Briefing by the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexander Lukashevich, 19 June 2014
I will start today's briefing by reminding you about the big loss for Russian journalism and for the Russian people. The VGTRK special correspondent Igor Kornelyuk and the sound engineer Anton Voloshin died as a result of shooting by Ukrainian forces near Lugansk. You have had the opportunity to study the statements by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this regard. This is a big loss for all of us.
Let us observe a minute's silence in tribute to the memory of Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, as well as other journalists, who died and were injured in Ukraine (participants of the briefing get us).
Work-related visit by the Russian Foreign Minister to Saudi Arabia
On the 20-21 June, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, will visit Jeddah at the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saud Al Faisal, where he will conduct negotiations with leaders of Saudi Arabia.
During the forthcoming contacts, the plan is to discuss the situation in Syria and around it, the situation in Iraq, issues of ensuring security in the area of the Persian Gulf, as well as topical issues of Russian-Saudi Arabian interaction, including the political dialogue and cooperation in the trade and economic area.
XXIII session of the Council of the Heads of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
The XXIII session of the Council of the Heads of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation will be held in the Mansion of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 20 June presided over by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Two big questions are on the agenda: "About the role of inter-regional cooperation in the development of integration processes in the CIS area" and "About easement of the procedure of resettlement of compatriots".
Members of the Council – the heads of Russian regions, high-level personnel of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation and Federal executive bodies will participate in the event.
The forthcoming meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia and Fiji
On the 26-28 June, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Fiji, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, will make a work-related visit to Russia at the invitation of the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov. On the 27 June, the heads of the foreign services of the two countries will conduct negotiations in Moscow.
The visit will be made against the backdrop of the 40th anniversary since the establishment of Russia-Fiji diplomatic relations, which we celebrate this year. During the forthcoming contacts, the plan is to discuss in detail the main topics of the bilateral agenda with the emphasis on the implementation of the agreements reached as a result of the official visit of the Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, to Russia (27 June – 1 July 2013), as well as the prospects for deepening the interaction in international affairs, including the issues surrounding the preparation for another meeting of Sergey Lavrov with high representatives of the developing island states in the Southern part of the Pacific Ocean on the side-lines of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in New York this September.
The situation in Ukraine
During the press conference in Baku on the 18 June, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, gave insight into the latest events. I will add that, unfortunately, despite all the statements of the Ukrainian leaders to start a dialogue and to stop the military operation, the escalation of the conflict is acquiring new dimensions, the flow of refugees is growing, but whose, who stay in Lugansk, Kramatorsk and other regions, are suffering.
This morning there was a phone conversation between the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, and the German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Such contacts with heads of foreign services of western states on Ukraine are regular. For our part, we insisted again that it is essential to stop the military operation in the South-East of the country immediately and to start a truly nation-wide dialogue. He expressed concerns about some statements by the Kiev authorities, which are evidence of their attempts to replace a nation-wide dialogue which include the equal participation of all the regions with plans to suppress protests in the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions by force.
The ministers emphasised the need to closely follow the principles agreed in the Geneva Statement of the 17 April and developed in the "roadmap" of the Swiss presidency of the OSCE.
Activities of the OSCE Special Monitoring Commission in Ukraine
We continue to closely follow the work of the OSCE special monitoring mission in Ukraine, from which we still expect an active contribution to assist in the settlement of the large-scale internal political crisis in this country on the basis of the Geneva Statement of the 17 April and the "roadmap" of the Swiss presidency of the OSCE.
Unfortunately, there are certain shortcomings in the activities of the special mission in terms of its objectivity and completeness of its everyday reports. They disregard the fact that military aviation, heavy armaments and banned armaments are being used by Ukraine against civilians and multiple destructions of civil sites. The last report (for the period from the 4 to 16 June), for example, is almost missing the information about thousands of refugees heading to Russia.
We are convinced that the key task of the observers is to ix list? all the incidents in the area of security and human rights in this country without prejudice. Objective prerequisites for this have been created. The mission is fully functional in terms of staff, material and technical supplies. The Memorandum of mutual understanding, which guarantees immunity and security to observers, has been ratified by the Verkhovna Rada and entered into force, despite the fact that it was done with a significant delay.
We understand the objective difficulties in the work of the OSCE observers in Ukraine, whose leaders took a targeted course to suppress those, who do not agree in the South-East of the country, by force, in conditions, when bloody reprisals like the May events in Odessa and Mariupol, the air strike on Lugansk, massacres in Donetsk, planned elimination of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, seizures, beating and murders of Russian journalists, who perform their duties, became a habit.
In conditions, when Kiev continues the punitive operation in the South-East of the country, it is hardly possible to fully guarantee the security of international employees of the mission. Security is the main obstacle to the liberation of the employees of the Lugansk and Donetsk sections of the mission, which include one Russian, and who have been detained there since the end of May.
We emphasised many times that we are concerned about this fact and confirmed our readiness to assist in their liberation as best we can. However, of course, the Kiev authorities are in charge of their fate, because they should stop violence and create the necessary conditions for faster liberation of the observers.
Also, I would like to tell you about the disastrous humanitarian situation in the East of Ukraine. The OSCE Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier, learned how severe it is, when he communicated with Ukrainian refugees during his trip to the Rostov region on the 12 June. We expect that the leaders of the OSCE mission will devote special attention to this question. We expect that the OSCE monitoring mission will analyse in detail and provide objective reports about the current state of affairs with refugees, as well as take decisive actions to assist in the opening of humanitarian corridors, which have not been created despite multiple statements by the Ukrainian leaders.
We believe that the international efforts to assist in the settlement of the internal Ukrainian crisis, including the activities of the OSCE special mission on Ukraine should be aimed at its resolution by political means through an inclusive national dialogue between all the Ukrainian political forces and regions. It is evident that such a chance will be available only after the deadly punitive operation of the Ukrainian authorities is stopped.
Work of the UNSC on the draft resolution on Ukraine
In connection with the drastic escalation of the armed conflict and the acute humanitarian situation in the South-Eastern regions of Ukraine, Russia proposed an updated draft resolution on Ukraine for the consideration of the Security Council on the 16 June.
The main purpose of the Russian initiative is to achieve an immediate end to violence, which results in casualties among the civilian population. The most vulnerable part of the population – women, children, elderly people – all those, whom the Ukrainian army must protect, are suffering.
The provisions of this document are related to political and humanitarian aspects of the situation in Ukraine. The work on the updated version of the resolution took into account the comments by the UNSC members, which were made during the work on the previous Russian project on the humanitarian situation in the South-East. We introduced some changes related to the areas of action of the OSCE, including references confirming UNSC's commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The text contains provisions about the need to stop military actions immediately, to organise humanitarian corridors for safe removal of civilians and offer an unhampered supply of humanitarian aid. It also includes a special concern that the Ukrainian army is using "inhumane" weapons, for example, phosphorous bombs and uncontrolled artillery missiles. It points out that the Ukrainian government is in charge of the security of civilians. The illegal detentions of employees of the OSCE monitoring mission, as well as journalists, who work in Ukraine, are decisively condemned. The UNSC appeals for their immediate liberation and and seeks an assurance for their unhampered movement. The implementation of the Geneva agreements on Ukraine and the OSCE "roadmap" is supported.
We are puzzled that western members of the Council search for a pretext to hamper the work on the Russian project, which opens up a real possibility to launch the process for the settlement of the situation in Ukraine by political methods through a nation-wide dialogue and the organisation of a constitutional reform, which has been anticipated for a long time.
We appeal to SC members to support the Russian project and thus confirm their commitment to a peaceful end to the crisis in Ukraine.
Development of the situation in Syria
The situation in Syria after the presidential elections on the 3 June is evidence of the serious intentions of Syrian authorities to further improve the political climate in the country by implementing a set of trust measures. Several thousand people were freed within the framework of the general amnesty, which was announced after the elections. Syrian judicial bodies in correctional facilities all over the country are working actively on the examination of cases of detainees and prisoners. As a result of this important mission, they have a chance to return to normal life. The government has even taken a step to allow the people , who left the Syrian Army, to return to their military duty.
The main conclusion based on the events in the post-electoral Syria is that the Syrian society, despite provocations of extremists, maintains national unity and does not demonstrate any signs of an ethnic and religious split.
The Syrian Army continues to extend its area of control to the south of Aleppo, as well as "cleansing" the Eastern Ghouta in the Damascus suburbs and several regions in governorates of Daraa, Deir ez-Zor and Idlib of illegal armed formations. The region of Kasab on the Syrian-Turkish border has been freed from the control of militants representing radical groups. 250 Armenian families, which left this populated area while escaping from the reprisals of extremists, returned home.
Jihadists, including from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, confronted the government forces most fiercely. The criminal practices which include pursuing ethnic and religious minorities, mass persecutions, fierce tortures, terrorist attacks using suicide bombers, have become a "business card" of this group.
The former Special Envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, recently mentioned that in the last three months ISIL committed over 100 terrorist attacks in Syria and about 1000 terrorist attacks in Iraq. After the seizure of significant arsenals of equipment and armaments, including some manufactured in the United States, in the territory of the North Iraq, in particular in Mosul, ISIL militants sent some of them to their "Syrian front".
Messages from the mass media regarding the disruption of the plans of Jabhat al-Nusra, another extremist group related to the Islamic Front, to organise a large-scale attack on Damascus using poisonous substances are to be noted. On the 14 June, in a region of Katana to the south of the capital, the Syrian aviation bombed its operative headquarters, which was responsible for the terrorist attack. According to the information received from journalists, when attacking large groups of people, the parliament building and other administrative sites terrorists planned to use significant amounts of containers with sarin gas, which were purchased in one of the European countries.
There is a worrying trend that the laic armed opposition is constantly splitting and its units later join extremist groups.
Units of extremists non-selectively mortared different parts of Syria. In particular, in Idlib, where they killed 8 children.
Nevertheless, in these conditions, the SAR authorities and some opposition groups continue the wide use of "local cease-fires", which contribute to saving of human lives, the easing of suffering of peaceful civilians and it also gives people a hope for an speedier route to the normalisation of the situation. It has become known that as a result of the agreements between officials and local armed opposition it was possible to organise voting within the framework of the presidential campaign in several Syrian regions under the control of the armed opposition, for example, in Vaer.
We make an appeal to international partners to respect the democratic choice of the Syrian people, to continue the efforts to assist the political and diplomatic settlement in this country, to revise the intention to build up support of the armed opposition in Syria, which would have far reaching negative consequences.
The humanitarian situation in Syria
Moscow is closely following the development of the situation in Syria, including in the humanitarian area. Within the framework of the intensive work to find a comprehensive political settlement for the Syrian crisis, the Russian Federation continues to make active efforts to help the recovery from the severe humanitarian situation in this country.
According to UN data, over 9 million need humanitarian aid in this country at the moment. The number of internally displaced persons makes about 6 million persons, while about 3 million Syrians have found asylum in adjacent countries, primarily in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
The humanitarian situation in Syria still concerns us. At the same time, despite the known difficulties related to the provision of aid to the population in conditions of the continuing military actions, the work to build up volumes of humanitarian operations in Syria continues. The SAR Government directly participates in this process, including by spreading the practice of "local cease-fires", which allows the situation to stabilise in regions receiving supplies of humanitarian aid.
It has become a trend that the Syrian population mainly aspires to leave the territories seized by the opposition and to move to the regions controlled by the authorities, where the situation is more secure. Today the overwhelming majority of the Syrian population is located in the areas where government forces are in charge and where they receive the necessary assistance both from local humanitarian structures and from within the ambit of the UN.
The main problems facing the supplies of humanitarian aid in those SAR regions, include access which is complicated because they are remote, and also infrastructure is destroyed and the opposition refuses to let humanitarian convoys pass through the populated areas under their control. 3.5 million people live there according to assessments. About 242,000 people are located in the regions seiged and where military actions are now taking place. The fractured groups of the armed opposition and lack of coordination among them seriously complicates the work related to the establishment of sustainable agreements regarding supplies and to the escorting of humanitarian cargo to problem regions, which sometimes leads to the disruption of such operations.
At the end of May, Australia, Jordan and Luxembourg supported by western UNSC member states made an initiative to adopt another resolution on Syria – this time on humanitarian access. Russia was initially against such an initiative, believing that the decisions made earlier within the framework of the UNSC were sufficient to effectively resolve the most acute humanitarian problems in the country. Without wishing to allow another split in the Security Council on the Syrian issue and guided by the aspiration to accelerate the procedure of supply of humanitarian aid to the Syrian population in need, we agreed to participate in the coordination of the draft resolution. This document should ease the process of trans-border supplies of humanitarian cargo to Syria from the territory of adjacent states. I would specially note the requirement for the future trans-border operations to be compliant with the UN criteria in this issue, which, in particular, were confirmed by UNSC resolution 2139 on the humanitarian situation in SAR, which was adopted on the 22 February. This primarily concerns the observation of the sovereignty of Syria and consideration of the opinion of its government, when conducting humanitarian operations. Of course, it should not contain any enforcement measure, including by force, which are envisaged under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
In doing this, we still believe that at this stage the main emphasis should be on the practical aspects of settingup effective work in Syria, rather than taking it to international arenas, including the UN Security Council. We are also convinced that the final success in international efforts in this direction mainly depends on the effectiveness of the inter-Syrian political process within the framework of the Geneva-2, the quicker renewal of which Russian continues to insistentlycall for.
Development of the situation in Lebanon
Lebanon, whose political system is based on the principles of pluralism and openness, today is facing various threats, caused by the bloody conflict in its neighbour Syria and other regional crises.
Russia consistently supports sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Lebanon. We pay tribute to the contribution of the UN in ensuring security in this country, primarily, in the region of the Lebanese-Israeli border. We believe that all the issues of the Lebanese national agenda should be resolved by the Lebanese within the framework of the acting constitution through a dialogue between all the political and religious forces.
We expect that the positive trends in the consolidation of the Lebanese community, which have been expressed in the formation and successful functioning of the Government of the Prime Minister, Tammam Salam, will receive a new impetus through the achievement of consent between the main political forces of the country regarding the first President of the Lebanese Republic. We know that the Lebanese know how to agree.
We support the active efforts, which have been undertaken by the Lebanese Army and law enforcement agencies lately, to counteract terrorist threats and threats of arousing an inter-sectarian conflict in the country. We note with satisfaction that the situation in the area of security, especially in problem areas, has noticeably improved. Within the framework of our active work in the International Support Group for Lebanon, the Russian delegation composed of representatives of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence actively participated in the International Conference in support of the armed forces of the Lebanese Republic which was held in Rome on the 17 June.
We understand the tremendous social and economic problems, which the Lebanese Government faces, because of the inflow of over one million Syrian refugees to a country with a population of 4 million. We will continue to provide humanitarian aid to Beirut, however, the real way out of the situation is in early end to the military actions in SAR and the re-establishment of peace in this country, which would create the conditions for the return of Syrian refugees to their home.
Assessments of chemical demilitarisation of Syria
Russia is generally satisfied with the course of chemical demilitarisation of Syria, which is taking place with the active support of the international community. We have taken a positive assessment of the level reached in the interaction between Damascus and the joint OPCW-UN mission in the implementation of the respective decision of the OPCW Executive Board and UNSC resolution 2118 with regard to the liquidation of the military and chemical potential which is almost reduced to zero today. The equipment for the production of chemical weapons and the unprepared means of its supply have been destroyed, the removal of mustard gas, the only ready to use military poisonous substance, has also been completed.
As at the 18 June, 93% of stockpiles of precursors and components of chemical weapons had been removed by Syria in the most complicated military and political conditions. At the beginning of June the Norwegian ship Taiko carrying a cargo of toxic chemicals left the East Mediterranean. According to the set plan, the chemicals on board should be delivered to commercial companies in Finland and the United States, where they will be destroyed under the control of OPCW experts.
However, there are still about 7% of components of chemical weapons, which are stocked in one storage site. They will be removed, when the situation in the security areas allows this and any real risk that militants of the armed opposition may attack the transport convoy is reduced to a minimum, because this would have extremely dangerous consequences.
Aggravation of the situation in the Palestinian territories
On the 12 June, three Israeli teenagers, students of the religious institution Makor Chaim, disappeared near Hevron, in "zone C" in the West Bank of the Jordan River, which is under the control of Israel. The Israeli leader immediately assigned the responsibility for their disappearance on HAMAS. In their turn, HAMAS representatives made a statement that their movement had nothing to do with the the boy's kidnapping.
In the course of the search involving several thousands of military personnel, over 200 Palestinians were arrested, including the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Duwaik, and about 20 parliamentarians. Several motorways have been blocked, a curfew has been introduced in Hevron, Bethlehem and almost the entire southern part of the WBJR. A 21 year old Palestinian died and several peoplewere injured on the 16 June, in the exchange of fire in the Al Jalazoon refugee camp near Ramalla.
The situation around the Gaza Strip intensified, the Israeli Army made artillery and air strikes to this territory on the 16-17 June. There are wounded among the Palestinians, several infrastructure sites were destroyed. The Islamist militants from the enclave launched several missiles, which were intercepted by the Israeli system, Iron Dome.
We are deeply concerned about the aggravation of the situation on the Palestinian territories. We request faster and unconditional liberation of the three kidnapped Israelis. The Palestinians, who are under the administrative arrest, should be freed. We appeal to all the involved parties to do everything in their power to de-escalate the situation and to make steps for the purposes of its faster normalisation.
The situation with Russian nationals, who suffered in a traffic accident in India
Let me remind you that on the 10 June, 13 Russian nationals, were injured in a traffic accident, including two fatalities (Rimma Mischuk and Alexander Kliushkin), but one is missing (Alexander Prokopyev) in the Indian State of Uttarakhand.
Thanks to the operative measures undertaken by our Embassy in India in interaction with local authorities, the injuredRussian nationals were transported to New Delhi on the 11 June, where they received qualified medical help. On the same day (11 June), the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, expressed his gratitude for the assistance provided to his colleague Minister of Foreign Affairs of India, Sushma Swaraj, with whom he had a phone conversation.
Currently, four Russian nationals are undergoing a treatment course in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Alisa Gribova from Nizhny Novgorod, who wasinjured most severely and suffered a spinal compression fracture, was operated by Indian specialists on the 13 June. The condition of this Russian national is estimated as severe yet stable. The issue regarding transportation of the injured Russian nationals to Moscow is currently being discussed.
High-level conference of the Asia-Europe Forum in St Petersburg
On the 3-4 July, a high-level conference of the Asia-Europe Forum in St Petersburg (ASEM) on intercultural and interreligious dialogue under the slogan "Intercivilisational consent as a necessary condition for sustainable development" will be held in St Petersburg. The conference will be held by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation with active support of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
We attach great importance to the activity of the forum, which we view as a valuable mechanism of trust building and mutual understanding between Asian and European countries. We see the need to extend the practical cooperation within the ASEM, to promote the dialogue in energy and food security areas, to create modern infrastructure and to assist the small and medium enterprises.
Let me remind you that the initiative of the conference on intercultural and interreligious dialogue was proposed by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, at the ASEM summit in Vientiane in 2012. During the event in St Petersburg, the plan is to consider the important issues like preservation and development of cultural and civilisational diversity, respect for national traditions, the role of the state and mass media in the build-up of intercivilisational consent, as well as some other issues.
The meeting will be attended by heads of profile ministries and agencies of ASEM member states, representatives of community and religious organisations. As a result of the conference a declaration will be adopted, which will lay down the main results of discussion and recommendations to governments regarding the reinforcement of interreligious and intercultural interaction.
For event organisation and mass media accreditation questions, please turn to the press service of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
From answers to questions of the mass media:
Question: The situation in Iraq is escalating. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is becoming more and more active and intends to spread its influence on other countries and seize their territories. How would you comment on today's picture in this country?
Answer: I would not call this "picture" that Iraq faces a tragic situation, which shows again what large-scale event , undertaken bypassing collective decision by the international community (I mean the events of some time ago) can lead to.
An extended comment on the situation in Iraq was published in the website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 17 June. Our assessments are the same today. I suggest you study them once again.
Question: How would you comment on the decision of the Verkhovna Rada regarding the unilateral demarcation of the border with the Russian Federation?
Answer: This topic is popular in the mass media. According to the established international practices, the demarcation of the state border is a mutual process between adjacent states. No unilateral demarcation can be legally binding for the other party, and therefore will not reach its aim.
Let me remind you that according to the bilateral Agreement with Ukraine, which was signed on 17 May 2010, a joint demarcation commission was established, which fits the norms and principles, by which states should be guided, when performing respective works.
We believe that Ukraine undertook obligations to demarcate its borders within the framework of this mechanism. The Russian part of the Commission has always demonstrated its readiness to dialogue and joint work. Members of this Commission visited Kiev, but, unfortunately, no meaningful negotiations were possible because of the Ukrainian party. We expect that the Ukrainian authorities will refuse to make practical steps to demarcate the border unilaterally in violation of the existing international obligations.
Question: It is known that the Japanese Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida, intended to visit Russia in April. However, his visit was postponed to an unknown time. Is there any information, when it can take place?
The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, was surprise about the Japanese sanctions against Russian. Could you please tell us the position of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with regard to this step by the Japanese leaders? How will it affect the development of bilateral relations?
Answer: As to the prospects of the visit of the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, we will be in contact with Japan. Such issues are coordinated through diplomatic channels. I cannot say anything specific about deadlines right now. We are maintaining a dialogue with our Japanese colleagues with regard to this.
We said many times about our negative attitude to any unilateral sanction measures. Our reaction can only be negative, and this point of view was conveyed to Japan. It is clear that such actions cannot but affect the atmosphere of our dialogue with Tokyo. Nevertheless, we expect that the Japanese leaders will be more reasonable in their policy and believe that when choosing methods of doing business with one or another country, it will be more or less guided by their own decision, without consideration of obligations of allies, or hints from outside.
Question: A few days ago, it became known that Iraq turned to the United States asking them to make military strikes on the site in Iraq, which is under control of Sunni rebels from ISIL. What is Russia's attitude to this? In your opinion, do we need a UNSC permit for such actions?
Answer: This question returns us to the recent story regarding the military event in Iraq, which was not sanctioned by the UN Security Council, and the consequences of which we must deal with. I am convinced that any forceful or military influence – even if there is a request of the interested country – can be sanctioned by the UNSC only. Only in this case they are legitimate and correspond to the norms and principles of the UN Charter.
Otherwise, will can get another version of the Iraqi tragedy, which will have not only regional, but also a larger scale significance.
Question: We received information today that the Ukrainian government is going to involve European companies into the management of the gas transportation system. By this measure the Ukrainian authorities intend to reduce the interest of countries of the European Union to the construction of the South Stream. How can you comment on this?
Answer: You know our position on gas cooperation with Ukraine and the agreements, which, unfortunately, were not possible to implement through negotiations with our Ukrainian colleagues. As far as I can remember, we proposed to the Ukraine many times to talk about problems in its gas transportation system, including in a trilateral format (Russia-Ukraine-European Union). The European Commission considered that this only concerned the relations between Ukraine and the EU.
Such questions cannot be resolved without Russia, because the portion of Russian gas in transit deliveries to Europe is quite solid. Hardly anybody will be interested in the Ukrainian gas transportation system without the Russian factors, especially in the way we see it now.
Question: Taking into account sanctions, are there any changes in the plans of the President of Russia to visit Japan this autumn?
Answer: For information on the schedule of visits of the head of state, please contact the Press Service of the Government of the Russian Federation.
Question: What is the official assessment by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the events in Lugansk on the 14 June, when IL-76 was pranged, but representatives of the Lugansk Popular Republic claimed responsibility for that?
Answer: Many assessments and comments were published in this regard. I suggest you study the assessments of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which are posted on the website of our Ministry, as well as on other information resources.
