⚡️Russian Defence Ministry:

◽️ In his statement of April 10, 2022, Robert Pope, director of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Programme, said that "...there is no reason to claim that research related to the development of biological weapons is taking place in Ukraine...".

◽️ However, as a result of the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine, facts of work with the pathogens of cholera, tularemia, plague and hantaviruses, which are potential agents of biological weapons, have been revealed.

◽️ At the same time, it was noted that Ukraine had sent a request to the manufacturing company regarding the possibility of equipping the Bayraktar drones with aerosol equipment.

◽️ In addition on March 9, three unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with 30-litre containers and equipment for spraying formulations were detected by Russian reconnaissance units in Kherson region.

◽️ This information calls into question the statements of American experts.

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Владимир Путин поздравил Фердинанда Ромуальдеса Маркоса с победой на выборах Президента Филиппин

Президент России отметил, что отношения между двумя странами традиционно носят дружественный характер.

«Рассчитываю, что Ваша деятельность во главе государства будет способствовать дальнейшему развитию конструктивного российско-филиппинского сотрудничества в различных сферах. Это в полной мере отвечает интересам наших народов, идёт в русле упрочения безопасности и стабильности в Азиатско-Тихоокеанском регионе», – подчеркнул в поздравлении глава Российского государства.

#Поздравления

🇷🇺 - 🇵🇭 Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory message to Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos on the occasion of his victory at the elections of President of the Republic of the Philippines.

💬 The President of Russia noted that relations between the two countries were traditionally friendly.

“I hope that your efforts as head of state will facilitate further development of the fruitful cooperation between Russia and the Philippines in various areas. This meets in full the interests of our nations and is in line with the endeavors to strengthen security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region,” the Russian leader wrote in his message.


http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/68398

⚡️Watch the interview by Permanent Representative of #Russia to the #EU Ambassador Vladimir #Chizhov for Sky News, 12 May 🔗 https://fb.watch/c_v3kOljWc/

💬 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to media questions following the CIS Foreign Ministers Council meeting.

📍 Dushanbe, May 13, 2022

☝️ The CIS countries unanimously confirmed their commitment to cooperation in this format. All of them want the CIS to grow more influential. This will be facilitated by today’s decision to consider in practical terms the CIS’s request to the Collective Security Treaty Organisation to grant it observer status at the #CSTO.

🇦🇫 Obviously, #Afghanistan needs to be rebuilt. We must not let the situation collapse and destabilise again. It would be hard on the Afghan people who had been suffering under NATO’s presence for twenty years.

Read in full

🎙 FM Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the 30th Assembly of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy

Read in full

💬 Sergey Lavrov: I would like to congratulate you on the 3️⃣0️⃣th anniversary of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy. Its activities are a fine example of Russian expert involvement in the foreign policy process.

▫️ We did everything in our power to avoid a direct conflict. But they issued a challenge and we have accepted it.

▫️ We do not remember anything like the current massive and synchronised expulsion of diplomats happening even in the grimmest Cold War years.

▫️ There are no traitors among our diplomats, although such attempts have been made from abroad and within the country.

▫️ The Americans started preparing the current crisis long ago, right after the end of the Cold War, having decided that the way to global hegemony was then open. NATO's eastward expansion has been one of the key components of such a course.

⚡️ On May 16, as a result of negotiations with representatives of Ukrainian servicemen blocked at the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol, an agreement was reached to evacuate the wounded.

▫️At present, ceasefire regime was established in the area of the enterprise and a humanitarian corridor was opened, through which wounded Ukrainian servicemen were transported to a medical facility in Novoazovsk, Donetsk People's Republic, to provide them with all necessary assistance.

#MoD #Russia #Ukraine
@mod_russia_en

🇷🇺🇦🇲🇧🇾🇰🇿🇰🇬🇹🇯 The Kremlin hosted a meeting of the heads of state of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.

On the agenda:
▫️ key issues of cooperation within the CSTO,
▫️ topical international and regional problems,
▫️ measures to further improve the collective security system.

💬 President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

▫️ Our current high-priority task is to further improve and streamline the work of the CSTO and its governing bodies. We will also provide the collective CSTO forces with modern weapons and equipment.

▫️ This autumn, there are plans to hold an entire series of joint CSTO exercises in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

▫️ During the special operation in Ukraine, documentary evidence was obtained that components of biological weapons were developed in close proximity to our borders. We count on our colleagues supporting the earliest possible implementation of Russia’s initiative to operationalise the designated CSTO council.

▫️ In this context, it is important to build up cooperation with our “natural” partners in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Commonwealth of Independent States. By the way, we think it would be appropriate and correct – we will discuss this – to grant the CIS observer status in the CSTO.

▫️ Unfortunately, in our neighbouring country, Ukraine, neo-Nazism has been on the rise for a long time now, to which some of our partners from the “collective West” turn a blind eye. Nowhere are Nazis being glorified at the state level. But unfortunately, this is happening in Ukraine.

▫️ Russia has no problems with Finland and Sweden. Therefore, there is no direct threat to Russia in connection with NATO’s expansion to these countries. But the expansion of its military infrastructure to these territories will certainly evoke a response on our part.

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🇸🇪 On May 16, the Government of Sweden made the decision to apply for NATO membership.

Russia has repeatedly stated that the choice of ways to ensure national security is an internal affair of any country.

Stockholm’s foreign policy has been based on neutrality for over 200 years and for decades remained an important factor in ensuring stability and trust in the Baltic Sea region.

❗️Sweden’s accession to NATO will inflict considerable damage to the security of Northern Europe and Europe as a whole. The Russian Federation will have to take response measures, both military-technical and others, to curb the threats to its national security which arise in this context. In this respect, much will depend on the specific conditions of Sweden’s integration into the North Atlantic Alliance, including the potential deployment of strike systems of this military bloc on its territory.

Read in full

💬 Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria #Zakharova: To learn how the West churns out fakes, take a look at our in-depth dissection of their latest one regarding the "Russian threat to food security".

We use only hard facts and statistics - that's our motto ✅

👉 https://telegra.ph/Man-Made-Famine-2022-05-17

Press release on global food security in the context of a statement by the G7 foreign ministers

We noted the final statement by the foreign ministers of the G7 countries, whereby they accused Russia of unilateral steps to undermine the agricultural potential of Ukraine and worsen the status of global food security.

☝️ In this context, we would like to remind others about the primary causes of the unfavourable situation that is taking shape in the world food markets.

👉 The crisis phenomena of the past few years are primarily linked to the miscalculations and accumulated system-wide mistakes in the macroeconomic (including finances and trade), energy (including climate) and food policy of the collective West.

👉 The COVID-19 pandemic made a bad situation worse. Its consequences, including the disruption of production and marketing chains, and higher freight and insurance costs, have caused even more turbulence in the world food and other markets.

Importantly, the unilateral actions by the Western states, primarily the G7 countries, have aggravated the disruption of logistics and financial chains for food supplies to the world markets.

Battle For Mariupol

‘He fetched water for his mum and dad, and when he came out… At that moment, a shell landed on the roof and shrapnel caught him right in the head.’ During the battle for Mariupol, Ukrainian nationalists used civilians as human shields. There was no evacuation, so people had to hide in basements with no water, food, or medicine. While retreating, Ukrainian soldiers opened fire on residential buildings to place the blame on Russian troops. This resulted in numerous civilian casualties. The dead were buried in the gardens of the destroyed houses. Russian troops took control of Mariupol in early May 2022. Now Mariupol residents can finally take to the streets without fearing for their lives.

This is a film about people who survived the battle for Mariupol, it features real footage of city battles, destroyed streets and the stories of civilians who lived through it.

#premiere

Follow: https://yangx.top/rtdocfilms

FM Lavrov: Ukraine 'expendable country in this hybrid war against Russian Federation'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine is not a side in a military conflict but rather an 'expendable' country in the hybrid war led by the Western countries against Russia.

"Ukraine... No one wants Ukraine. They are an expendable country in this hybrid war against Russian Federation. No one has doubts anymore", the Russian diplomat stated.

He went on by saying that "the West is ready to battle until the last Ukrainian dies" as "Ukraine is just a tool to fight Russia for the West", in his opinion.

🤷🏻‍♂️ Some of the surrendering Azov nationalists in Mariupol forgot to clear their social media history…

However, that will be for future investigations to decide - who among them is a neo-Nazi and a war criminal, and who’s simply a combatant.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the situation in Mariupol:

💬 Over the two days, 959 Ukrainian nationalists, 51 of whom had severe injuries, laid down their weapons and surrendered. The injured are being provided with medical treatment at the Novoazovskaya hospital, Donetsk People’s Republic. The rest were taken to a pre-trial detention facility in Elenovka, Donetsk suburbs.

▫️In the past 24 hours, 771 militants of the Azov nationalist unit have surrendered at the blockaded Azovstal plant in Mariupol. A total of 1,730 militants have surrendered since May 16, including 80 wounded.

▫️All those in need of inpatient treatment are treated in medical facilities in the Donetsk People's Republic in Novoazovsk and Donetsk.

#MoD #Russia #Ukraine
@mod_russia_en

Points from Russian Delegation Statement on Military Security and Arms Control in Vienna May 18th, 2022

- Seems western malicious attempts to accuse Russia of "aggressive nuclear rhetoric" would never end. Meanwhile Russian doctrine has purely defensive nature. Russia reaffirms nuclear war must never be fought and any military conflict between nuclear powers be avoided as declared by P5.

- On the contrary, the nuclear US-UK-France “troika” together with the nuclear alliance of NATO are drifting in the opposite direction, waging a proxy-war strategy against Russia. Democratic majority leader in US Congress S.Hoyer openly declares US were in a state of war with Russia.

- Pentagon & allies gave >60.000 anti-tank missile systems and >25.000 MANPADS to Kiev regime. Now USDOD Secretary L. Austin admits such dangerous weaponry is difficult to track and to prevent from getting to wrong hands via black market, posing a big threat to commercial airlines & transport.

- For years Ukraine has been used for covert US military biological program as ordinary Ukrainians, including mentally disabled and children, been considered test subjects for tuberculosis and other dangerous pathogens. Russian goal is to end this mil-bio activity for good.

- Russia has a clear understanding that US & UK supervisors are guiding Ukrainian fighters on the ground aiming to maximize harm and slow down our military operation. British military conduct undercover battle management ops on Kiev regime side right on the frontline using NATO intel.

- To sum up. Russian Special military operation is being conducted to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, defend people of DPR, LPR and Ukrainians themselves against Nazi atrocities. The Russian people express firm support for the Operation which will continue to go as planned.

⚡️ #Opinion by Maria Zakharova

💬 The Americans keep saying that Russia could resort to using nuclear weapons in Ukraine. In doing this, they are pursuing several goals, and one of them is obvious: to intimidate their own people. Not only has Russia never threatened anyone with nuclear weapons, but, on the contrary, has been warning all parties all along against making irresponsible steps of this kind. However, this does not sit well with Washington.

❓This left the US thinking: what can it do?

They pretended several times that it was Sergey Lavrov who threatened that Russia would use WMDs. To no avail. We immediately debunked these fake news.

When Plan A fails, there is always a Plan B, quite similar to Plan A, but with a twist.

Recently, three US titles released articles discussing the question of how, when and why the Russians will drop the bomb, in fact reporting on the Russians’ thought instead of looking at what they are saying.

Read in full 👇
https://telegra.ph/Opinion-by-Maria-Zakharova-05-19

🎙 Statement by Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations Vassily #Nebenzia at #UN Security Council open debate "Conflict and food security"

🔸 Present-day political culture of Western states is best characterized by a striving to blame Russia for everything. After we started a special military operation in Ukraine, the allegations against Moscow have made a “quantum leap”. Among them, allegations related to food security assumed a leading role.

🔸 We regret that our colleagues, Western #UNSC members, did not have enough courage to comment on the root causes of food and other crises in such states as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria.

🔸 Truth is that you got too carried away by your fruitless efforts to “break the backbone” of Russian economy and isolate our country at any cost. What I am speaking about is that in your proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, you are literally holding the whole developing world as hostage, driving it towards famine. Whatever you may be saying, it is you and only you who can change this.

❗️ Nevertheless, let me assure you that Russia remains a responsible supplier of both food and energy.

👉 I will appreciate if our Western colleagues, first of all the United States and the European Union, today publicly refute this “food for weapons” version which many experts stick to. Also, I invite them to explain how these deliveries actually contribute to global food security that you claim to be so concerned about.

Full statement

#Opinion by Maria Zakharova, Russian MFA Spokeswoman

💬 The frenzied celebration of Atlanticism and the show that official Stockholm staged on the occasion of its “historic” decision to apply for NATO membership bear all the signs of laboured artificiality. After all, there is no national consensus behind Stockholm’s decision to join NATO. Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar came down hard on that decision. The attempts to get the Green Party to support the move to join the Alliance failed.

The Swedish media conveniently did NOT publish any opinion polls in the run-up to the “historic decision,” either.

That’s democracy, baby.

No one said a word about the referendum that could be held according to every canon of liberalism (which everyone remains in the dark about so far). This is strange. After all, the referendum holds a special place in the political culture of that country.

There have been quite a few national referendums in the Kingdom’s recent history, including on matters like transitioning to right-hand traffic (the 1955 referendum) and, I kid you not, a vote on prohibition ( 1922 referendum).

Prohibition posters of that time are available online (1, 2).

No doubt, issues like Sweden’s EU membership and accession to the single euro-currency system were also decided by a national vote. As such, Sweden adhered to fairly democratic practices. Clearly, much has changed in Sweden over the past 100 years since the first referendum was held in the 20th century, and democracy is now in short supply.

Crimea, which Ann Linde considers undemocratic, held a referendum, and the people made their choice. There was a referendum in the Soviet Union. In the Russian Federation, a vote was held on constitutional amendments. However, Sweden, which decided to overhaul its 200-year-old security policy, didn’t hold any.

Why? The answer is clear.

If you take a look at the latest polls, the growth in the number of people who are willing to “march in step with Brussels and Washington” (and spend 2 percent of GDP on defence, which is NATO-approved defence spending minimum) has slowed significantly.

According to a poll conducted by Demoskop and Aftonbladet on April 19, 2022 – more recent data is not available for obvious reasons – hardly more than half of Swedes are interested in joining NATO. To put it bluntly, every second Swede understands the morass their American “friends” are dragging Stockholm into.

Speaking of “friends,” it is notable that US senators were visiting Stockholm on the day the “historic” decision was announced. Not rank-and-file congressmen, but leader of the Senate Republicans Mitch McConnell. Sweden has not yet joined the Alliance, but the Americans are already dictating to the Swedish authorities what to say to their people. And this is just a demo of what is in store for them.

More than 200 years of neutrality, which guaranteed the Kingdom’s security and prosperity, are now history.

So why wasn’t there a referendum? Just because no one has been consulting Swedish public’s opinion on anything for a long time now. The Americans call the shots for the Swedes.