🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Moscow, April 18, 2024)

🔹 FM Sergey Lavrov’s schedule
🔹 The Ukrainian crisis
🔹 Terrorist attacks by Ukrainian neo-Nazis against Russian medical workers
🔹 The situation around the Zaporozhskaya NPP
🔹 France handing over its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to NATO’s operations command
🔹Cooperation with ASEAN countries
🔹 On the Moldova's authorities decision to hold a referendum on accession to the EU
🔹 On Japanese Prime Minister Kishida's visit to the US
🔹 International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace

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#Ukraine #KievRegimeCrimes

With obsessive cruelty, fighters from the Ukrainian Armed Forces hunt down the medical workers who are helping the victims of shelling attacks and target them in an attempt to destroy them and prevent them from saving civilians.

Hospitals, outpatient clinics, rural health posts and other medical buildings in the DPR and LPR, as well as the Belgorod, Bryansk, Zaporozhye, Kursk, and Kherson regions, regularly come under fire from neo-Nazis.

☝️ We are not going to leave the above crimes unpunished. The perpetrators will be identified and held accountable to the full extent of the law.

#France #NATO #Sovereignty

Reports from the French Armed Forces General Staff on handing over the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and its escort combat vessels under NATO’s operations command for the naval drills in the Mediterranean <...> is yet another clear indication that France’s national sovereignty is being progressively eroded in its most important and sensitive dimension, which is nuclear deterrence.

❗️ This and similar decisions made by Paris convince us once again that, when discussing the crisis in European security and the problem of global security, strategic stability and arms control, France’s nuclear arsenal must be considered as one with that of the United States and Great Britain.

🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Moscow, May 8, 2024)

• Victory Day
• BRICS events
• The Ukrainian crisis
• Situation in Moldova
• Aggressive remarks by the French President
• Situation in the Middle East


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#BRICS

Russia’s chairmanship of BRICS is picking up speed. Over 40 events across three main cooperation areas have already taken place, covering politics and security, the economy and finance, as well as cultural and humanitarian exchanges.

#Ukraine

Just a few days ago EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell admitted clearly once again that the Ukrainian conflict had had a quick peaceful solution since the very beginning, but he personally and on behalf of the European Union did not want the combat to cease. We have talked about this many times (citing Mr Borrell and other EU officials) pointing to the EU’s long-term investments in financing arms supplies to Ukraine, with which they expect to prolong the armed confrontation for at least several more years (in their own words).

This confirms the terrible reality: ordinary Ukrainians are just a tool that Vladimir Zelensky "sold" to the EU members in the name of his own enrichment and immorality, which is used to settle the West’s geopolitical scores with Russia.

#France #NATO #EU

We noted the recent aggressive remarks from the French leadership, which seem to be increasingly frequent. <…> It is noteworthy that the belligerent stance of the occupant of the Elysee Palace is not only met with disapproval among many EU and NATO allies but, crucially, among the majority of French citizens, too.

As NATO marks the 75th anniversary of its foundation at a summit in Washington on July 9-11, let’s remember the key development milestones of this “peaceful” and “purely defensive” alliance.

🔹 NATO was established in 1949, as its first Secretary General, Lord Ismay, famously noted, to "keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down."

🔹 The alliance's activities neither contain a positive agenda nor contribute to maintaining peace and security. A telling example is the abandonment of promises made to the leadership of the former USSR to create a space of common and indivisible security in Europe. Instead, the West chose a strategy of expanding its sphere of exclusive influence under NATO’s military-political umbrella.

🔹 In 1999, the alliance unleashed full-scale armed aggression against Yugoslavia, which was followed by the unlawful secession of part of its territory, in violation of the UN Charter and fundamental norms of international law.

🔹 NATO's key member states were extensively engaged in aggressive campaigns against Iraq and Libya, employing the alliance's infrastructure and military capabilities to serve their aims.

🔹 NATO's Strategic Concept, adopted at the 2022 Madrid Summit, identifies Russia as "the most significant and direct threat to Allied security, peace, and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region." NATO is actively countering Russian activities across various geographic and operational domains, including strengthening capabilities in space and cyberspace. The alliance is bolstering its eastern flank with additional assets and forces.

🔹 Ukraine has become a primary area of confrontation, with significant arms supplies that nearly exceed NATO member states' capabilities. The use of these weapons has resulted in civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.

❗️ As of today, overt terrorist raids and shelling of peaceful Russian cities with NATO-supplied weapons, such as the most recent strike on Sevastopol on 23 June 2024 – all these are links in a chain extending to Washington DC, London and Brussels.

#NATO #Nato75

🎙 Briefing by MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (July 12, 2024)

🔹 Outcomes of NATO summit in Washington, D.C.
🔹 US President’s remarks at the NATO summit
🔹 Ukrainian crisis
🔹 Kiev regime's war crimes
🔹 Situation in Moldova
🔹 Korean Peninsula
🔹 Japan’s new anti-Russia steps
🔹 The establishment of the Alliance of Sahel States
🔹 The activity of the Emergency Youth Aid public organisation

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#Ukraine #NATO

Ultimately, Kiev was promised an irreversible path to the alliance. I’m not sure what they have in mind when they say irreversible path. The only image this term conjures up is a road that leads to a precipice. Now, in order to make sense of what they are talking about, they have come up with another term for the irreversible path to the alliance and call it a bridge to the alliance. Truth be told, its length has yet to be determined. However, I will reveal a military secret for the Kiev regime to be aware of what it is about: it is indeed a bridge to NATO, but it’s a drawbridge any way you look at it.

#US

It is nobody’s business other than the US Department of State. But the other countries’ foreign ministries should be concerned with what President Biden said at the NATO summit. He did not speak about America’s domestic issues or the summit’s agenda but about global issues that concern absolutely all nations. The reaction of the international community, which became public knowledge several hours after Biden’s press statements, is indicative.

It was that reaction that made top news as the outcome of the NATO summit.

The US State Department and Administration probably thought that it would be seen as proof of Biden’s competence and competitiveness as a presidential candidate. But it turned out differently. They have only made matters worse, especially after President Biden called Putin the president of Ukraine and said that “Vice-President Trump” was qualified to be president.

#Armenia

Russia has never made its friends or partners choose between being “with us” and “against us.” This is contrary to our philosophy. Unlike this, the Western countries show unrestrained impudence and complete disregard for the interests and concerns of their strategic dialogue partners, present or future.

The Americans are motivated by self-interest, which is evident from their hitherto unseen active enthusiasm about looking after Armenia. The country has gone through difficult periods many times before. Why wasn’t the US showing generosity, helping, or offering Armenia opportunities?

🎙 US economist and professor Jeffrey Sachs for the Judging Freedom podcast:

💬 The whole point of American behavior is that we never ask the question – ever – how would we react on the other side.

☝️ The whole point of American foreign policy is the belief by these officials that we can do what we want with impunity against any norm standard, or international law principle, vote of the UN Security Council, treaty or anything else that we would say would limit the behavior of others.

After all, the most basic point that the United States has said for 201 years since the annunciation of the Monroe Doctrine to the rest of the world – stay out of the Western hemisphere, we regard any incursion in the Western hemisphere anywhere – that could be from the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego to our immediate neighborhood – as an infringement on US security.

But when we say – but, of course, we have the right to push #NATO right up to Russia's borders, put in missile systems wherever we want, engage Georgia in the Caucasus region as a, quote, “North Atlantic partner,” as part of NATO - that's our right.

👉 So, everything about American foreign policy is built on hypocrisy, from beginning to end. And then we can't understand why that's just a little bit annoying to others, and gets us into a Perpetual War.

#TheyAboutUs

🇺🇦 Today, on Aug 24, Independence Day is observed in #Ukraine, marking the anniversary of the Act of Proclamation of Independence by the Verkhovnaya Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine in 1991.

The act was adopted in implementation of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine of July 16, 1990.

☝️ It needs to be known that back then it still wasn’t the country we know today.

👉 According to the basic principles of Ukraine’s state and social system enshrined in a number of fundamental documents, the independent Ukraine was to become a permanently neutral state, not participating in military blocs and free of nuclear weapons (section IX of the Declaration).

👉 The Constitution of Ukraine guaranteed ‘free development, use and protection of Russian, and other languages of national minorities’ (Article 10), and ‘development of the ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious identity of all indigenous peoples and national minorities of Ukraine’ (Article 11).

❗️ Yet, in 2014 a coup took place in Ukraine, and the subsequent events drastically changed the country.

The Kiev regime started to wipe out everything Russian in Ukraine. Present-day policies under Vladimir Zelensky have seen a strong push towards Ukrainization, including numerous restrictions on distribution of cultural products in the Russian language (native for the majority of Ukrainians) as well as persecution of the canonical Orthodox Church. Alternative history rehabilitating World War II Nazi collaborators was imposed on people trough propaganda channels.

⚠️ In 2019, Ukraine renounced its neutral status. New amendments to the Constitution were adopted declaring strategic course of the state on acquiring full-fledged membership in the #EU and #NATO.

To crown it all, in 2022, Kiev declared its intention to abandon another obligation and ‘reacquire’ nuclear weapons.

❌ 33 years into the independence, Ukraine seems increasingly distant from the vision of a free and democratic state, as outlined in the Declaration of State Sovereignty and the Constitution, and from the values declared therein.

Graveyard for #NATO armor: list of Western weapons systems destroyed during Kiev’s Kursk gambit

Along with crack troops and foreign mercs, Kiev’s incursion into the Kursk region has involved an array of #NATO equipment.

👉 Here are some of the much-touted NATO systems destroyed:

🇬🇧 Challenger 2: Britain’s battle-shy MBT lost its status as the only modern tank never to have been destroyed by enemy fire when London started sending them to Ukraine last year. A Russian loitering munition destroyed a Challenger 2 in the Kursk region in mid-August.

🇺🇸 Abrams: Russia’s first Abrams kill in the Kursk region was reported last week. At least 20 of the 31 Abrams supplied to Kiev have now been lost.

🇺🇸 HIMARS rocket artillery: At least three of these shoot-and-scoot rocket artillery systems have been destroyed in the Kursk assault.

🇨🇦 Stryker: About a dozen of these Canadian APC-IFV hybrids have been destroyed by Russian air power, Lancet drones, and Black Sea Fleet Naval Infantry in the Kursk region, with two more captured.

🇩🇪 Marder: At least three of these German “Schutzenpanzers” have been knocked out by Russian forces in the Kursk region.

🇺🇸 Bradley: Eight of these American IFVs were destroyed in the course of 24 hours on August 12 during a breakthrough attempt. Five or more were knocked out in fighting elsewhere.

🇺🇸 Humvee: These ubiquitous US-made vehicles have been spotted in MoD and media reports on destroyed enemy equipment, with knocked-out vehicles seen in an array of modifications, from machinegun turret-equipped variants to support vehicles.

🇺🇸 M113 APC: At least one M113 has been hit by Russia’s deadly new EW-resistant Knyaz Vandal of Novgorod wired FPV drone.

By @Sputnik_Int

🎙 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's interview to the newspaper "Arguments and Facts" (October 21, 2024)

Key Points:

#BRICS

• BRICS epitomises the shifts that have long been underway in the global economy. New centres of economic growth are emerging, and alongside them comes financial influence, which in turn brings political influence.

• BRICS is a consortium where no single nation leads or is led, devoid of the bureaucratic machinery akin to that observed in Brussels, where EU officials impose decisions that contravene the will and interests of several member states, failing to align with the aspirations of voters across many countries.

• BRICS does not stand in opposition to any entity, nor does it orchestrate operations or initiate projects. BRICS is committed to enhancing the combined potential of its nations and devising collaborative strategies for harnessing these potentials for mutual benefit.

• What makes BRICS and other World Majority or Global East associations that do not include Western countries stand out, is that they are not created for the purpose of struggling or fighting with anyone. They are established to collectively benefit from their competitive advantages such as geographical location, shared history, cultural and humanitarian proximity <...>.

#USA

• The US is unwilling to relinquish the reins of power that they have held since World War II through the Bretton Woods institutions and through the role assigned to the US dollar in the international monetary system, even after free exchange of US dollars for gold had been cancelled.

• The key goal of the US ruling class is to make sure no one can undermine their dominance. This goal is illusory. The historical process is objectively heading in a different direction, and this has to be reckoned with.

• We are ready to interact with any administration voted in by the American people, but only if such a dialogue is mutually respectful, and both parties listen and hear what the other party has to say.

#Ukraine

• On multiple occasions, European leaders from Brussels have repeatedly made it clear that they must support Ukraine for as long as it takes, because Ukraine is fighting for the European values.

• It turns out that European leaders are still willing to uphold Nazi values, which is why denazification is not just a motto, but an objective of utmost importance.

#UN

• The United Nations is not a valiant knight expected to “charge in and extinguish the fire” upon witnessing injustice. The UN is an assembly of its member states, each with established rules, including the Security Council's veto rights. The United States has effectively exercised this right five times over the past year, blocking a resolution proposed by several countries, including Russia, demanding an immediate ceasefire. <...> Presently, the United States is taking every measure to avoid antagonising Israel.

• Nations such as India, Brazil, and African representatives should have long held permanent seats on the Security Council. This is essential to ensure representation of the World Majority.

#Finland #Sweden #NATO

• The zeal that the Finns and Swedes are showing in NATO, advocating for defeating Russia, is not only rooted in their historical instincts. They are also eager to show their Big Brothers in the North Atlantic Alliance that they have brought added value <...>.

• I am confident that reasonable people in Europe, who have learned the lessons taught by history, see this too, including in Finland and Sweden.

#Europe

• To reiterate, the so-called right-wing conservatives are loyal to their countries and their people. We will engage with anyone who approaches us with a proposal to talk, to seek common ground, and to think about how we can jointly make the lives of our citizens better.

#EurasianSecurity

• We suggest discussing the Eurasian continent-wide security architecture, emphasising the fact that its doors will be open to everyone, including countries from the West of the Eurasian continent.

Read in full (Telegraph)

🎙 Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:

President Vladimir Putin, in his address at the Russian Foreign Ministry on June 14 this year, outlined the goal of fostering cooperation among the diverse countries and associations of the Eurasian continent. This aims to harmonise their efforts towards ensuring reliable stability, security, and sustainable development.

☝️ It was underscored that this initiative is open to all countries and entities on the Eurasian continent, including its western sections, without exception.
This is not in line with the rules imposed by #NATO and the #EuropeanUnion, where Washington and Brussels dictate terms, but rather adheres to the principles spelled out in the #UN Charter.

🤝 These principles are observed within the #EAEU, the #SCO, #ASEAN, and other organisations on our shared continent. It is a commitment to sovereign equality of states, mutual respect for each other's interests, and pursuit of balanced interests to implement constructive projects.

🔗 Read Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks following the 21st annual session of the Valdai International Discussion Club

#Valdai2024