so.
Unfortunately, this new flagrant case shows that the war against historical heritage in Bulgaria is only gaining momentum. In December 2023, the monument to the Soviet Army in the centre of Sofia was barbarically destroyed, showing utter disdain for fundamental legal norms. Many Bulgarian citizens were horrified. Before this situation, they felt personally removed – if not indifferent – to this problem, believing that “everything would be solved on its own.” No, without the Bulgarians defending their own history, the history of Bulgaria will be destroyed not by someone from the outside, but by those within the country itself who propagate values and a pseudo-historical reality that are alien to the Bulgarian people.
Believe it or not, there are calls to demolish perhaps the most popular monument, the monument to Alyosha, in Plovdiv. Also, intrigues are being spun around the Shipka Monument of Freedom.
Such vandalism is one of the ugly manifestations of the Russophobic campaign unleashed by the West and eagerly taken up by a certain part of the political elite in Sofia, which is guided by the principle “all’s fair in the fight against Russia.” The bet is on violently changing the consciousness of their own population, infecting it with hatred, and poisoning relations between the countries. Again, this, like in the situation with Ukraine, and what we are talking about in the context of Moldova and many other countries, will cause irreparable harm to the people of Bulgaria itself.
We will continue to monitor Russian memorial sites in Bulgaria and respond to various types of criminal offences. It is a pity that they (part of the political elite of Bulgaria) do not understand that they are harming themselves by turning away from their own past and devaluing it and the memory of their own heroes for the sake of dubious political trends and carrying out someone else’s order.
Serbia launches museum project showcasing Russian regions
On December 28, 2023, a project dedicated to showcasing the regions of Russia was launched in Belgrade. The opening ceremony took place at the Adligat Museum of Book and Travel, where Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko donated items from 45 regions of Russia.
The exhibition aims to provide insights for Serbian visitors into our country’s unique cultural and natural features, as well as its ethnic diversity.
The museum’s director, Viktor Lazic, is a renowned traveller, collector and public figure. He represents the ninth generation of a Serbian family that has been collecting rare books and other items associated with various cultures for over two centuries. After an extensive road trip across Russia, Lazic came up with the idea of creating a separate exhibition space at the Adligat Museum to showcase Russian regions.
Seeking to enhance the personal collection of exhibits, Viktor Lazic approached the Russian Embassy in Belgrade for assistance. Through joint efforts with the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian regions provided books and craftwork items reflecting their unique identity, history and geography. These items range from the city of St Petersburg in the country’s west to the Magadan Region in the east, and from the Arkhangelsk Region in the north to the Republic of Dagestan in the south.
We hope that the exhibition will continue to receive new items and will further strengthen the bond between our fraternal nations.
January 13 marks Russian Press Day. On January 13, 1703, the first Russian newspaper, News of Military and Other Affairs in the State of Moscow and Other Neighbouring Countries that Merit Attention and Should be Remembered, came off the press on orders from Peter the Great whom I have quoted. The printing of this publication facilitated the creation of professional journalist ethics in Russia, as well as the country’s professional journalist community. Today, the official registry kept by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) lists over 153,000 media outlets.
I would like to congratulate all journalists, editors, publishers, proof-readers, designers, publishing engineers and other specialists who help publish newspapers and magazines, as well as digital media personnel. Their extremely high professionalism, ability to quickly adapt to permanently changing and sometimes extremely complicated working conditions (including those working on the forward edge of the information front together with the Russian Army’s personnel) are a distinguishing feature of the Russian media.
Despite the unprecedented sanctions pressure and numerous censorship restrictions by governments conducting a destructive policy with regard to Russia, our journalists continue to steadfastly tell the truth, and they have managed to develop new formats of interaction with Russian audiences and our compatriots abroad. You are actively mastering advanced technologies, providing more rapid and objective national and global news reports, and you are accomplishing another no less important task: You are facilitating dialogue between society and government institutions, while also helping equip people with a moral compass and defining their worldview.
We appreciate your work, we are deeply grateful for your dedication to your profession, and we wish you future successes and new achievements in the field of journalism, as well as unlimited inspiration, good health and prosperity.
I know that one should not congratulate in advance. However, considering our vast expanses, the entire country will soon start marking this highly important holiday. So, let us pretend that I have congratulated you on the eve of the holiday, rather than in advance.
Russian Federation’s chairmanship of BRICS
Starting January 1, 2024, the Russian Federation took over the chairmanship of BRICS. On this occasion, President of Russia Vladimir Putin delivered an address where he outlined the main priorities of our turn.
The Russian chairmanship motto is Strengthening Multilateralism for Equitable Global Development and Security. During the year, plans call for holding over 200 events in three key areas of cooperation: politics and security, economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian contacts. The BRICS Summit in Kazan in October will be the culmination of our chairmanship.
The agenda of our chairmanship is packed. One of the crucial tasks is to ensure the integration of new participants in the BRICS mechanisms without compromising their efficiency. To implement Johannesburg II Declaration, we will devise the modality of establishing the category of BRICS partner states and create a list of potential candidates to present the report at the Kazan summit. We also intend to deepen the dialogue with friendly countries in the outreach/BRICS Plus format.
Our foreign policy priorities include strengthening coordination on multilateral platforms, cooperation in combatting terrorism, drug trafficking, cybercrime, money laundering and the legalisation of criminal proceeds.
We will contribute to the comprehensive implementation of the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership until 2025 and the Action Plan for BRICS Innovation Cooperation for 2021–2024. We aim to enhance the role of BRICS in the international financial system, develop interbank cooperation, facilitate the transformation of the international settlements system, and expand the use of BRICS national currencies in mutual trade. Among important areas are deepening the dialogue between taxation, customs and anti-trust bodies.
We will also focus on such issues as boosting cooperation in healthcare, research and innovation, and expanding contacts between research centres and universities. We will continue to share expertise and best practices with our BRICS partners in such areas as digital transformation and the use of artificial intelligence, and will improve multilateral interaction in innovative development, and the development and deployment of advanced technologies. We expect to continue cooperating with our BRICS partners in the implementation of joint research and development projects, as well as the Action Plan for BRICS Innovation Cooperation for 2021–2024.
We also pay a great deal of attention to our humanitarian, educational and cultural cooperation and intend to facilitate the further development of contacts in culture, sports and youth exchanges. In particular, we plan to hold the BRICS Sports Games in June 2024.
Games of the Future 2024 accreditation
We would like to draw your attention to the fact that Kazan will host the first Games of the Future from February 21 through March 3, 2024. They will involve about 2,000 people from over 100 countries competing in 21 events.
This initiative is a unique and unprecedented project combining modern computer technologies and traditional sports professionalism. This approach creates substantial opportunities for involving a wide audience, primarily young people, in new forms of sport. We assume that the project also opens up new prospects in developing international sport cooperation.
We invite representatives of national and foreign media outlets to cover the first international multi-sport tournament.
Journalists can receive accreditation for the tournament’s events from November 20, 2023 to February 5, 2024. Accreditation deadlines are due to expire less than a month from now. Representatives of foreign media outlets who require a letter of invitation for a Russian entry visa should obtain accreditation by January 21, 2024.
The project’s official website gives details of accreditation regulations and rules of conduct at Games of the Future facilities. We encourage our foreign missions, including embassies, consulates general and our missions at international organisations, to circulate this information via local media outlets.
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I wish everyone a Happy New Year and a Merry Christmas, celebrated every January 7 in Russia.
Question: Can you comment on the surge of tensions on the Korean Peninsula in recent days?
Maria Zakharova: Unfortunately, the beginning of the new year 2024 was marked by yet another rise in tensions not only in those regions that we have just talked about, but, as you have correctly noted, also on the Korean Peninsula. The Russian side has repeatedly warned about the danger of Washington and its allies building up military activity in the subregion. Now we are seeing the results of this policy, which provokes further confrontation.
The current aggravation once again shows clearly that sanctions and use of force not only fail to contribute to unblocking the negotiating process, but also threaten security on the Korean Peninsula and in countries of Northeast Asia.
A comprehensive solution to existing problems can be found only through mutually respectful dialogue between the United States and the DPRK and constructive interaction between all the parties involved in the political and diplomatic settlement.
Question: How do you assess the grievances against Moscow aired by several Armenian politicians, alleging that the Russian peacekeepers “did not protect the civilians of Nagorno-Karabakh” on September 19-20, 2023, and allowed “ethnic cleansing” in the region. This allegedly violated the resolution of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, according to which the peacekeeping contingent was in Nagorno-Karabakh “to protect the civilian population.”
Maria Zakharova: We see these claims and find them destructive and, most importantly, at variance with the facts. It is odd that they continue to be made. We have established a trusting, good, and close dialogue with our colleagues at the Armenian Foreign Ministry. We have repeatedly explained Russia’s position regarding these statements, saying that they introduce new problems into bilateral relations and certainly do not contribute to either strengthening the bilateral agenda or solving regional problems. Unfortunately, someone apparently derives benefits from this stance. I do not know whether this benefits someone in Armenia or abroad. It is hard to say.
If you ask me to qualify this and offer a comment, then [I would say that] we believe that these are attempts to juggle with facts in order to shed responsibility. I cannot assess this in any other way. I will provide concrete evidence to support this position. The Resolution of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation dated November 18, 2020 (No 478-SF) states that the Russian peacekeeping contingent is being sent to the region “in order to monitor compliance with the ceasefire agreements,” as well as “to avoid mass-scale casualties among the civilian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and significant damage to civilian infrastructures.”
I have a question to ask all those who refer to this document and try to blame Russia for something. Did Russia fail to implement any of its clauses? If anyone has the conscience (or, if they do not have one, then the cheek) to say that some of this has not been done, please give us the facts. Put your arguments on the table, instead of hysteria and now insults. What was done was exactly what this document envisaged. Thanks to the professional actions of the Russian peacekeepers during the last escalation in the region in September 2023, it was possible to prevent exactly what this document was all about. With the active mediation of the peacekeeping contingent, an agreement was reached on September 20, 2023, to stop the hostilities, and talks were held between representatives of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Azerbaijani authorities. Our peacekeepers gave shelter to civilians, delivered humanitarian aid, and organised medical evacuations. Nobody has the right to insult them. And those who do this will get our response.
I would like some facts to be provided regarding the alleged ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. If there is at least some document from any international organisation that is considered authoritative in Yerevan (for example, the UN or some other), or a statement indicating that such ethnic cleansing did take place, please give us references to this document.
For our part, we have repeatedly noted that it is important to create conditions for the return of the Armenian population to Nagorno-Karabakh, based on statements made by Baku. We put it on record that it was necessary to properly ensure the rights and, most importantly, security of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. We are ready to provide every possible kind of assistance to this process, including through the Russian peacekeeping contingent.
Question: Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that Yerevan sees setbacks on some articles of the peace treaty with Azerbaijan. It is noteworthy that the US State Department advisor for Caucasus negotiations arrived in Armenia the day before to prepare negotiations with Baku. In this connection, does Moscow know which provisions of the text of the treaty Armenia considers regressive? Could such a statement by Ararat Mirzoyan be imposed, a consequence of the US advisor’s visit?
Maria Zakharova: Any assessments of setbacks, progress or stagnation made by representatives of official Yerevan, representatives of Armenia at the official level are an absolute prerogative of this state. It seems to me that it would be more appropriate to find out the details from our Armenian colleagues. Once again, as representatives of a sovereign state, they have the unconditional right to make their own assessments. Perhaps, some connection can be seen in the fact that such conclusions followed immediately after the visit of the US envoy to Yerevan. But this is already a question for Armenia. These issues should be resolved between Armenian society, state institutions, and politicians, who were elected with a mission to pursue the country’s national interests. All this should be addressed to Armenia itself.
We also paid attention to the statements by Sargis Khandanyan, Head of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations at the Armenian National Assembly that the negotiations in Washington and Brussels “enjoy international authority” and “this adds to their legitimacy.”
In the endeavour to please the West, one should not go to extremes and fall into absurdity. I have the feeling, unfortunately, that a number of people who say such things have simply lost their sense of proportion. It is not a question of our lack of understanding of such a position. We have seen more than that. This is an important issue for Armenia itself. The only road map for establishing a truly sustainable peace in the South Caucasus is a set of trilateral agreements between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia at the highest level in 2020-2022 (1, 2, 3, 4). And Washington and Brussels copied them exactly.
Let me remind those who speak about the greater legitimacy of Washington and Brussels platforms, or have misrepresented them to suit their own opportunistic interests. How can we even talk about the legitimacy of such pseudo-intermediaries, given that the “collective West” led by the United States is engaged in blatant abuse of international law, provokes wars and conflicts, organises colour revolutions, imposes rules invented by Westerners themselves, which no one has ever seen or read, and destroys the statehood of sovereign and independent countries?
Another important point. If the Washington and Brussels platforms discuss something that will go against the national interests of Armenia, won’t the statements of these politicians be remembered later that these platforms themselves give statements and documents more legitimacy? One should know the history of one’s countries, regions and world history, if one is engaged in international relations.
Many of Washington’s best and most loyal friends (as they qualified themselves) later became not just enemies of Washington, but targets, targets for destruction. Let me remind you that many representatives of countries legally, legitimately elected by the people of the same Middle East, Persian Gulf, North Africa, for decades were closest partners and allies of the White House. And then they were deposed by the same White House. Therefore, I say once again that this is not just a matter of our assessment, but of Armenia’s national interests and national security.
We have all seen the cost of Western mediation with regard to Armenian-Azerbaijani normalisation. These are facts. After all, it was at the summits under the aegis of the EU in October 2022 in Prague and then in May 2023 in Brussels that the Armenian side recognised Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, completely forgetting about the need to ensure the rights and security of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. You know very well how it all ended. This is what I can tell you about the legitimacy of these platforms.
Question: In the first days of the new year, pictures from Yerevan spread across the news agencies, showing a group of young people with neo-Nazi symbols, marching openly and unhindered. What is your comment on this?
Maria Zakharova: We saw these pictures. We were deeply concerned about the march of fascist thugs that took place on January 1 in the centre of Yerevan. We are surprised that the Armenian law enforcement agencies did not stop the participants in this gathering, who demonstrated their beliefs on camera in the presence of the media, raising their hands in a Nazi salute. It is regrettable that neither the Armenian authorities nor the human rights agencies responded properly.
We are convinced that it is necessary to nip any manifestations of Nazism in the bud and tirelessly fight against the falsification of history. Almost 80 years ago, Russians and Armenians, together with other peoples, ethnic and religious groups, won victory over fascism, fighting shoulder to shoulder during the Great Patriotic War.
These days, Armenia, together with other like-minded people, speaks at the UN General Assembly in support of the annual Russian resolution on the fight against the glorification of Nazism and neo-Nazism. We are aware of this strong stance of our friends, brothers in Armenia.
Preserving historical truth is an effective tool to prevent the revival of the brown plague, for the eradication of which such outstanding figures as Georgy Zhukov, Ivan Bagramyan, Alexander Vasilevsky, Ivan Isakov and many other glorious representatives of the peoples of Russia and Armenia fought shoulder to shoulder together with other peoples of the Soviet Union.
Question: Can the Foreign Ministry comment on Bloomberg’s article...
Maria Zakharova: This is something new. Tell me please, I just wonder, this is really something extraordinary to me, how can Reuters quote its rivals?
Question: Sometimes this happens.
Maria Zakharova: I sincerely wish that you quote yourself in the new year.
Question: Referring to a document of the US National Security Council, Bloomberg writes that the White House has allegedly approved the confiscation of Russian assets totalling $300 billion. What is the Foreign Ministry’s attitude to this publication?
Maria Zakharova: I think that Viktor Chernomyrdin’s unforgettable catchphrase is the best way to describe this situation. He once said: “This has never happened, and here it is again.” The theft of government, private and public property has become a trademark of the Anglo-Saxons.
We have commented on this issue many times before, but I can do it again. There is nothing new about
By attempting to acquire the seized Russian government property, the White House obviously wants to create a legal cover for the planned theft. I would like to emphasise once again that this has nothing to do with
The Americans are trying, partly through media influence, to encourage others, primarily the EU (where a substantial part of the Russian assets are located) to be the first to commit this illegal act, with all the ensuing inevitable negative economic, legal and moral consequences. In this context,
I would like to recall a historical example from a decade ago. After all, the European Union imposed anti-Russia sanctions following the unconstitutional coup in
It is worth mentioning that the eventual confiscation of our sovereign reserves is fraught with adverse consequences for the finances and investment of the states that will take such a step, despite warnings from sensible experts.
We were told that we would not be able to take response measures. But, as you can see, we are taking them. We were also told that sanctions to which
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also commented on this issue at a news conference following his visit to
Commenting on a similar issue, Finance Minister of Russia Anton Siluanov said that if such confiscation were to take place, we would retaliate by confiscating their assets in
I can confirm today once again that response measures will be taken. They will not go unnoticed and will be painful for those who continue to escalate this trade, economic and financial war against our country.
Question: My question is less topical, since we are talking about the
Maria Zakharova: We must understand the reason why these statements are made. They are being made after the failure of the Ukrainian campaign. I am not just talking about the counteroffensive but the failure of
We are responding to hybrid aggression, which was unleashed by the hands of NATO members led by the
Statements like this will continue to be made. Do not think this will go away. They need to escalate the situation around the
Question: A proposal has been submitted to the municipal council of the Bulgarian city of
Maria Zakharova: We are doing this work systematically. Often, an issue comes into focus only when problems arise. For many years, these problems were nonexistent and everyone thought that the preservation of historical memory would take care of itself. No, it won’t. It can only be preserved through an active effort.
For decades, Russian diplomats around the world (not just in
Archival work is carried out to search, systematise, and update information about burials and monuments. Restoration activities with regard to memorial complexes are carried out as well. First of all, this concerns
This work relied on bilateral legal agreements concluded with the EU countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Our embassies and consulates provide diplomatic support for investigating every act of vandalism, criminal negligence or fleeting political considerations regarding the monuments.
Everyone is paying attention to this now. For decades, many people, in our country too, were indifferent to what was happening. Russian diplomats, our compatriots abroad, non-profit organisations, military history society and the like fought an actual invisible war for our common historical truth and memory. Virtual monument maps are being created which include demolished monuments, so that people know where they were located.
This is a major effort for everyone including the public authorities at the Presidential level who have imparted a special dimension to this line of work all the way down to the volunteers, our compatriots abroad and caring people around the world, who work closely with Russian diplomats and public organisations.
Question: What are the prospects for resuming the grain deal or any other similar deal in 2024? Reportedly, Türkiye and the UN are working out optional routes for food delivery to different countries. According to the source,
Maria Zakharova: We have seen that the story of this grain deal (or Black Sea Initiative) was driven by a major PR campaign run by advertising agencies and public relations firms. Regardless of them being active or inactive, and regardless of the slogans or memes used in the process, Russia as one of the largest exporters of agricultural products and fertiliser has made and is making a significant contribution to global food security. We plan to continue to act accordingly.
Thanks in large part to Russian supplies, global grain prices (especially recently, also after the failure to renew the Black Sea Initiative) have not only remained stable, but even declined. This meets the interests of the countries in need. We have not been approached with any new proposals regarding food distribution.
I have to remind you that the
Under the cover of the maritime humanitarian initiative and the existing corridor, the
We continue consultations with the UN Secretariat on the illegal unilateral sanctions on agricultural and fertiliser distribution from
Washington and
Question: How might the authorities in other countries interfere with Russian citizens voting in the presidential election? After all, a Russian consulate is regarded as a
Maria Zakharova: The Russian presidential election will take place abroad. Currently, it is being decided in what form the ballot will be organised (with security issues factored in). We are working with all countries, including those on the Russian list of unfriendly regimes, to clarify a number of matters.
The unfriendly countries have placed obstacles impeding the work of our foreign missions for years. This did not start in 2022. Security is a problem. Extremist actions, rather than rallies or protests, are undertaken close to mission buildings. They break window-panes and throw Molotov cocktails at the premises. Telephone terrorism is rife as are psychological intimidation and attacks on staff members and their families. Moreover, all of this fails to arouse the relevant response from the authorities.
We have urged these countries, through diplomatic channels and in other ways, to take law enforcement and legislative measures rather than just provide political or information assessments. Regrettably, we see that this attitude towards Russian diplomats and diplomatic missions is, for the unfriendly regimes, part of their deliberate policy
What obstacles have the unfriendly countries placed in our way over the last two years? Many foreign diplomatic missions are unable to carry out financial transactions; their banking accounts are blocked or not serviced. All that could be invented, was used or tested, including in order to bring psychological pressure to bear on our diplomats. I can give you a long list of measures undertaken with regard to staff members at Russian foreign missions as well as steps that are not taken to prevent or punish actions of this sort.
We discuss these issues and demand a response. Certain countries (I am only referring to countries with unfriendly regimes) have given an answer. Many of them have failed to respond. Therefore, we have yet to state officially how and in what format we will organise the voting process abroad.
But we will organise it. I think the format will be clear before the end of this month. The Russian Foreign Ministry and foreign missions will pass this information on to the public.
It will also be possible to vote in countries other than those with unfriendly regimes. We will wait until inter-agency coordination is over. I believe we will release a statement on this before the end of the month.
Question:
Maria Zakharova: Latvian authorities announced that these measures will affect 1,167 people. They will be expelled in the near future as part of the repressive migration law implemented by
People have already been deprived of the right to a minimum set of social benefits and access to free medical care in
By the way, this is not a final figure. Already in the near future, the number of Russian citizens who failed to "legalise" in time, as they say in
I emphasise that our country's authorities have issued all relevant instructions to ensure that people who are segregated on ethnic grounds can receive all the necessary support in their ancestral homeland.
Question: You had a point in bringing up the 2011 events when the Western coalition invaded
Maria Zakharova: We have covered this today. The pseudo-action of the
Now, about the inner workings of it. Many will ask why
It is important for the
No one in the Arab world would buy that. Everyone is well aware of what exactly
Early on during the briefing, I talked about
Why would the
Second, they engaged in this practice using
It worked for the domestic audiences of the anti-Iraq coalition, but they are unable to pull it off this time. No one will believe them. No one will let them pass through a resolution and bring in a vial, an envelope or a bag with some junk that they will try to pass off as a proof. But they needed to get at least something for their domestic audiences. This is a method that they use all the time.
Question: A terrorist attack targeted
Maria Zakharova: First, I would like to reiterate our global approach:
Second, we believe that the conflict can be resolved exclusively through political and diplomatic means. We oppose any actions that lead to further escalation or the territorial expansion of the conflict.
Question: I have a question about Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s December 28, 2023 interview with Rossiya-24 television and Rossiya Segodnya Director General Dmitry Kiselev. His statement regarding the
And one more thing, the UN Charter gives any occupied nation the right to resist using any means at its disposal. Does
Maria Zakharova: Our support for the two-state approach in resolving the situation speaks for itself. This has never been in doubt, and it has a solid foundation.
We recognise this right, and we support this recognition with specific diplomatic, international law and international actions. I do not understand why we should discuss this issue yet again. It is not just an issue of how we see this situation in the context of justice, law and jurisprudence. Apart from the above, we formulate our approach in the context of the region’s future. No one has ever suggested any other solution that can help the region find a way out of this negative, frightening, lengthy and protracted conflict. Indeed, we see that there is no alternative to the two-state approach. We have tried everything. International parties have tried using force, as well as economic incentives. Is there anything else? We have tried ideological, psychological and informational approaches, but for decades, this has gotten us nowhere. Perhaps, we should try the approach that the Global Majority (let’s be honest) insists on. The Global Majority supports
Regarding Sergey Lavrov’s December 28, 2023 interview, I can only quote him, I see nothing here that raises any questions. We should simply use this response.
I will look at it again. Maybe, you can send me some points that might cause doubt, in the context of their translation or interpretation by other media outlets, so we can clarify the response. I would like to work with the sources that allegedly misinterpreted the interview. Please send me these passages, and I will see what we can do, so that the truth prevails.
Question: At the recent UN Security Council meeting,
Maria Zakharova: The first point. It has now been proved by documents who is to blame for the non-resumption of the talks. It is the Anglo-Saxons,
Under pressure from the
The second point. You asked whether the use of NATO weapons against civilians, specifically
Before that,
The problem is that they don’t consider human the population of
How can they “cancel” people and their culture if they consider them equal and free and recognise their right to have their own history and views? How can they demolish monuments to people who were on the right and even bright side of history? How can they conduct endless information campaigns against the vast multi-ethnic people of our country? They can do all this because they are guided by the racist logic of neocolonialism that has simply entered a new historical phase. This is the root of the problem. It is not in their failure to understand that these weapons are used against civilians. They just don’t consider them people.
You represent Chinese media. Their attitude to the Chinese is exactly the same. They are saying that
You will recall that the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell said that they (several Western countries) are “a garden” whereas the rest of the world is a “jungle” they must protect themselves from. There you have it. They don’t want to know that this “garden” thrives owing to the efforts of the rest of the world and the Global Majority that maintains this “wonderful garden” that has become a parasite on the body of other countries and peoples. Even less do they want to tell their own people about this.
Question: What is Russia’s position regarding South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel, filed with the International Court of Justice?
Maria Zakharova: We are outraged and saddened by the numerous civilian casualties during the current escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Russia believes it is unacceptable to direct violence against civilians and deliberately destroy medical facilities and other civilian infrastructure. Our country calls for strict compliance with international law, an immediate ceasefire in accordance with the decisions of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly, the opening of humanitarian corridors, the adoption of measures to eliminate the humanitarian catastrophe in the conflict zone, and the resumption of direct Palestinian-Israeli talks aimed at achieving a sustainable settlement based on the principle of two states living in peace and security. In this regard, we can understand the reasons for South Africa referring Israel to the International Court of Justice.
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted in 1948 in order to prevent the repetition of the Nazi regimes’ atrocities, is designed to protect humanity from the most terrible international crime. Charges of violating it are extremely serious.
Of course, Russia will closely monitor the progress of the proceedings, as well as the ICJ advisory opinion on the broader issue of the legal consequences of Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian territories.
We hope that the International Court of Justice, as the UN’s main judicial body, will demonstrate objectivity and impartiality. It is important that legal proceedings not aggravate the conflict, but promote a Palestinian-Israeli settlement on the generally recognised international legal basis.
Question: Russia is actively involved in international efforts to settle the conflict in the Gaza Strip but it continues. Does Moscow have any ideas, plans or options for stopping it?
Maria Zakharova: If you want to find out in such a veiled way if we have a magic wand, the answer is we don’t. This is a case when a solution is possible but requires a lot of hard and honest work. This is exactly what we are calling for.
The unprecedented escalation of The Palestine-Israeli conflict has confirmed the correctness of the Russian position according to which a consolidated response of the international community is required to counter urgent challenges and threats, including crises in different parts of the world. Importantly, it is necessary to form this consolidated response not according to some “rules” that nobody knows but on the foundation of international law.
International and regional efforts to end the war in Gaza fail to produce the desired effect because a number of external players are pursuing their own agenda. I wouldn’t even call it a “national agenda” because nobody asked the people of these countries anything.
Look what is happening with Yemen now. Who made these decisions in the US? The Americans themselves are wondering who asked whom what, considering the condition of US President Joseph Biden and the location of Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. Who consulted whom? Who came up with these decisions, where and how?
These are not national decisions by the countries that continuously interfered in the Middle East settlement process and at one moment simply removed all others from pursuing their individual agenda.
These are political games of a narrow group of elites. What is required is not rivalry but a creative synthesis of different constructive ideas on the foundation of international law.
Another lesson of the current crisis is that it’s impossible to achieve anything through sole mediation (I would call it dictating rather than mediating). No need to mention here the attempts to monopolise brokerage functions in the diplomatic process in the Middle East. All this has led the situation into the current disaster.
This scenario probably benefits some people. This question must be asked as well. Maybe this is exactly how some people in the White House, the Pentagon and the Department of State see the development of global processes. All this is taking place not inside and not on the borders of the US but outside it. The fact is that Israel is not only the closest ally but also a special country for the US. Could Washington be ready to cast into the furnace the people and the country of Israel out of its own distorted interpretation of geopolitical dominance? These questions are still awaiting answers.
Proceeding from this premise, the Foreign Ministry suggested holding in Moscow a series of consultations of key players to coordinate their positions on the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. We continue emphasising the need to create an effective mediation mechanism for a settlement in the Middle East, in which the states of the region would play a major role.
In this context, I would like to draw your attention to the December 31, 2023 interview by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency. He described in detail our position of principle on this issue.
We would also like to invite you to Mr Lavrov’s news conference on January 18. I think this issue will be among the most important.
Question: How do you assess the statement by Swedish Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin, who called on the country's citizens to “be prepared for war”?
Maria Zakharova: This statement shocked Swedish citizens themselves. They definitely did not expect this. I think that in the coming days they will probably say that this Swedish minister was “compromised” by Russian hackers. I wouldn’t rule it out.
The point is that you should answer for such words to your own population. One day, those countries that, unfortunately, have laid their immunity “at the feet” of US and NATO dictates, will have to explain to their own population where they have led their country: following the dictates, exhortations and false promises of those who are not part of this country or even region. That is the point.
I believe that this statement requires a reaction from Swedish society itself, which should demand an explanation from representatives of its government on this matter.
Question: Do you think the recent events in Poland, such as the prime minister’s impeachment and the arrest of two former high-ranking officials, are related to the deterioration of relations with Kiev? Are these actions a deliberate provocation against the current President of Poland to change the government to one more disposed to the Kiev authorities?
Maria Zakharova: All these events are a consequence of the acute internal political confrontation between the national conservative Law and Justice party and the liberal Civic Platform party.
I am not sure wether this has a direct connection with Ukraine. You can clearly see that all this has been developing within Poland as an internal political drama for many years.
I would like to correct you. This is not an impeachment, but a vote of no confidence or failure to receive a vote of confidence to form a cabinet of ministers after the parliamentary elections in Poland. This was predictable and expected given the election results, which were more successful for the opposition than for the ruling party.
As for the arrest of the former Interior Minister and coordinator of the Polish intelligence services Mariusz Kaminski and his deputy Maciej Wasik. I would like to remind you that this story began in 2015, when there was no Vladimir Zelensky, but there was already a dramatic situation in Ukraine. This was long before the current events. The court ruling was delivered then, almost 10 years ago. Now it has just come into force.
Question: News agencies quote Greek Public Television as reporting that the Russian Embassy in Athens has received an envelope with an unknown substance inside. You said earlier that the European countries have failed to guarantee safety and security of diplomatic missions. What is the response to this situation? Are the diplomats being evacuated? Have the police recorded this incident or started an investigation?
Maria Zakharva: This news arrived just now. We will comment on it after we study the circumstances.
In such cases, the host country is immediately notified via diplomatic channels in keeping with its obligations to receive another state’s diplomatic presence. A number of internal security measures are taken.
We will comment on this further as we learn more.
Question: The Western countries are doing all they can to dilute the Russian-introduced draft UN Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes. Can you tell us about the main provisions of the Russian draft? What is the convention’s top priority?
Maria Zakharova: The United States and its allies systematically obstruct Russia and its allies’ efforts to implement UN General Assembly Resolution 74/247, which prescribes to elaborate a comprehensive convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes. In 2019, they voted at the UN against the Russian idea to draft an agreement to this effect and have in every way impeded the work of the UN Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes (established at the initiative of Russia with the support and co-authorship of another 46 states) since it was created in 2022. Further evidence of this obstruction came to the surface at the December 2023 informal consultations in Vienna, which culminated a few days ago and showed the Americans as totally intractable.
You asked about the reasons, didn’t you? The Western countries are clinging to the 2001 Budapest Convention on Cybercrime of the Council of Europe that suits them but is harmful for the rest of the world because it allows unauthorised interference in the information space of sovereign states. This is why Washington and its satellites intend either to disrupt the convention’s coming into force or the implementation of commitments to be assumed under it in the future.
It is the Anglo-Saxons and Europeans who are countering the effort to direct the proposed document towards the fight against a wide range of cybercrimes, including those related to the diffusion of terrorist and extremist ideas, trafficking in narcotic drugs, weapons or illegal medications, etc. Instead, they are out to divert the negotiations into discussing matters of secondary importance, such as gender minority rights (their pet subject) or gender specifics (it is unclear what gender has to do with criminal justice, if all are equal under the law). They seem to believe that those representing the 47th to 95th gender are entitled to privileges under the law. Otherwise, there is no logic in their reasoning.
All this rubbish is presented in a chorus of 40 to 50 voices at the Ad Hoc Committee meetings. We are well aware that pressure is brought to bear on other delegations that adhere to a constructive position. Recalcitrant countries are blackmailed. The US deliberately withholds visas intended for Russian negotiators. We regret that Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee Faouzia Mebarki and her Secretariat in no way oppose the West’s destructive devices. Regretfully, this is reality at the United Nations today.
Our priority as the initiators of the negotiating process on the convention is to implement the UN General Assembly’s mandate and submit for approval as a comprehensive and effective document that will make it possible to fight a variety of criminals who pursue their illegal activities in the digital space. The future agreement should lay down universal standards and mechanisms of international criminal justice. Among other things, this is important from the point of view of pulling up digital underperformers that have fallen victim to the West’s technological neo-colonialism.
The Ad Hoc Committee will hold its final meeting in New York in late January. We intend to uphold Russia and its allies’ interests in a constructive, if firm, manner. Our allies are the majority of developing countries that are really interested in effective international cooperation between law enforcement agencies in the area of information and communications technologies.
Question: I have a personal question. I travelled around Poland, Slovakia and Austria for two weeks, and spoke to ordinary people. We encountered a different reality, a different attitude towards Ukraine and Russia. People are rethinking, discussing, raising acute issues, including the deaths of foreign citizens in Ukraine. They expressed different opinions. Let me share a couple of statements.
There was a 22-year-old Czech law student who was a sniper in a foreign legion and was killed in Ukraine. Here's what someone wrote:
- He died so that Mrs Zelensky could spend tens of thousands of euros daily in Parisian boutiques, using funds meant for aid to Ukraine. He died so that young Ukrainian heroes who fled Ukraine could come here to the Czech Republic and assault our citizens.... (Josef P.)
- Why should foreigners fight in Ukraine when the Ukrainians themselves have fled? They could create several divisions with their own people.
Some people express sympathy, while others, on the contrary, take pride in such deaths of foreigners. How does Russia view the deaths of foreign citizens in Ukraine?
Maria Zakharova: We regard everything you have listed as a tremendous tragedy, which was unleashed and caused by the reckless actions of the United States, Britain and their NATO underlings.
Regarding the recruitment of people abroad, all this is happening under the directions of the Kiev regime, in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the laws of many countries. Mercenaries are being recruited through Ukrainian embassies abroad. This has been going on for years, starting not in 2022, but in 2014. Moreover, all of this is being done under false pretexts of preserving democracy, among other things. There is and has never been any democracy in Ukraine. Instead, there was a project of the United States and NATO countries to create an “anti-Russia,” a bridgehead for inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.
After the start of the special military operation, the recruitment of foreign nationals and stateless persons by the Kiev authorities has been systematically commercialised. In essence, they are recruiting individuals from the poorest segments of the population worldwide into the ranks of the militants. The Zelensky regime has formed the International Defence Legion of Ukraine for this purpose.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, approximately 13,500 mercenaries from Europe, America, Asia and Africa have arrived in Ukraine since February 2022.
Ukraine's Western patrons are actively promoting this, promising all sorts of benefits, monetary incentives, and even granting citizenship of EU countries.
They are well aware that most of these mercenaries will not return. And those who do (they know this too, but they don’t tell anyone) will not be reintegrated into lawful society, but will immediately become involved in its “dark” side, joining criminal gangs around the world or becoming members of the EU mafia.
The weapons supplied to Ukraine are already surfacing all over the world. Who will get hold of these weapons as they flow through Ukraine to the Middle East and into the black markets of Europe? These are leftovers that will contribute to the emergence of new criminal elements in Europe and beyond.
From what we observe in the media and social networks, the Ukrainian commanders often send foreign mercenaries into the so-called “meat assaults.” They realise that they are facing certain death, but they send them there anyway. Hence the enormous losses among foreign mercenaries serving in the Ukrainian armed forces.
According to our Defence Ministry, over 5,800 foreign mercenaries have been killed since February 2022, and another 5,300 have left Ukraine after realising the grave risks they were exposed to.
I would like to strongly advise anyone considering joining the neo-Nazi reckless undertakings of the West in Ukraine not to do so.
These people will be of no use to anyone. Neither to those who recruit them, nor to those who talk about the supposed democracy in Ukraine. They will be used as slaves, as cannon fodder. The only future they will have is one among world criminals.
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