Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow, July 21, 2022
.JPG)
Table of contents
- Sergey Lavrov’s upcoming meeting with leaders of Russian NGOs focused on foreign polics
- Sergey Lavrov’s working trip to Africa
- Sergey Lavrov to attend SCO Foreign Ministers Council meeting
- Sergey Lavrov’s upcoming participation in Russia-ASEAN, EAS and ARF ministerial meetings
- Donbass and Ukraine update
- The publishing of minors’ personal data on the Myrotvorets website
- Actions by Ukrainian armed forces to undermine the security of the Zaporozhye NPP
- US administration’s statements on “Russia’s isolation”
- Russia put on the list of countries with a heightened risk of “wrongful detainment” faced by US citizens
- Update on Sri Lanka
- Possible suspension of the agreement between Russia and Latvia on simplifying cross-border procedures for the residents of neighbouring regions in Russia and Latvia
- Cultural forum during the cross-year of Russia-Egypt humanitarian cooperation
- International Intellectual Sports Festival Strong Figures
- Statements by Czech politicians
- Upcoming UNGA events
- Visas for Russian diplomats participating in events at UN venues
- Contacts with the United States on the Ukrainian issue
- Sri Lanka update
- Prospects for UN Security Council members’ summit
- Opening of Russian diplomatic missions in Donetsk and Lugansk
- Political crisis in Italy
- Statements by American politicians
- Roscosmos-NASA cooperation
- Seventh package of anti-Russia sanctions
Sergey Lavrov’s upcoming meeting with leaders of Russian NGOs focused on foreign policy
On July 22, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet with the heads of Russian non-profit organisations with a foreign policy focus, attendees of specialised training courses at the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund.
About 100 young representatives of the Russian non-profit sector from various regions of our country will take part in the event. The format of the meeting will include direct communication with the Minister, which should help the participants enrich their vision of the current state of affairs on the world stage and receive clarifications on subjects of interest.
Sergey Lavrov’s working trip to Africa
As Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said yesterday in an interview with Margarita Simonyan, from July 24 to 27, he will make working visits to Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda and the Republic of the Congo. We are working on the details of his trip. We will be sure to keep you posted.
Sergey Lavrov to attend SCO Foreign Ministers Council meeting On July 28-29, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Tashkent.
The foreign ministers will discuss the agenda for the upcoming meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council on September 15-16 in Samarkand, and consider the relevant draft documents and decisions for the meeting.
They will also exchange views on current issues on the international and regional agenda. A number of bilateral meetings are planned on the sidelines of the event.
Sergey Lavrov to attend SCO Foreign Ministers Council meeting
On July 28-29, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Tashkent.
The foreign ministers will discuss the agenda for the upcoming meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council on September 15-16 in Samarkand, and consider the relevant draft documents and decisions for the meeting.
They will also exchange views on current issues on the international and regional agenda. A number of bilateral meetings are planned on the sidelines of the event.
Sergey Lavrov’s upcoming participation in Russia-ASEAN, EAS and ARF ministerial meetings
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the ministerial meetings in the Russia - Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) formats to be held in Phnom Penh on August 4-5.
ASEAN is one of Russia’s most important strategic partners, so we traditionally pay special attention to the ASEAN events. We focus our efforts on strengthening the security and cooperation architecture that has taken shape in the Asia-Pacific Region (APR), maintaining ASEAN’s centrality in the Asia-Pacific Region’s affairs, and improving the practical results of the activities of the regional associations that were formed under its auspices, primarily the EAS and the ARF.
We look forward to a candid and engaged conversation with the ASEAN foreign ministers on the entire range of dialogue partnership issues in light of the decisions adopted at last year’s Russia-ASEAN summit. An emphasis will be placed on specific and mutually beneficial steps in the security, trade, economic, sociocultural and humanitarian spheres. Much attention will be paid to fighting terrorism and transnational crime, post-pandemic recovery, digitalisation of the economy, and public health. The intermediate results of the ongoing Year of Russia-ASEAN Science and Technology Cooperation will be reviewed, the programme of which includes events in various areas, including the peaceful use of nuclear power, medical, digital, energy and other high-tech industries.
Based on the fact that the ASEAN members are interested in promoting cross-platform interaction as part of the integration processes that are unfolding within greater Eurasia, it is planned to focus on further expanding ASEAN’s ties with the Eurasian Economic Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, taking into account the results of the SCO Foreign Ministers Council meeting in Tashkent on July 29, which will also highlight this issue.
The EAS meeting agenda will focus on preparation for and the contents of the 17th East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh to be held in November, including the adoption of a roadmap for EAS activities in 2023-2027. Russia’s initiatives in healthcare, tourism and volunteering are at various stages of development and implementation. During the exchange of views on pressing international and regional issues, we will focus on the risks of the aggravated military-political situation in the Asia-Pacific region and NATO’s plans to gain a foothold in the Asian region based on restricted bloc structures created by the United States and its allies. Maintaining the stability of the ASEAN-centric system of interstate relations amid the West’s attempts to replace it with a network of minilateral Indo-Pacific structures aimed at serving the geopolitical and economic interests of a narrow group of like-minded partners needs special attention.
The main goal of the session of the ASEAN Regional Forum on security is to preserve the forum as a platform for constructive non-politicised cooperation on matters that are of concern to the regional community, which runs counter to the plans entertained by the Association’s Western partners to turn it into another arena for geopolitical confrontation. They did so wherever they could without getting a proper rebuff. The results of indoctrination of practical platforms for interaction are sad and destructive. This replaces applied efforts on key issues of interest to countries and peoples. Today, effective rather than ideology-driven activities are in particular demand. The latter does not meet the interests of ASEAN, or Russia, or other Asian members of this association. Based on this understanding, we hope it will be possible to adopt the ARF work programme for the coming year as well as important theme-specific statements. One of Russia’s priorities in the ASEAN Regional Forum on security is to counter new threats and challenges, in particular, ensuring the security of the use of information and communication technologies. Our country has come up with a number of practical initiatives on this issue.
Several days ago, we marked the eighth anniversary of a ruthless bombardment of Lugansk by the Ukrainian army. On July 17-19, 2014, the attacks, which continued for three days, killed 49 people and injured more than 150. Today, the capital of the Lugansk People’s Republic and other local communities are safer than before. This became possible following the liberation of the republic’s territory from pro-Bandera neo-Nazis. Although they are trying to take revenge, for example, with the recent attack on a trolleybus and bus maintenance facility in Alchevsk that involved a US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), peaceful life is steadily reasserting itself. We are convinced that, in the near future, the allied forces will also completely cleanse the Donetsk People’s Republic of neo-Nazis.
In its furious hatred, the Kiev regime continues to terrorise Donbass and to issue criminal orders to hit civilian infrastructure facilities and residential areas. It strives to kill as many people as possible and to inflict the maximum possible damage. Armed Ukrainian units are using large-calibre mortars, heavy artillery systems and MLRSs from NATO countries. This is how they treat the people they have called their citizens and how they treat the territory they have considered their own all these years.
Over the past seven days, Donetsk and its suburbs have once again suffered from their attacks. Rocket projectiles hit Yasinovataya and littered all its streets with anti-personnel mines. Why do leading Western and NATO media outlets fail to show these photos and videos? Why are they not shouting about the need for an investigation? Why are the top US television channels failing to broadcast reports and to ask the US administration, how much longer will it cover up for and support the Kiev regime (including through the delivery of weapons) that is killing civilians and destroying infrastructure? Where are all these shouts? Or are they dividing people into those who are right and those who are wrong yet again and into those who deserve to live and those who can only live as slaves? I am telling foreign, not Russian, audiences that Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson Region is again among the communities affected. This time, under attack were the locks at a hydropower station and Andreyevsky Bridge spanning the Dnieper River. Why are human rights activists and those concerned about the civilian infrastructure keeping silent? Where are the environmentalists who have speculated on the situation in Ukraine for so long? Why are they not making themselves heard? Are these attacks different, or are attacks involving US weaponry a priori correct and legitimate?
Ukrainian neo-Nazis use Western weapons to kill civilians and commit war crimes. The data on the killed children looks absolutely terrifying. This topic is now actively exploited by the Kiev authorities, which are engaged in the substitution of concepts, provocations, and staged incidents. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov wrote about this in his article in the Izvestiya newspaper. No one who has not visited the region or not monitored the situation over the years knows what is happening with the children. Since 2014, more than 150 children have been killed in the DPR and LPR, and 40 more since February 2022. In Donetsk, a memorial to the dead children, The Alley of Angels, was opened, where 58 commemorative plates inscribed with children’s names and very short years of life were installed.
The military and political leadership of Ukraine is trying to convince its Western curators that it is necessary to step up military deliveries, primarily modern offensive weapons. Kiev hopes to use them to “win on the battlefield” and return its lost territories. Can you imagine what will be done to the Alley of Angels if it ends up in the hands of the Kiev authorities? They demolish monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. They remove memorial plaques to Georgy Zhukov, who liberated their lands from Nazism, established a peaceful life there, and fought banditry. They dig mass graves for civilians without installing new memorial plaques, assuming that no one will find them. They will begin by razing the monuments to children. This will be done by those who now say that they are concerned about the fate of children. There is no doubt about it. But they won’t be allowed to do it. They know it, and that makes them furious.
We have noted the statements by Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Valery Gavrilov on Kiev’s plans to “destroy Russia’s Black Sea fleet and de-occupy Crimea”, as well as statements by Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Alexey Danilov about the intention to use long-range missiles received from the United States for the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system to hit Russian territory, including the Crimean Peninsula. The statements by Dmitry Kuleba, Foreign Minister of Ukraine, are no less odious and aggressive: he continues to dream an impossible dream of a military defeat for Russia and rejects even the hypothetical possibility of peace negotiations. The same goes for Minister of Defence Alexey Reznikov, who openly admitted that Ukraine is a testing ground, and invited foreign arms manufacturers “to test their weapons in real combat conditions against the Russian army.” Does the defence minister of the Kiev regime have no idea that it is Ukrainians who are fighting in the Armed Forces of Ukraine? The very people that Vladimir Zelensky talks about every day. After all, these weapons will be tested on them. They will become guinea pigs on whom weapons from NATO countries, primarily the United States, will be tested. What are you doing to your own people? You have destroyed Ukrainian statehood, and now you are destroying the people. In order to do this, you need more and more weapons. The question is not even about Russia.
All this aggressive rhetoric is designed exclusively for the Western audience. This is the implementation of the assignments given by the collective West to these figures, led by Vladimir Zelensky. All this was timed to the fourth Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting, held via videoconference, by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on July 20 in the Ramstein format. Everything is telltale in this story. There is nothing in it that is not symbolic. The US Defence Secretary is in charge of the contact group on military aid to Ukraine. What is that about? What kind of independence and sovereignty are they talking about?
Ukraine’s military ambitions continue to be well understood in the United States. There is a different chain in this case. Washington gives assignments to the Kiev regime on how to develop its military-political activities. It is engaged in hostilities as well, like London, using the Ukrainian leaders as a proxy. The United States has spent $7.3 billion on military aid for Ukrainian units since the start of the special military operation and is not planning to let up. The European Union is not far behind its overseas ally. It is possible to talk at length about the pressure exerted on Brussels and the inconvenient position it has been put in, but let them figure out where they stand themselves. It remains a fact that they joined this aggressive Anglo-Saxon policy. Recently, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell (I don’t know whom he represents but certainly not the people of the EU) reported on Brussels’ decision to grant Kiev another consignment of military aid worth 500 million euros. This is a surprising story. First, he declares that victory can only be won on the battlefield. Then he decides to grant more military aid to the Kiev regime. At the same time, in passing, he mentions Moscow’s reluctance to conduct talks. What talks does he have in mind if all of them (Washington, London and Brussels) agree that the situation can only be resolved through a victory on the battlefield. They should make up their minds and decide what they want and where they are headed.
All this is taking place against the backdrop of reports by the Ukrainian and Western press on the subsequent smuggling of arms sent to Ukraine via Darknet and other channels. These weapons are saturating the black markets that are actively used by extremist and terrorist groups all over the world. NATO and the EU are well aware of this situation. This is evident from their attempts to create some oversight mechanisms and compel Kiev to report on the targeted use of the supplied weapons. This is ridiculous. In the past few decades, they have failed to establish control over corruption in Ukraine. Washington and Brussels issued countless reports on this problem. Importantly, this is Western money. They pumped it into Ukraine and then told Kiev about their inability to defeat corruption. Do the Westerners believe that now they will be able to control the supply of arms and ammunition or expenses on personnel training for Ukraine’s armed forces? No. For many years, they have not controlled anything on Ukrainian territory. All they could do was put their own people into the needed positions. Everyone saw how the political, economic, financial and lawmaking processes took place. Now the situation will repeat itself. The West will demand that Kiev fulfil its commitments but in reality arms and military hardware will be moving to the West via black markets. What will happen next? Watch a couple of action-thrillers and you will find out.
Despite help from the West, the position of the Ukrainian armed units in the combat zone is declining every day. Political infighting is intensifying in Kiev; the authorities have ratcheted up their war against dissent (earlier they closed almost all media outlets, leaving a single mouthpiece for the dissemination of “the right” news), tightened censorship (although the scene has been mopped up: many journalists have been killed, arrested or silenced by threatening their lives) and has entirely eliminated any opposition.
Last week, the court of appeals denied the Opposition Platform - For Life party a review of an earlier decision outlawing it. The communist and socialist parties have been outlawed as well. This is the strongest example of the export of democracy in the Western manner. In fact, what happened to Ukraine is what usually happens. A plan had been devised – relying strongly on Cold War ideology and mentality – to transform Ukraine – in a couple of years, through a “turbo process” – into a Western-oriented, NATO-centric country, professing liberalism in all its manifestations – the way Westerners understand it. And everything will be fine.
But this could not happen, exactly because of the basic postulates of today’s liberal thinking in the West. No “turbo mode,” as we know from great books, could ever make your foot smaller or your heart bigger. The Western concept has failed once again. The export theory proved untenable. The price to pay is huge: a destroyed country, ruined lives, generations tormented and jaded by the regimes endlessly replaced by the West, politicians who have all the passports, residence permits, extended visas on their hands, who no longer know which state they serve, but are beyond the scope of the true service to their Fatherland.
Ukraine is increasingly applying its laws on “collaborationism.” It culminated in the dismissal of the Prosecutor General, the head of the SBU and the heads of a number of its regional divisions. A new personnel cleansing has been announced (that’s what it should be called). It is not motivated by promoting economic growth, financial sector reform, or new projects in industry, production, or education. The ruling party, Servant of the People, has embarked on an overt witch-hunt for “enemies of the people” in its own ranks, and the punishing of “traitors.” All of them are charged with “collaborating with Russia.” Can you guess the numbers? How many people are we talking about? Can there be tens of millions helping Russia?
At this new stage of forced Ukrainisation, new fines were established, effective July 16, 2022, for civil servants violating the scandalous state language law. This is beyond the absurd. Several malicious violators were identified days after the section’s enactment, including Vladimir Zelensky himself, eight heads of regional military-civilian administrations and many local government officials. If Kiev introduces an additional fine for using Russian expletives, everyone can be jailed there. (Mr Zelensky, take note. This could be a convenient scheme for repression. One curse word in Russian – and that’s that, a Russian spy caught. Don’t thank me.)
What’s happening today in Ukraine once again confirms the importance of the expeditious achievement of its demilitarisation and denazification, and the eradication of threats to the republics of Donbass and to Russia. As the Russian leadership said, all the goals of the special military operation will be fulfilled for certain.
The publishing of minors’ personal data on the Myrotvorets website
The war unleashed by Kiev in 2014 against the people of Donbass had the most severe impact on children. We have brought this up regularly.
Many times and at various levels (both in Moscow and through our foreign missions, including Russia’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York), we have noted the infamous website Myrotvorets, which, according to its creators, is a “paragon of democracy.” The Kiev regime takes pride in this portal. In fact, it is a disaster for a country that has declared itself a democracy. Everyone knows that this website posts the personal data of politicians, public figures and media representatives who are disloyal to the authorities, as well as foreign citizens who are accused of “subversive anti-Ukraine activity.” Let me remind you that the people included in this database automatically become potential targets for reprisals by the local special services and aggressive actions by national radicals. Among others, children, about whom the Kiev regime “cares” so much, were declared “enemies of Ukraine.”
In October 2021, the personal data of a schoolgirl from Lugansk, Faina Savenkova, were posted on the Myrotvorets website. She was included on the list because on the eve of Children’s Day, the girl recorded an open appeal to the UN with a request to not forget about the children of Donbass. Faina and her family immediately began to receive threats. Russia’s UN mission asked the UN Secretary-General for assistance in having the child’s personal data removed from the website run by Ukrainian neo-Nazis in order to protect her. Unfortunately, in vain. No action was taken by the UN Secretariat, perhaps because Faina Savenkova is not a Hollywood star who deserves a special welcome at the headquarters, media or beautiful photo ops with the Secretariat’s staff. She is just a girl from a generation that the Kiev regime has been abusing all these years. Faina dared to speak to the international community. I have a question for the UN Secretariat: “Is this about segregation again?”
A girl like Greta Thunberg has all the doors of the UN headquarters open to her, including the door to the office of the Secretary-General, with whom she can take pictures and hold news conferences. The UN’s official social media accounts post her photographs, and international conferences and symposiums are held for her sake. All of that has been going on for many years now.
Then, there’s a girl who screams across the ocean that she and children like her are being killed. She probably doesn’t know much about the environment. This is understandable, because she is a child, but Faina knows life, and now death. Does she not deserve attention? Is she unworthy of having her pleas posted on the UN website, being invited to at least some unofficial event dedicated to the situation in Ukraine, being mentioned in a bulletin sponsored by the UN? No? Is this the wrong child this time again? How far will you go?
Meanwhile, the situation is getting worse. Russian NGOs have found that the website has posted the personal details of at least 327 minors, a fact that poses a real threat to their lives. This information was also forwarded to the UN Secretary General. What else needs to be done? When will this segregation end? When will they stop dividing children into right and wrong? They are children after all.
After we failed to receive a response from the UN, we decided to act on our own. We hope that our appeal, including to UN information services (this is a direct appeal to them), will not be ignored, as has been the case.
A news conference on the topic, “The Myrotvorets website is a threat to the life and health of minor children,” in which 13-year-old Faina Savenkova will take part, will be held at Rossiya Segodnya’s press centre at 1 pm today. Maybe, the UN Secretariat will pay attention to what this child has to say, become interested in this, make a repost, post photos and a couple of quotes in Russian, English, French and the other official UN and working languages. Rossiya Segodnya will share this information. The life of children who want to be heard is at stake, since their parents are not being heard.
I do not recommend, but rather I’m asking Russian and foreign media to participate in this event and get information about what is happening directly from the participant in the events, not through hearsay or from the showman named Zelensky, but from someone who lives there and has been suffering for many years now. Indeed, she is not an “expert” who writes or speaks in line with the “manuals” drafted in the depths of NATO or the EU, etc. She is just a child who will talk. You can just listen to what Faina has to say.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child enshrines the rights of children to life and development, access to housing, healthcare and education, as well as to protection from all forms of violence. Children are entitled to special care and help.
It’s strange that I have to issue such reminders. Russia is helping the children of Donbass exercise these rights. Since the beginning of the special military operation, about 2.5 million people, of whom almost 400,000 are children, have been evacuated to the Russian Federation from the dangerous regions of Ukraine, the DPR and the LPR. As a reminder, these people came to our country not just voluntarily, but in search of protection. They fled to where they could find protection. We are being blamed for that as well. A number of “civilised” countries have included Commissioner for Children’s Rights under the President of the Russian Federation Maria Lvova-Belova on the “sanctions” list. Here is the answer to your question of who really cares about children and how.
Actions by Ukrainian armed forces to undermine the security of the Zaporozhye NPP
Ukraine continues provocations aimed at creating threats to nuclear facilities.
On July 18 of this year, the armed forces of Ukraine attacked the area around the Zaporozhye NPP with a drone. The attack was carried out in the direct vicinity of critical nuclear facilities – the spent nuclear fuel storage pool and the reactor-cooling tower. By sheer luck, this attack did not damage the NPP’s equipment and did not lead to a technogenic disaster. Ukrainian drones repeated this attack on the NPP on July 20. This confirms that the Ukrainian authorities want to create conditions for a nuclear cataclysm not only on their territory but also in all of Europe.
The world has been through a lot. We realize that this will not remain a local problem. Responsibility for the potential consequences of this action by Kiev rests with both Ukraine and the states that are rendering military support to the criminal regime of Vladimir Zelensky. Those guilty of these and other crimes of the Kiev regime must be identified and duly punished.
We addressed the IAEA Secretariat in connection with these incidents and look forward to an appropriate response.
US administration’s statements on “Russia’s isolation”
In the past few days, American officials have been trying, as if on command, to persuade everybody, primarily themselves and their domestic audience that Russia is “completely isolated” and “separated” from the rest of the world.
Apparently, they consider themselves “the rest of the world.” Meanwhile, this is not isolation but self-isolation by Washington, Brussels and London. If they believe that “the rest of the world” is limited to them, this is either a mistake caused by the ignorance of geography (typical of Westerners in general) or the absence of real thinking. It is possible to find a video on the internet of former US Secretary of State John Kerry asking a rhetorical question at a UN Security Council session. He noted that he did not understand in what reality he was. This is typical for the White House and the entire current US state apparatus.
Against the backdrop of failed foreign policy, the Joseph Biden administration is replacing reality with a comforting but illusory picture of their own grandeur. Strange verbose speeches and statements on the West’s “unprecedented unity” cover up the impotence and incompetence of US pseudo-hegemony that is falling apart before everyone’s eyes.
Naturally, US satellites are ready to support any venture by Washington. This is not a secret and has never been hidden. The allies openly stated their willingness to delegate a considerable part of their foreign and domestic policy and sovereignty to military-political alliances. They said this long ago without realizing what destructive consequences it would have for them.
Nevertheless, if we look at the real situation we see that the majority of states in the world are not supporting anti-Russia sanctions and want to maintain normal relations with our country. They adhere to this line not because of their antipathy or sympathy or a desire to catch fish in the muddy waters of the world’s elements but based on pragmatism and responsible behaviour.
We have seen many ventures and even more destruction by the West, but it has never evinced any striving to analyse its mistakes or restore what it has destroyed. In this context, most states are trying to preserve what they have amassed throughout the decades and centuries in security, economic stability and resistance to new challenges and threats.
Today’s reality is a multi-polar world. Moscow has been saying this for over 20 years now. Together with its BRICS partners, Russia embodies an attractive alternative to the notorious Western world order based on contrived “rules” that nobody understands and that have never been clearly expressed.
I would like to recall that against the backdrop of the ambiguous – putting it mildly – visit by US President Joseph Biden to the Middle East, Russia, Türkiye and Iran have just successfully completed their productive trilateral summit. This autumn, Russian leaders are planning intensive foreign trips that are determined by an awareness of current realities rather than the illusions that are harboured by Washington.
The White House has not succeeded and will not succeed in “cancelling Russia.” America cannot defeat us, destroy our economy or put us on our knees. This is beyond its power. This explains its malicious rhetoric mixed with offense and despair that things are going badly. The ruling regime in Washington is trying to improve things but is merely making a bad situation worse.
This is a good example of the idiom “to shoot oneself in the foot.” We advise those masterminds in the US who came up with this idea to include the US in the list of countries with a heightened risk of wrongful detainment faced by any nationals, as we see it practically on a daily basis.
The decision of the Biden administration to add Russia to the list of countries where US citizens allegedly face a risk of “wrongful detention” is politically motivated, biased and illegitimate.
We view it as yet another attempt to present the case as if the Americans who are held in custody in Russia were detained unreasonably and are all but victims of “arbitrariness” of the Russian authorities. If drugs are legalised in some US states, the entire country will soon be addicted. It does not mean that other countries are following the same path. That’s the problem. If a US citizen was arrested for smuggling drugs (she herself does not deny that), it must be commensurate with Russian laws, not those adopted in San Francisco, New York or Washington, D.C.
All Americans under investigation or serving their sentence in this category have been detained for a reason. Washington is trying to exert political pressure on Moscow with loud lamentations and theatrical complaints about “wrongfully detained” compatriots. This tactic will not work, as we have repeatedly said.
Regarding specific people who are serving a sentence in the US and Russia respectively, the issues should be resolved in a calm, professional atmosphere via established channels. Washington is well aware of this. Obviously, such pantomime activity is meant to give Americans the impression that some sort of work is being done and efforts are being taken to ensure the rights of US nationals. This is wrong, they are not. In fact, they do not take care of their compatriots.
After the public protests in the capital of Sri Lanka on July 9-15, 2022, the situation there is gradually returning to normal. The local authorities are maintaining public order and are taking measures to restore uninterrupted electricity supply to the city. At the same time there are dire shortages of motor fuel and some essential goods across the country. On July 18, the state of emergency in the country was extended again.
On July 20, following the resignation of President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the national parliament held a vote to elect a new president. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the former prime minister, won the election. In keeping with the country’s Constitution, he will remain in office until the next national presidential election scheduled for late 2024.
We are ready to cooperate with the new Sri Lankan leaders. We hope this friendly country will recover from the economic crisis within a short timeframe.
The Foreign Ministry is closely monitoring the signals from Latvia regarding its intention to suspend the Agreement Between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Latvia on Simplifying Cross-Border Procedures for the Residents of Neighbouring Regions in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Latvia, which was signed in 2010.
As of July 20, Russia has not been officially advised of any such intentions by the Latvian authorities, as is provided for in Article 9, Para. 2 of the Agreement.
It is Latvians who benefit from this Agreement the most. Let us look at the statistics. From 2013 through 2019, Latvian citizens obtained over 16,000 permits to cross the border locally while only slightly over 200 permits were issued to Russians over the same period. Who benefits more from this agreement?
In this context, we believe the decision by the Latvian authorities to suspend the Agreement will primarily affect their own citizens and will hardly have a serious impact on the overall number of mutual trips, which since 2020 have become notably less frequent as it is. Given the current developments, there is nothing to indicate that the number of trips might return to the previous level.
Cultural forum during the cross-year of Russia-Egypt humanitarian cooperation
Against the backdrop of collective West’s attempts to cancel Russian culture, Russia is prepared for constructive cultural and humanitarian cooperation with foreign countries.
On July 16-17, 2022, Cairo hosted a cultural forum during the cross-year of Russia-Egypt humanitarian cooperation, with the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture and the Foreign Ministry. The Khokhloma Song and Dance Ensemble performed on the stage of the Russian House, and the Russian Ethnography Museum opened an exhibition called Treasure Chest of Gems: Traditional Russian Jewellery. Those attending plenary meetings focused on museum, educational and youth exchanges, including plans to open branches of Russian universities in Egypt, as well as Russian language studies and expanded contacts under the Volunteers of Victory project in Egypt.
They summed up the results of a packed programme of the year of Russia-Egypt humanitarian cooperation, the first such event in the history of bilateral relations. In all, the participants organised over 100 dazzling and spectacular events, including exhibitions, concerts, forums and academic conferences. Their successful implementation underscores the high level of Russia-Egypt interaction, including cultural and humanitarian collaboration.
International Intellectual Sports Festival Strong Figures
Russia consistently advocates the development of depoliticised international sports cooperation, an important element of bringing states and nations closer together and strengthening mutual understanding.
On July 24, the Moscow Country Club in the Moscow Region will host a charitable golf tournament with the assistance of the Foreign Ministry. It will become part of the International Intellectual Sports Festival Strong Figures.
The Russian national team will take on the world team. The match is to involve famous state officials and public activists, Russian and foreign athletes, as well as representatives of business circles and diplomatic missions. We are expecting our colleagues from the embassies of Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe, India, Kenya and other states to take part.
State Duma deputies Alexander Zhukov, Svetlana Zhurova, Ayrat Farrakhov, festival organiser Yevgeny Kovtun, three-time Russian golf champion Yekaterina Malakhova and other famous state officials and businesspersons will play for the Russian team. The world team will include well-known athletes and Olympic medallists, such as Zarakh Imbal from India and Vadim Devyatovsky from Belarus. There will be 28 golf players per team.
In addition, guests and event participants will take part in a curling-golf competition, and grandmaster Sergey Karyakin will conduct a simultaneous display.
For more details, go to the website.
Maria Zakharova: We have long been aware of that Russophobic, anti-Russia concept proposed in the West. We’ve seen many of its manifestations, including local, large-scale, long-term and short-term ones. We’ve seen it take place in sports, culture, visas and logistics.
It has even infiltrated the anti-Covid sphere. Russia, which was the first country in the world to create a Covid vaccine, proposed broad-based international cooperation to study, produce, market and exchange vaccines and to include them in humanitarian aid. Do you remember the result? It all ended with the increased efforts of our Russophobic “well-wishers” to block the registration and international certification of the Russian vaccine. They launched a black PR and subversion campaign against our activities in that sphere. We remember this very well.
Initially, they didn’t speak publicly about a common concept. But today they claim that resisting Russia in all spheres should be formalised in a doctrine as an absolute standard.
We saw this even before February 2022, when our athletes and Russian-speaking and non-mainstream journalists were harassed, and our citizens were abducted. They tried to put spokes in our wheels in absolutely all spheres.
This is not the first time that we see some European politicians make use of this subject to throw EU-Russia relations into a deeper crisis and to facilitate the self-isolation of the West from the rest of the world.
This time the banner has been taken up by Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, who has decided to use his country’s presidency of the EU Council, which began on July 1, 2022, to call for revising the principles underlying EU-Russia relations and bilateral agreements, including the visa facilitation agreement.
Don’t they want to reconsider our energy agreements? Does he think we should revise our gas, fertiliser and food agreements? He thinks they should be left intact, correct? It is an absolutely barbaric approach to humanitarian values.
I would like to note that EU-Russia relations have also been restricted earlier by the Ukraine-centric principles of Federica Mogherini, former High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the three unfriendly principles her department formulated: “push back, constrain and engage.” Even a child will see that those who are pushed back and constrained will not be able to engage. The EU has always rejected the 10 OSCE principles set out in the Helsinki Dialogue in 1975, including respect for the rights inherent in sovereignty, sovereign equality and non-intervention in internal affairs, although all EU countries promoted them at that time and Russia proposed various ways of implementing them. The focus of the Strategic Compass, a new military-political doctrine approved by the EU in March 2022, has been irrevocably moved towards confrontation.
Their latest objective is to dismantle the legal framework of relations with Russia. After the EU suspended the visa facilitation agreement, the European Commission published an explanation in which it calls for a biased approach to any visa applications from Russian citizens. Several EU states have suspended the processing of visa applications from Russians. We can only define this as restriction on the freedom of movement and visa discrimination on the basis of national origin.
The Brussels’ dead-end policy of self-isolation from Russia and the rest of the world is only deepening the dividing lines some forces are creating in Europe. This hardly meets the vital interests of people in EU countries and human contacts with Russian citizens, which are being artificially hindered.
The question arises if the EU and EU bureaucrats are capable of strategic thinking. The Brussels’ strategic documents, concepts and doctrines, which I have mentioned just now, show that they are not analysing the situation. Can the EU and those who are governing it look beyond the horizon and think about ensuring security on our common European continent? Their answer to this question will show if the EU can become a responsible global player and an independent centre of power in the multipolar world, or it will continue to bring up the rear of the Anglo-Saxon duet.
Maria Zakharova: The head of the Russian delegation and its members are endorsed by the national leadership. They are working on this at present.
Maria Zakharova: In brief, the situation is disgusting.
The US authorities continue abusing their position as the country that hosts the UN headquarters. They are manipulating the issuance of entry visas to official Russian representatives that need to go to New York to participate in UN events. This concerns others besides Russian staff.
Contrary to its commitments, the US authorities are denying visas to the heads and members of Russian delegations, making references to the provisions of national legislation, including those linked with “spying” or “subversion.” Sometimes they deliberately delay visa processing to prevent Russian delegates, including ministers and department heads from going to important UN events.
I am ready to cite some examples to make it more convincing. The latest outrageous example is the discrimination against head of the Russian delegation Andrey Krutskikh who was going to attend a session of the UN Open-Ended Working Group on international information security on July 25-29. He is a Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cooperation in Information Security and the Director of the Foreign Ministry Department of International Information Security. He was one of the founders of this direction in our department. The US Department of State said they cannot issue a visa for him as a matter of principle. Apparently, this is a new standard in the US foreign policy service.
Thus, Washington is openly demonstrating its neglect for international legal acts, including the 1947 agreement on the location of the UN Headquarters on American territory. Under this agreement, the United States is obliged to ensure unimpeded activities of the diplomatic missions accredited at the UN. So, they are imposing their “rules” on us to make our work in the UN as difficult as possible.
We consider this behaviour completely unacceptable. These American manipulations will certainly receive the appropriate response.
In this case, the UN Secretariat must take the relevant actions.
Maria Zakharova: There are no official Russian-US contacts on Ukraine. Of course, our embassies in Moscow and Washington discuss technical issues. What explains the current situation? The reason is obvious – the destructive policy of the Joseph Biden administration that has announced its aim of defeating Russia in Ukraine. The US administration does not allow its mentees in Kiev to even think about talks with us, apparently compelling them to fight to the last Ukrainian. The United States will have to accept the reality on the ground, but it makes no sense for it to do this right now. We are proceeding from the specific actions and statements made by the US in this context.
Maria Zakharova: I briefly touched upon this subject in the introductory part today.
More specifically, Sri Lanka is Russia's long-standing partner in South Asia. Our relations with that country rely on a solid foundation of equality, mutual respect and consideration of each other's interests. We interact at various international platforms, which is facilitated by the proximity of our respective approaches to the main issues on today’s agenda. In the long run, we can see significant potential for building up bilateral trade. Understandably, its full potential can only be reached after the Sri Lankan economy recovers from its current crisis.
As I have already said today, Sri Lanka is going through a change of political leadership; a new government is going to be formed. Accordingly, it will have the authority to determine the areas in which the country needs external assistance, support, etc. As to the formats, volumes and other conditions of potential assistance, Colombo can discuss them in a dialogue with its foreign partners, including Moscow. Let me repeat once again – this is a question for the leadership of Sri Lanka.
Maria Zakharova: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov regularly speaks publicly on these topics. The article had to do with specific ways of conducting international affairs with Western countries.
Russia has always advocated efforts to find political, diplomatic and negotiation-based solutions to any disagreements between the world's leading countries, primarily in crises.
In January 2020, President Vladimir Putin called for a serious discussion, between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, of the principles of interaction in international affairs and ways to resolve the most pressing problems facing humanity, ways to preserve peace, strengthen global and regional security, and strategic stability.
After some time, official messages were sent to the leaders of China, the United States, France and the United Kingdom, which included the proposal to hold a summit. In January 2021, in a telephone conversation with the president of Russia, the US president confirmed their interest in this initiative. The matter was repeatedly raised later at various levels; however, under various pretexts, the issue was always postponed.
At the beginning of this year, when we received refusals from Washington and from NATO to discuss Russian proposals concerning security guarantees, it became clear that our Western colleagues had chosen the path of confrontation and conflict instead of dialogue. And this is happening at a time when dialogue between the world's leading powers is critical. But it was their choice. For many years, we have repeatedly proved in various formats that we can negotiate on the most complex issues and we know how to do it professionally. We have always assumed that this principle is inherent in international law and that it must be adhered to. Of course, given this attitude of our Western partners, we cannot see any possibility of convening a summit of the five.
Still, as diplomats say, the proposal is not off the table. Perhaps, when the West comes to its senses, we can still return to it. At this stage, this is a purely hypothetical question.
Question: Are Russia's diplomatic missions in Donetsk and Lugansk open?
Maria Zakharova: There are plans to open them; we are working on it. Currently, political interaction is carried out through the ambassadors of the LPR and the DPR, who are already working in Moscow.
Question: Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has tended his resignation this morning…
Maria Zakharova: What does this have to do with Russia? It would be one thing if such allegations were made by experts, journalists and bloggers, but we have heard Italian officials link internal political reshuffles in Italy with Russia. This is strange and, frankly, shocking. I have read an opinion, which was made unofficially, that the Russian ambassador was somehow involved in the process. This is ridiculous. I would like to remind everyone that the Russian ambassador was away on holiday at the time of the latest political crisis in Italy.
Maria Zakharova: First, the government of Mario Draghi should be assessed by Italians, the citizens of Italy. It can be interesting for experts on international relations focused on foreign policy what other countries think about the Italian government, but ultimately it is the Italian people who should assess it. Second, you are asking this question from Italy, whereas I represent the Foreign Ministry of Russia. I would like to remind you that Italy is a sovereign and independent state, which must not depend on anyone in this regard. I don’t understand this inner need to explain internal events by citing the alleged influence of foreign factors.
This could be just my personal impression, but I have always considered Italy to be a strong and fully functional country, which is independent in all spheres: in the economy, finance and international policy. Italy has a history that not just nurtured neighbouring countries but served as a development impetus for many parts of the world. Italy had a constructive, positive and rich cultural influence on many countries and nations. I don’t understand why some Italian politicians try to subjugate Italy to anyone, even in the public sphere. Many Russian citizens share my views. Italy is an independent state. This is how we have always regarded it. If anyone feels differently about your state, Russia has no connection with that whatsoever.
I don’t want to comment on the internal political processes underway in your country. We only do this when Italian officials connect their internal political processes to Russia. This is when we had to react.
I would like to say that some Italian politicians’ claims that Russia is provoking destabilisation in Italy are unsubstantiated and untenable. These allegations are unsupportable. They should at least make public their reasons for making these claims. I can’t imagine what this could be. Our diplomats have been expelled. Our ambassador is on holiday. Regrettably, Russian views are mostly, though not always blocked in the information sphere. What can be the reason for accusing Russia? I don’t see any.
The Russian Federation does not and has never interfered in the internal affairs of other countries.
Maria Zakharova: You are taking us for someone else. This is how many Western countries treat each other, openly saying that they would benefit from the victory of certain political forces in other countries. It is not only Washington who is doing this with regard to NATO countries. EU countries openly supported Hillary Clinton during the presidential run. President of France Francois Hollande jut about congratulated her even before the official results were announced. Many government officials and leaders in the EU countries consider it acceptable to rally for certain forces in other states and to say publicly that this would benefit them.
This has nothing to do with Russia’s political culture. We never act like this. We always say that we interact with countries and nations on the basis of agreements, documents and arrangements. If you want to know about our potential advantages in Italy, it is the development of cooperation in various spheres and areas, which will benefit both sides, which both Italians and Russians need, and which will enrich our economies, culture, humanitarian interaction, security and information.
As for who, when and how assumes power in Italy, it is Italians’ business. Only the Italian citizens have a right to decide which political leaders and parties to vote for and elect.
Maria Zakharova: I commented on the first question yesterday on my Telegram channel: Special Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said that the president's visit to Iran and participation in the Astana process summit showed Russia was “increasingly isolated.” I would say that isolation, like logic, either exists or doesn’t. To date, Moscow is not isolated, and Washington's logic, unfortunately, is nothing other than the series of illogical statements that we hear from the United States.
As for the insinuation about Russia turning to Iran because it is “isolated,” I have only one question. John Kirby, and Washington, in general, the Democratic Party camp must know that the Astana format existed earlier. Do they know this? Meetings and sessions were held at various levels, up until February 2022. Was that a signal too? Then they’ll need to explain what Russia wanted to show or demonstrate by attending those summits, and meetings at the level of foreign ministers or experts. This is absurd. The Astana format addresses a certain agenda. It was meeting at various levels, held meetings in 2022 and before that. Exactly the same is the case with President Vladimir Putin’s visits to Iran and Iranian leaders’ visits to Russia. When the leaders of our states, the heads of foreign or defence ministries need to meet in various formats, they do it. It is of no relevance what representatives of the State Department, the White House, or high-ranking experts think about it. Bilateral summits and visits serve the interests of people in both countries. The Astana format has its own agenda.
I can even predict how the situation will unfold. The US and the people airing the current White House policy will propose two concepts. Every time Russian representatives visit or meet anyone, regardless of the context, they will say this proves Russia is “isolated.” When it becomes impossible to assert this in view of the successful results of these events for the whole world, they will say, it means Russia has now turned to someone else due to isolation, “redeployed its policy,” etc. All this comes from impotence, because Joe Biden's team has led US foreign policy to a dead end, and the only way out they have is to turn around and backtrack. But in that case, they would have to admit the fallacy of their policy. I cannot remember the United States ever being able to admit their own mistakes. They seem to find it easier to be stuck at that dead end, where they have driven themselves, staring at a wall and repeating their absurd, illogical statements.
I have already commented on a statement made by the representative of the State Department about the lack of opportunity for negotiations with Russia on Ukraine. It was not entirely clear. Has the United States already appointed itself a party to the negotiations or the conflict? As we have already said, we know – and Washington is not hiding it – that everything has been done to block the Kiev regime's negotiations with Russia. It’s up to them to give explanations on this score.
Maria Zakharova: You can get a detailed reply from Roscosmos.
Our relations with the United States have soured because of Washington. Nevertheless, there are strategic areas where our contacts continue to be effective.
Maria Zakharova: They have admitted themselves that they are under the heel… in public, they describe this as corporate ethics and solidarity, which is not the independent decision of any NATO member. These decisions are prepared or, as they are telling us, enforced, pushed through, or lobbied. They are not proposed by any one country but are sung by a chorus of identical voices. This is not quite the case. The notes are written, and the “song” is orchestrated by one author, after which the chorus sings this song that has nothing in common with the interests of individual states and nations.
Why do the EU countries adopt sanctions that backfire on them? Because they don’t formulate them. These decisions are not their own and do not meet their fundamental interests, they are adopted, pushed and enforced, in most cases, by Washington through Euro-Atlantic associations; they are imposed on the Europeans from across the ocean. After that, they stage a performance named “solidarity.” This is not solidarity. Solidarity is equality, like-mindedness, mutual support, and agreement on issues of concern, rather than the blind acceptance or enforcement of decisions others don’t support, which contradict their interests but are the only correct option for one player. The situation will continue to deteriorate. The decisions that have been forced on the EU were not properly analysed in terms of their effect on EU interests in the short or, more importantly, long term. The situation in the EU is obviously deteriorating because of the continued anti-Russia policies. One of the Anglo-Saxon duet’s goals is to weaken the EU as an organisation. This would explain London’s withdrawal from the EU and the anti-Russia sanctions the EU has been forced to adopt, even though they are hitting back at the EU itself.
Дополнительные материалы
-
Видео
-
Фото
.JPG)
.JPG)
 Выход к прессе.mp4)