Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s interview with ANSA Italian news agency

Question: Revenue from oil and gas exports is markedly down, the rouble has collapsed, and inflation is rising. At the same time, drones reach Moscow almost every day. How much longer will Russia be able to keep this conflict going?

Maria Zakharova: What you are saying is ridiculous. The United States was counting on us not lasting even a month in 2022, after they unleashed their “hellish sanctions,” to use their own words. In some ways, they are right: they behave like true demons, and neither Italy, nor Germany, nor France, nor Britain, nor even the United States itself would have recovered from such sanctions. Any NATO country would have collapsed within a week. Yet here we are, living, developing, and moving forward.

Our economy is growing at a good pace. Despite the rather pessimistic forecasts that continue to come from some experts, mainly Western, despite all these forecasts, Russia was among the top five largest economies in the world as of the end of 2022. According to the World Bank, the Russian Federation moved ahead and surpassed the Federal Republic of Germany in terms of purchasing power parity and the size of the economy, which is among the most important indicators. For example, in the second quarter of this year, Russia’s gross domestic product grew by 4.9 percent compared to the same period last year. Moreover, industries that are not connected with the extraction of natural resources, including oil and gas, are growing at an even higher pace.

With some states whose leaders have not succumbed to rude external pressure but are instead guided by their own national interests, our mutual trade has grown not just by tens of percent, but many times over, and continues to grow.

Our natural resources are being bought despite the imposed price caps. Russian fuel at competitive prices allows friendly countries to keep prices under the lid and to expand industrial and agricultural output which strengthens their energy security and economic stability.

This reality terrifies the entire NATO axis of evil (yes, you are the axis of evil, no doubt about it). We have the truth and the entire free world behind us. What is standing behind NATO is “soap bubbles,” the hunger for money and power, and nostalgia for colonialism.

Now, about how long we will last. As we like to say, you won't live to see it. We have united, we know we're going all the way to the end, and we see that the truth is on our side.

Let me spend a moment discussing the facts that don't reach Western audiences.

Today, Russia is effectively standing alone against the NATO-Ukrainian military-industrial conglomerate, where Ukraine is playing the role of a foothold, a battlefield, and a tool of armed struggle against Russia, while Western countries act as the headquarters, rear area, arms suppliers, intelligence providers, and assign the targets.

Indeed, the Kiev regime is widely using drones to attack civilian infrastructure and civilians. We see these actions by Kiev and its NATO handlers as a cowardly attempt to take it out on civilian sites and civilians because of the failure of the “counteroffensive” and their inability to turn the situation on the frontline in their favour, despite the mass-scale Western assistance.

With regard to the duration of the special military operation, it largely depends on how quickly Kiev and the West realise that we will not put up with the existence of an openly anti-Russian state on our borders, no matter what its borders may be. This is impossible both from the standpoint of Russia's security or the security of any other state. 

Question: A high-ranking NATO official, Stian Jenssen, suggested that Ukraine might cede its territories to Russia in exchange for NATO membership. What is your opinion on the potential dissemination in the West of the idea of Ukraine giving up part of its territory? Will Russia be satisfied with this trade off? What else could Russia offer in exchange?

Maria Zakharova: This was a planted story to gradually acclimatise Kiev to the idea that NATO wouldn't fight for Ukraine. For Western officials, diplomatically resolving the Ukrainian crisis is not a priority. They plan to drag out the conflict so that the Kiev regime engages in a war of attrition against Russia. Losses among Ukrainians hold no sway for NATO; they are mere expendable assets in achieving NATO’s geopolitical goals.

Moreover, it's not entirely clear what territorial concessions are in question. Crimea, Sevastopol, the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic, as well as the Zaporozhye and the Kherson regions, have become part of the Russian Federation in full accordance with international law. This is within the bounds of them exercising their right to self-determination as stipulated by the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. During the referendums, the residents of these territories voted for independence and chose to join Russia. The fact that these regions are part of our country is an objective reality.

By the way, have you heard what the likes of Blinken, Borrell, and Stoltenberg have been saying over the past 18 months? They have stated that everything should be decided on the battlefield. Their statements strengthened our positions: we legally incorporated new territories into Russia under international law, and as the Westerners say, we defended them on the battlefield.

Our requirements for resolving the European security crisis provoked by Washington and Brussels are well-known. First, the parameters of security guarantees provided by both Russia and the West must be agreed upon in line with the proposals that we made to the United States and NATO in December 2021.

The United States and its allies must finally understand that the special military operation’s goal is not to seize Ukraine's territory, but to denazify and demilitarise it and ensure its non-bloc status. Only then can we talk about eliminating threats to Russia and its citizens’ security.

Question: During Cardinal Zuppi’s visit to Russia, neither President Putin nor Foreign Minister Lavrov met with him, whereas in Washington, President Biden had a two-hour meeting with him. Does this fact mean that Russia has no faith in the Vatican's peace initiative?

Maria Zakharova: I believe that the wording of your question is not quite right. Unlike its relations with most other European countries, Moscow-Vatican relations stand out by their respectful and constructive approach to building bilateral dialogue. Russia has repeatedly emphasised that it highly values the Vatican's balanced stance on the Ukrainian conflict and the efforts of the Holy See and Pope Francis in seeking a peaceful settlement, which unfortunately have been openly turned down by the Kiev regime.

Moscow remains open to contacts with all countries that seek to contribute to restoring peace. That's why, on June 27, when the Vatican made the relevant request to us, Cardinal Zuppi was received in Moscow. Indeed, President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov had an extremely busy schedule and were unable to see the cardinal, but his visit to Moscow was quite eventful nonetheless. He had two meetings with Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, which underscores the importance Moscow attaches to the dialogue with the Holy See regarding Ukraine. Additionally, he had separate meetings with the Commissioner for Children's Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, Maria Lvova-Belova, and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Importantly, the dialogue with the Vatican continues. Our country is ready to interact with all those who seek to contribute to a peaceful resolution of the conflict surrounding Ukraine, taking into account Russia's known interests and existing realities.

Question: Will there come a day when Russia and Italy will be friends again, as they were in the past?

Maria Zakharova: Unfortunately, everything indicates that the current deep crisis in bilateral relations will persist for a long time. Following the lead of the United States, Italy has chosen a course aimed at the deliberate dismantling of the decades-old complex of Russian-Italian cooperation in various fields. Italy is supplying increasingly heavy and lethal weaponry and military equipment to Ukraine, which is used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to attack Russian territory. Rome has fully supported the Western-led hybrid war aimed at wearing down and weakening Russia, undermining its international positions, and restricting its sovereignty and its ability to conduct independent domestic and foreign policies. If anyone thinks that such actions go unnoticed by the Russian leadership and our citizens, they are wrong. All the necessary conclusions have been made.

At the same time, many good things connect us with Italy and its wonderful people, who - we are well aware of it - despite the Russophobic exercises by the paid-up mainstream media, maintain a deep sympathy for and interest in Russia, its culture and people. The Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Italian Republic signed in Moscow on October 14, 1994, remains in force.

I think that sooner or later, economic reasons, the cultural and historical closeness of our nations, and the objective needs of global development will lead the Italian leaders to understand the importance of restoring the currently disrupted bilateral ties. Russia is open to reviving the entire complex of relations with Italy based on the principles of mutual respect, equality, and consideration of each other's legitimate interests, including in the sphere of security.

It is time for the Italian government to wake up and see the true reasons behind the global crisis created by the West.

Remember the economic crisis of 2008 which devastated the global economy? It didn't break out on its own. It was caused by the “burst bubble” in the American property market. Manipulations with property could no longer be covered up by Washington, and that segment of the US economy collapsed, dragging the entire world along with it. The global economy was saved not by the United States or the infamous G7, but by other countries that became victims of the US Ponzi schemes. Countries united in the G20 and began to lead the world out of the crisis.

Similarly, the collapse of US international political manipulations has led to the Ukraine crisis. Instead of acknowledging their criminal mistakes, such as intervening in Ukraine's internal affairs, orchestrating coups, and sponsoring nationalist regimes there, they persisted in their righteousness and tried to prove their ability to continue to dictate their will to the region. However, the Anglo-Saxon plan is much more insidious. Ukraine and its puppet regime is just a tool. Russia and China appear to be the direct targets, but the EU ended up being hit indirectly, and the hardest. I’m not sure if Ms Meloni plays billiards, but if not, let someone let her know what a carom shot is.