Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow, April 3, 2024
Table of contents
- The Day of Unity of the Peoples of Russia and Belarus
- Sergey Lavrov to participate in a round-table discussion on Ukrainian issues at the Foreign Ministry’s Diplomatic Academy
- Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to China
- Ukrainian crisis
- The 10th anniversary of the Donetsk People’s Republic
- The Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs
- NATO and EU cyber centres near Russia’s borders
- First quarter of Russia’s BRICS chairmanship
- The 80th anniversary of the Red Army’s Crimean strategic offensive operation
- The 80th anniversary of the liberation of
- Continuing to work with the Russian Military Historical Society
- International Day of Sport
- Runet’s 30th anniversary
Answers to media questions:
- The imposition of anti-Russian sanctions by the Republic of Korea
- The anniversary of Bessarabia's accession to Romania
- The appeal of deputies and public figures to the Investigative Committee of Russia and law enforcement agencies in the West
- Russian-Indian economic contacts
- The report of the UN Human Rights Observer Mission in Ukraine
- The anti-Russian rhetoric of Moldova's leadership
- Russia's veto of the draft UN Security Council resolution on the DPRK
- The anti-Russian remarks made by the mayor of Paris and Thomas Bach
- Western strategies with regard to North Korea
- The cessation of MIR card services in Armenia
- Western sanctions policy towards China
- The Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria
- The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border
- Washington's sharing of information on the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall
- The upcoming Armenia-US-EU meeting
- Armenia's participation in the CSTO
- Statements by the CSTO Secretary General
- Armenia's shift towards cooperation with the West
- Personnel purges in Ukraine
- The import of explosives from Ukraine to Russia hidden in icons
- The visit of the DPRK delegation to Moscow
The Day of Unity of the Peoples of Russia and Belarus
I would like to begin with some excellent news. Yesterday, on April 2, we marked the Day of Unity of the Peoples of Russia and Belarus.
On this day in 1996, our countries signed the Treaty Establishing the Union State of Russia and Belarus and embarked on the course towards closer integration. Exactly one year later, on April 2, 1997, the Treaty on the Union of Belarus and Russia was signed, and on December 8, 1999, the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State, the 25th anniversary of which we will mark this year.
A tremendous amount of work has been accomplished over these years, and a truly effective way of building the Union State which is rightfully considered the core of integration processes within the post-Soviet space. Significant progress has been made in uniting the potentials of our respective economies, ensuring equal rights for the citizens and equal terms and conditions for economic entities.
The foreign ministries of the two countries enjoy high levels of coordination and mutual support on international platforms in accordance with the coordinated foreign policy programmes that have been adopted by the Union Treaty member states since 1996.
Building a common space of defence and security of the Union State, deepening military and defence cooperation, and joint response to common challenges and threats are our top priorities.
Unfortunately, this holiday was marred by the barbaric terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall on March 22. As you are aware, citizens of Belarus died in the attack as well. A number of events which were planned to be held in Moscow in connection with the Day of Unity of the Peoples of Russia and Belarus were cancelled. But the spirit of Russians and Belarusians cannot be broken. Despite everything, the Russian and Belarusian flags flew on the Ostankino Tower yesterday. A traditional concert dedicated to the occasion was held in Minsk, and welcoming messages from the presidents of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus were read out.
I would like to take this opportunity to once again wish a happy common holiday to the Russians and Belarusians, wish them all the best and express confidence that standing together our fraternal peoples will cope with every challenge coming their way and build a strong and prosperous Union State.
On March 28, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov mentioned in an interview with Izvestia Multimedia Information Centre that he would meet with the ambassadors from the Global Majority countries in Moscow.
Indeed, on April, he will speak at a roundtable discussion, The Ukraine crisis: legal and human rights dimension, hosted by the Foreign Ministry’s Diplomatic Academy with the participation of ambassadors from more than 70 countries.
This is the fourth meeting dedicated to the Ukraine crisis that the Diplomatic Academy will be hosting in this format. The previous meetings focused on various aspects of this issue, including the role of mediation and humanitarian initiatives, unlawful sanctions and their ramifications for the global economy, as well as the militarisation of the Nazi Kiev regime and the importance of demilitarising it.
We highly appreciate the Diplomatic Academy’s efforts to hold such events and to openly discuss the Ukraine crisis-related matters.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to China
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will soon make an official visit to the People’s Republic of China, where he will hold talks with Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi. We will announce the date together with our Chinese colleagues. You can follow the updates on the Foreign Ministry’s website and social media accounts. The exact date of the visit will be announced separately.
The foreign ministers are expected to discuss a wide range of issues related to bilateral cooperation, as well as interaction on the international stage with an emphasis on the joint work at the UN, BRICS, the SCO, the G20, and APEC, among other multilateral mechanisms and forums.
An in-depth discussion is expected on a number of acute topics and regional issues, including the Ukrainian crisis and developments in the Asia-Pacific region.
Let me remind you once again that we will announce the exact date within a few days, together with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Another barbaric terrorist attack was carried out against civilians in the Republic of Tatarstan. We are receiving updates in real time. At this point we know that 13 people, including citizens of Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, were injured as a result of a drone attack on college dormitory buildings in Tatarstan.
The Kiev regime continues its terrorist activities against civilians and the civilian infrastructure of Russia. In fact, this was publicly admitted by Head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine Kirill Budanov, who said during a Ukrainian telethon on March 31 that attacks on the Belgorod Region were very beneficial for Ukraine and will continue to at least achieve limited success. Only people with “limited” intelligence can say such things.
The Bandera followers are actively using Western weapons to attack residential areas and social facilities in the Belgorod Region. From March 29 to April 1 alone, they opened fire on settlements there more than 100 times. Unfortunately, there were casualties: two people died and 13 were injured.
Belgorod is facing the brunt of these attacks. Ukrainian terrorists are deliberately targeting residential neighbourhoods there to instil panic and fear among people. However, Belgorod residents, like all Russians, cannot be broken or intimidated. Neo-Nazis of all stripes will receive the response they deserve and will be eliminated, as stated by the Russian leadership, no matter where they try to hide.
On March 27, three people were killed and five injured during shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces of Gorlovka, Panteleymonovka and Aleksandrovka in the DPR.
On March 29, an elderly man in Donetsk was injured when a Butterfly anti-personnel mine exploded. It is worth noting that Ukraine ratified the Ottawa Convention in 2005, which prohibits the use, stockpiling and production of anti-personnel mines.
On April 1, 2024, member of a local legislative assembly and Deputy Head of the Service Centre for LPR’s Educational Institutions Valery Chaika was killed in a targeted car explosion in Lugansk People Republic’s Starobelsk.
There is no doubt that the Ukrainian special services were involved in this attack. Their senior officials have not only been demonstrating their solidarity with these acts and claiming responsibility for them, but have also called for continuing these terrorist and extremist acts. They pride themselves for perpetrating these terrorist attacks targeting public figures in Russia.
Russian law enforcement agencies have been diligent in recording all these crimes. They identify the perpetrators and hold them to account.
Based on the evidence collected by the Investigative Committee of Russia, Russian courts have awarded new sentences against Ukrainian fighters for committing grave crimes against civilians.
In the Donetsk People’s Republic, a court sentenced fighters from Azov, a neo-Nazi unit, Vladislav Sygys, Pavel Gusev and Alexander Sykylynda to spend the rest of their lives behind bars in a high-security prison colony. They were found guilty of civilian killings motivated by political, ideological and national hatred in Mariupol in March 2022.
Not a single Ukrainian criminal will be able to escape punishment. They will be identified and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
There have been new reports about Paris preparing a military force for sending it to Ukraine. For that, the French Foreign Legion’s command approved the composition of a battalion tactical group in early March. It includes about 1,500 people. It is expected that this group will be placed on full combat alert in April so that it can be promptly deployed to the Ukrainian military theatre.
Meanwhile, the French have been upholding certain aspects from their past instead of condemning them to oblivion. Just like their predecessors, they are now covertly taking Ukrainian cultural treasures out of the country, including ancient Byzantine icons, while pretending that this effort is designed to ensure safety for these exhibits in France.
The Kiev regime has continued its purging effort targeting the information space in a nation-wide censorship campaign. On March 28, 2024, Le Figaro published an article saying that 70 journalists were killed in Ukraine, and 250 media outlets closed. Of course, it is great that they did it. Better late than never, as the saying goes. What I would like to say in this connection is that we have already said it all, including to Le Figaro, which has interviewed Foreign Ministry officials. We have been publishing and translating these materials for all these years, including into French. Where was this newspaper during these ten years? After all, these 70 journalists who were killed in Ukraine were victims of the criminal regime in Kiev, and they have been dying for all these years. This did not happen in a single day. Moreover, for some reason, the French media are not asking why Paris keeps paying the Kiev regime and offering it its political support. Why is Paris not only ready to lend its helping hand to Kiev, but is actually throwing more and more money into Vladimir Zelensky’s hands, along will all these weapons and all the rest for perpetrating terrorist attacks? We have been talking about this day and night, and we do see that this information is beginning to surface in the Western media. However, we want more than just stale and gutless articles lacking any substance. What we need is a real insight and a 360-degree perspective on this situation. We want the media to ask Western regimes, where were they all this time and what kind of activity are they now sponsoring with their money. How bad can it get if even the media freedom’s would-be standard bearers are struggling to cover up crimes perpetrated by the Kiev regime?
In particular, this newspaper reported that Vladimir Zelensky decided to do away with the freedom of expression in Ukraine. What a thing to discover in 2024! His predecessor, Petr Poroshenko, went down the same road. And they all did it together with the Security Service of Ukraine and other monstrous entities. Nationalist battalions put a lot of effort into this undertaking. They became part of the Ukrainian armed forces later. Does anyone here remember the provocation involving Arkady Babchenko, who pretended to be a journalist? This was presented as an assassination attempt involving Russia and Russian nationals, but later it turned out that it was all engineered by local Ukrainian special services.
The Western media has been reporting that journalists do not have the proper environment to do their work. They keep getting threats, while the authorities prevent them from receiving information arguing that it contains classified military information. There is also censorship on Ukrainian television networks with six channels airing, since the start of the conflict, rubber-stamped frontline reports as if they were part of a single television marathon. The journalist who exposed wrongdoings in Ukraine’s Defence Ministry when Aleksey Reznikov stood at its helm wrote that Vladimir Zelensky poses a real threat to democracy. What a mild and gentle way of framing this issue. I am not even saying that this statement came too late, it is simply too mild. This is not about creating obstacles or censoring mass media and journalists. This is a matter of life and death for them.
Oksana Romanyuk, Director of the Ukrainian Institute of Mass Information, has admitted that the country has rolled back many years in terms of the freedom of the press. The crackdown on dissent is intensifying, with the repressive persecution machinery crushing all those who dare to criticise the authorities, especially publicly. This has become possible due to the Law on Media dated March 31, 2023, which legitimised arbitrariness towards the media. We spoke in detail about this back then.
We pointed out that it was flagrant violation of human rights and freedoms, which endangered lives in Ukraine and was a mockery of the declared EU “standards.” But nobody is concerned about this in Brussels. They regard Zelensky as an upright person and dismiss everything else as the “side effects of democracy.” As Josep Borrell has said, this is not about “love for Ukrainians” but about inflicting “strategic defeat” on Russia.
Ukraine is openly speaking about growing mobilisation problems. Experts believe that up to 70 percent of Ukraine’s mobilisation potential will be exhausted by 2025. The proposed measures to conscript women will not improve the situation.
On April 2, 2024, Zelensky signed amendments to the law On Military Duty and Military Service, which the Verkhovna Rada adopted on May 30, 2023. The amendments will lower the country’s minimum conscription age from 27 to 25.
The Verkhovna Rada discussed this disputable amendment in the first reading on February 8, 2024, following which the bill was send for consideration by parliamentary committees, which continue discussing numerous amendments to it.
Zelensky has also signed a law to oblige men with exemptions due to physical problems to be re-examined and a law to create an online register of people eligible to serve in the army, which violates a number of provisions of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data.
In other words, Zelensky is gradually toughening mobilisation rules. Some sources say that he is doing this on instructions from Washington, so as to create favourable conditions for the congressional approval of a new Ukraine aid package. The Biden team cannot admit the failure of their projects known as “the Kiev regime” and “Ukraine as a US protectorate.” They were the main elements of their foreign policy, their trump cards, and a bridgehead for Washington’s future victories worldwide. They have lost the bet, but they can’t admit this to the American taxpayers. They will continue to demand more money from ordinary Americans to keep Zelensky’s regime from going under while forcing Zelensky to sacrifice more Ukrainian lives.
We can foresee the result of these amendments and laws coming into force. Efforts will be redoubled to grab as many Ukrainians as possible and to send them to the frontline.
Another problem for the Kiev regime is the choice of prison over the battlefront made by many Ukrainians. In late March 2024, a court in Lvov gave a three-year sentence to a man who refused to be drafted. He said he didn’t want to go to war or kill Russians.
A Western media outlet wrote on March 25, 2024, that unwillingness to join the army was becoming a trend in Ukraine. More people are pessimistic about the outcome of the conflict and wonder if Ukraine can defeat Russia. People in Ukraine and the Western media are beginning to suspect the truth.
Ukrainians don’t want to become cannon fodder. They prefer to flee the country, evade recruitment officers, or even commit crimes rather than be victimised by the Kiev regime.
The destruction of monuments and the renaming of placenames continue in Ukraine. Everything associated with the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union is being erased. The Ukrainian authorities fear the historical truth and wish to eliminate it altogether.
On March 25, 2024, the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory demanded that the Peoples' Friendship Arch, which was unveiled in Kev on the 60th anniversary of the Soviet Union in 1982, be dismantled as a “symbol of Russia’s imperial policy.” There must be a limit to delusion. Look here, the arch was unveiled in 1982 on the 60th anniversary of the Soviet Union, but the modern-day “democratic” historians in Ukraine see it as a symbol of “Russia’s imperial policy.” Moreover, they claim that a simple renaming is not enough because even a renamed monument would “be a threat to Ukraine’s national security because of Soviet ideologemes and connotations.” It is notable that earlier the monument has been renamed as the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People. But those who rejected the new name were probably right, because there can be no arch of freedom of the Ukrainian people when there is no freedom in Ukraine. Therefore, they have decided that it would be better to dismantle the arch so that people do not think about the freedom of the Ukrainian people or the glorious past of Ukraine without Zelensky and the modern-day Kiev regime.
They are also attacking our prominent historical figures, including writers and musicians. For example, they have decided that there must be no monuments or placenames in memory of Mikhail Bulgakov, Iosif Brodsky and Mikhail Glinka, or members of the 1825 Decembrist Revolt. The institute personnel claim that Bulgakov, who was born in Kiev, was a “rabid Ukrainophobe” and “imperialist chauvinist” and that commemorating Glinka would amount to “negating differences between the Ukrainian and Russian national identities.”
As for the Decembrists, they are guilty because they didn’t see Ukraine without Russia. Moreover, the existence of the term “Ukraine” was not an issue in the Decembrists’ period, when nobody saw it as an independent state.
I would like to quote what the great Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov wrote in 1923 in an essay about Kiev. “Now the town is completely exhausted after those terrifying, tumultuous years. [But] it will be rebuilt, its streets will simmer again. And may the memory of Petlyura vanish.” The same can be said about the current Kiev junta. That regime and the memory of it will vanish.
The above facts confirm the importance of the goals of the special military operation launched to denazify and demilitarise Ukraine and eliminate the threats coming from its territory. All these goals will be achieved, as the Russian leaders said on numerous occasions.
The 10th anniversary of the Donetsk People’s Republic
Ten years ago, the United States and its allies in Kiev staged a bloody armed coup that brought to power the radical nationalist forces. On April 7, 10 years ago, the Donetsk People’s Republic was proclaimed following a referendum held in the wake of the violent overthrow of the legitimate government.
The Maidan polarised Ukrainian society, paving the way to an armed civil conflict. The United States and its satellites had vested interest in the coup d’etat in Kiev. They had helped to nurture the radicals, who later took to imposing their own rules on the country, including a nationalist ideology and a revised version of Ukrainian history. In effect, they were turning Ukraine into an anti-Russia project.
Those whom the Western “sponsors” described as “singers of democracy” used boulders as weapons, set fire to car tires, and ignited Molotov cocktails. On the Maidan somewhat later, they took up arms and launched more radical attacks. They have degenerated into terrorist scum that perpetrates bloody terrorist atrocities on the European continent.
The first legislative steps by the “winners of Maidan,” in particular their attempt to abrogate the law on regional languages, caused concern in southeastern Ukraine, where people spontaneously started forming militias. The local population demanded that the authorities in Kiev respect their legitimate rights, primarily the right to speak their native language and have it taught to their children. Under these circumstances, the Kiev regime launched an “antiterrorist operation” to suppress the popular protests in Donbass by force of arms.
This has a monstrous ring. We still feel horror reading the “accusations” concocted by the Kiev regime, whose arms are elbow-high in blood.
On April 7, 2014, a popular convention in Donetsk established the Council of Representatives of Municipalities, Political Parties, and Public Organisations of the Donetsk Region, which approved the Declaration on Sovereignty and the Act on the Proclamation of State Independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic. On May 11, 2014, referendums were held simultaneously in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, at which people expressed their attitude to the idea of creating sovereign states. In the DPR, this idea was supported by 89.7 percent of voters.
Instead of coming to a political accommodation with its fellow citizens, Kiev and its patrons launched a punitive operation that was in effect a civil war. Russia was taking persistent efforts to settle the Ukraine crisis by peaceful means. We agreed to hold talks in Minsk and volunteered to draft the first Minsk agreements, which the Western sponsors of the Kiev regime turned into a smokescreen for NATO preparations. We see what it all has led to.
The Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs
On April 3-4 in Brussels, NATO is holding a Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The programme also includes events marking the 75th anniversary of the alliance. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg opened the show with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, making it clear who is in charge among the “equal partners” in the alliance. It was yet another reminder that the aggressive bloc created by the Anglo-Saxons, allegedly to counter the USSR but essentially to maintain the West’s hegemony under the leadership of the United States, continues to serve primarily the interests of the United States and aggressive and destructive forces.
Even today, when the alliance came so close to the Russian borders (when Finland joined NATO in 2023, the alliance’s contact line with Russia extended by nearly 100 percent), NATO members continue to insist that the bloc serves only defensive purposes.
It is surprising to hear such statements, considering NATO’s aggression against Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Why was it necessary to have six waves of NATO expansion after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the breakup of the Soviet Union? They cannot answer this question. But we understand that the answer lies in the fact that NATO is an aggressive bloc with a destructive ideology. They expanded even after the West assured the Soviet leaders that the alliance would not expand to the East.
Today in its relations with Russia, the North Atlantic bloc has reverted to its Cold War paradigm, labelling our country as the most significant and direct threat in its doctrinal documents. NATO is actively building up its military potential on its eastern flank, conducting anti-Russia exercises on an unprecedented scale and not even trying to hide it. Washington and its allies are waging a hybrid war against our country in Ukraine, injecting billions of dollars without reservation to support Vladimir Zelensky’s neo-Nazi terrorist regime, with the sole purpose of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.
It is symptomatic that NATO’s charges in Kiev wormed their way into the anniversary celebrations by holding the NATO-Ukraine Council on the sidelines of the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs. This so-called forum is effectively the only thing that Kiev has managed to gain from its Western sponsors in exchange for the destruction of its own country in its anti-Russia rage. The alliance wanted to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, but instead it destroyed Ukraine.
NATO will not stop there. Moldova and other post-Soviet countries, along with other regions of the world, are now at risk. Look at what the bloc is doing in the parts of the world where there are no NATO members. NATO is trying to expand to the Asia-Pacific and other regions. Through the Westerners’ efforts, the EU mission in Armenia is essentially turning into a NATO mission. To demonstrate the bloc’s alleged relevance, the leaders of NATO countries are ramping up anti-Russia sentiment and calling Armenians to prepare for a military conflict with Russia and to invest huge funds in the defence industry amidst obvious economic problems. But they are not investing money in defence themselves, but urging Armenia to do it. They have made many promises, including to Serbia and Ukraine. Those who managed to prevent the spread of false narratives that disguised the obliteration of statehood, society and the economy – those who managed to prevent it, remain standing. The others, who failed or refused to prevent it, like Ukraine, are now ruined.
To summarise, despite the anniversary, there is nothing worth celebrating. Perhaps, NATO members had planned a celebration, but in my opinion, they ended up holding a requiem for important principles such as pan-European cooperation, indivisible security, and countering common threats and challenges. NATO has a track record of aggressive endeavours that brought wars and destruction to many nations, conducted for the benefit of the golden billion and its dubious values. There is no place for this rudimentary tool of the collective West in the evolving multipolar world.
We will continue to closely monitor the North Atlantic bloc. I would like to draw your attention to an interesting discussion that took place during a roundtable meeting, NATO: 75 Years at the Forefront of Escalation, underway right now (April 3, 11 am) at the Rossiya Segodnya Press Centre.
NATO and EU cyber centres near Russia’s borders
The military and political leadership of NATO and the Western countries continues to build up their capabilities in cyberspace, which Washington and its allies view as one of the theatres of military and information confrontation.
Nathaniel Fick, the US State Department’s ambassador for cybersecurity, said that Washington was planning to build a cybersecurity system in Eastern Europe to fight “undemocratic regimes.” The system will focus on Russia as one of the main threats to America’s digital stability.
To plan and conduct cyber operations, the NATO countries use a network of cyber centres located along the perimeter of the Russian Federation’s borders. These special cyber laboratories are designed to provide operational and technical support to groups from the alliance’s cyber commands or special operations forces, as well as from their partner countries. They are also used to monitor the information landscape and gather intelligence.
The largest and oldest of these is the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, which specialises in cyber operations to disable critical infrastructure. Simply put, ‘critical infrastructure’ means everything that is essential to the basic daily functioning of society, such as electricity, water, and gas supply systems. The term also refers to smaller but no less important facilities that ensure the operation of transport corridors including land, air and rail transport. In other words, [this centre is capable of] disabling everything that makes our lives not just safe, but even possible.
According to the centre’s website, its mission is to support NATO and its member nations “with unique interdisciplinary expertise in the field of cyber defence research, training and exercises covering the focus areas of technology, strategy, operations and law.” Although worded very nicely, the bottom line is about destroying the critical infrastructure I just mentioned.
Despite its stated defensive focus, the centre conducts annual Crossed Swords exercises to practice “planning and executing a full-spectrum cyber operation.” So much for defence. The 12th iteration, held in December 2023, included participants from over 20 countries. The cyber centre receives considerable funding for these exercises. In particular, IT companies from the Baltic states are involved in creating the simulation networks, which mimic major facilities in Russia and Belarus.
In addition to the cyber exercises I mentioned, since 2009, the Centre has been holding CyCon, an annual international conference on cyber warfare. The next event is scheduled for May 28-31, 2024.
The Centre’s activities involve all NATO member states, as well as “contributing participants” (Australia, Austria, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden, South Korea, Japan, and from May 17, 2023, also Ukraine). Yes, Ukraine, which has provided a platform for cyberattacks against our country for years, and in recent years, also against European countries. Ukrainian cyber fraudsters, criminals, extremists and terrorists steal money from people’s accounts and banks, and hack into servers. They use information and communication capabilities to cause significant damage and disrupt the work of public institutions such as schools, hospitals and businesses. Misinformation is being propagated from the territory of Ukraine about impending attacks and bombings. Is this the same country that has now been invited to be a “contributing participant” in the cyber conference?
Even the EU member states have already investigated multiple cases involving cybercriminals from Ukraine massively syphoning off funds from EU citizens’ accounts. However, no one is going to punish Ukraine, the Kiev regime, by recalling diplomats or by closing embassies. On the contrary, Ukraine is being “rewarded” with access to major cyber conferences.
The NATO countries expect that having Ukrainian specialists join its activities will allow Kiev to “more effectively confront Russia in cyberspace.” There really is a limit to cynicism; beyond that limit, real crime begins.
In December 2023, the Estonian authorities announced the creation of the Tallinn Mechanism, a coordination format to promote Ukraine’s information security in the context of war with Russia. The participating countries include Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. According to their statements, this work will be carried out in close coordination with NATO and the EU.
Additionally, Lithuania hosts the National Cyber Security Centre under the Ministry of National Defence. Within its framework, plans are underway to establish a cyber threat analysis group in cooperation with Ukraine, which will operate in the mutual interests of these nations.
At the Vilnius summit in 2023, an initiative was unveiled to address the technological disparities among NATO member nations by introducing a virtual cyber incident support centre. The primary objective of this centre is to assist alliance states in managing the aftermath of cyberattacks. Western nations, including Albania, Belgium, Spain, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Türkiye, have voluntarily joined this initiative.
The NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, established in Riga in January 2014, has commenced operations. Its official mandate is to enhance NATO’s strategic communications capabilities, supporting the alliance’s coordination efforts by providing in-depth analysis and practical assistance. Essentially, its focus is on countering Russian information capabilities, labelled as propaganda and disinformation, and overseeing the planning and execution of strategic information and psychological operations against our country. It’s a familiar narrative that shows who NATO countries are aligning against.
Established in 2020 in Bucharest, the European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre concentrates on bolstering capabilities in innovative technologies and shaping a European cybersecurity ecosystem in cooperation with Britain, Estonia, and Lithuania.
On October 2, 2017, the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats was officially inaugurated in Helsinki. The centre’s primary aim is to enhance the capability of EU member states in combatting hybrid threats. It achieves this goal by facilitating the exchange of best practices and offering educational courses and training programmes.
Upon examining its activities, Russian military analysts have concluded that this Finnish get-together is executing a series of active measures across military, political, diplomatic, economic, informational, medical, and other areas with the intention of tarnishing Russia’s image.
The expansion of cyber centres across different regions is ongoing. NATO is currently planning to establish a similar facility in Albania. This move signals the potential emergence of yet another source of hybrid threats in the Balkans, an area known for grappling with numerous challenges created by Western influence. Additionally, plans are underway to establish an international NATO Cyber Security Centre in Georgia, supported by the alliance and the EU, in coordination with the USA, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Lithuania. Moldova also hosts several NATO-backed facilities, including the NATO Information and Documentation Centre, the NATO Liaison Office, and a Cyber Incident Response Capability for the Moldovan Armed Forces, established with NATO’s assistance.
On October 2, 2023, the National Security Agency Director, General Paul Nakasone, unveiled plans to establish “combat” artificial intelligence laboratories within the European and Indo-Pacific commands. These labs are designed to gather diverse operational data with the aim of developing specialised software and enhancing personnel’s proficiency in working with automated systems.
The EU has allocated 1.6 billion euros for its digital security programme until 2027. This funding will go towards establishing “operational security centres” to enhance coordination efforts, bolster cyber attack detection capabilities, and foster dialogue with businesses on cybersecurity matters. The implications of these initiatives are well understood.
Under the guise of enhancing digital capabilities and security, nations are being drawn into aggressive manoeuvres in the information space. Washington’s self-serving approach to allied nations is evident, as they are used as platforms for hostile actions against Russia. Additionally, offensive cyber operations, often conducted under false pretences, with the involvement of numerous partners, are increasingly characteristic of US foreign policy.
First quarter of Russia’s BRICS chairmanship
The Russian Federation’s BRICS chairmanship is gaining momentum, and several dozen events have been held at the ministerial and expert levels in all three main areas of cooperation that include politics and security, the economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian contacts.
Russia’s BRICS chairmanship has always relied on the principles of consensus and continuity. The harmonious integration of new participants into the existing mechanisms of interaction remains the most important objective. In this regard, we have noted the active stance of the newly acceded countries, which are keenly interested in aligning their activities within the association.
Pursuant to the leaders’ instruction that is laid out in the final declaration of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg (August 22-24, 2023), a discussion is underway to identify modalities for establishing a new category of BRICS Partner Countries. The results of this work will be presented at the meeting of the BRICS Foreign Ministers in Nizhny Novgorod on June 10-11, and then the heads of state will review the resulting recommendations at the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan on October 22-24.
Our chairmanship priorities include improving coordination among the BRICS countries at international venues. Agreeing on the language of a joint BRICS declaration during the sixth session of the UN Environment Assembly (Nairobi, February 26-March 1) was a good outcome of this work. We hope to continue this practice.
Interaction in the area of counter-terrorism and combating crime has improved. On February 7, the BRICS Council on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism held a meeting, via videoconference, to review initiatives aimed at enhancing the transparency of financial systems, minimising risks, mitigating threats, and strengthening public-private partnerships. The second meeting of this mechanism will be held on the sidelines of the international scientific and practical forum, Actual Issues of Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, in Nizhny Novgorod on April 24.
The BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors met in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on February 27 on the sidelines of the G20 events. They discussed the global economy prospects, the state of the BRICS countries’ economies, and cooperation priorities in customs, taxes, insurance and reinsurance, as well as cooperation between the BRICS countries’ stock exchanges.
An online meeting of the BRICS Contact Group on Trade and Economic Issues was held on March 4-5. Proposals aimed at supporting sustainable economic growth and measures to counter unilateral trade restrictions and to support the multilateral trade system were reviewed.
Initiatives on energy security, technological cooperation, and energy sector personnel training, as well as a project on sharing best practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including through the greater use of natural gas, were presented at the meeting of the BRICS Committee of Senior Energy Officials on February 26-27 that was held at the Russia International Exhibition and Forum in Moscow. The participants discussed the BRICS Energy Research Platform’s work plan.
The Working Group under the Agreement between the BRICS space agencies met on February 27 to discuss cooperation in remote sensing satellite constellation with the participation of new BRICS members.
We focus in particular on strengthening the BRICS partnership in public health. On February 13, Moscow hosted the first meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Nuclear Medicine, which brought together lead specialists from major research and medical centres, as well as manufacturers of medical radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals. Experts met online on March 27 to discuss the launching of an Integrated Early Warning System for Preventing Mass Infectious Disease Risks.
Humanitarian cooperation has traditionally been the centerpiece of the BRICS agenda. In particular, the BRICS countries’ crisis management centres have held a training session to practice sharing live updates in emergencies. The 3rd International Youth Volunteer Conference, BRICS to You, was held in Moscow on February 15. It brought together about 500 young leaders from 29 countries. A theme-based discussion, BRICS: New Challenges in an Era of Global Development, was held as part of the World Youth Festival at Sirius. On April 3, there will be a presentation of the BRICS Youth Summit which has established itself as a popular platform of high standing for a dialogue between young leaders from the BRICS countries.
The Expert Council on the Russian Federation’s Participation in BRICS was launched at the Higher School of Economics. It will engage in expert, analytical and research activities covering BRICS’ political, socioeconomic and humanitarian cooperation priorities. All of that was done during the first quarter of Russia’s BRICS chairmanship.
The 80th anniversary of the Red Army’s Crimean strategic offensive operation
By the autumn of 1943, Soviet forces had surrounded an enemy formation numbering over 200,000 officers and soldiers on the
In an effort to liberate
On the morning of April 8, Red Army units dealt a crushing blow to the enemy’s defensive positions, and breaking through on April 10. Over the next three days, they liberated Dzhankoy,
Intense fighting began on April 15 near the city of
The fighting on the peninsula raged for over 30 days, with the Red Army liberating it from the Nazi invaders. On May 12, 1944, surviving enemy units laid down their weapons and surrendered on
The Crimean offensive operation is considered one of the most successful engagements of the Great Patriotic War. It is forever etched in the military history of our country as an immortal feat of the people in the fight against Nazism for the independence of our Motherland.
To honour the defenders of
The heroic feat of the Soviet people and the brave defenders of the Motherland, accomplished 80 years ago during the liberation of the
The great historical event of the reunification of Crimea and the Hero City of Sevastopol with
Remembering the events of 1944 and 2014 is of utmost importance in strengthening the bond between generations and combating neo-Nazi ideas, xenophobia, racial, national, ethnic or any other form of supremacy. This is a moral duty of the current generations to those who shed their blood and gave their lives to rid humanity of the horrors of the Nazi scourge.
April 8 is an important date for
The 80th anniversary of the liberation of
April 10 marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of
Hitler considered it highly important to retain control over
During the occupation, the Nazis conducted outright genocide, exterminating local people en masse. Occupiers’ diaries shed light on the horrific events in the streets of
Here is another entry, made the following day: “On October 24, women, young girls and children were corralled into four large wooden sheds on the city’s outskirts, near a tram maintenance facility. A bus carrying a kerosene tank arrived; they doused the sheds with kerosene and set them on fire. The people inside stripped off their clothing, screamed, cried, but all of them perished in the flames.” This underscores the historical truth as documented by Nazi troops. The
The Nazis who occupied
The
Members of the local Resistance Movement played a decisive role during the final stage of liberating
Following the liberation of
Unfortunately, it must be stated that contemporary Ukrainian Nazis, rather than German Nazis and Romanian fascists, are the ones currently occupying
We have repeatedly criticised the fight against monuments during the so-called “de-Communisation.” In 2022, authorities in
The fight against the
Continuing to work with the Russian Military Historical Society
We regularly update you on the Foreign Ministry’s cooperation with the Russian Military Historical Society. This effort includes filling in the МестоПамяти.РФ (Memory Sites website) – an interactive map presenting
Over the past three months, over 1,200 sites in
Let me remind you that the Russian Military Historical Society launched the Memory Sites projects in 2015 at the initiative of the Foreign Ministry. We invited 85 diplomatic missions abroad to contribute to this effort and add new sites to this database. In addition to this, anyone can add monuments, mass graves and memorial sites to this map and, even more importantly, share information about their condition.
There is an ongoing effort to update information about the state of these memorials both in
Since October 2020, the Memory Sites portal has been keeping a registry of destroyed monuments, which celebrated the feats by our soldiers, in unfriendly countries. As of today, the overall registry includes 92,000 sites, including over 13,000 abroad. Unfortunately, 960 of them were destroyed, and almost half of them, i.e., 465, were in
Let me remind you that the Red Army soldiers were the ones who stopped the Holocaust. But the cancel culture and the determination to erase the historical past have now gone too far, taking aim at this symbol. There is no monument to those who liberated the world from the brown plague anymore in the city of
April 6 marks the annual International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. By designating this date, member states of the United Nations emphasised that sport serves as a unique tool for fostering and strengthening social bonds, respectful interaction and unity, and bringing people together.
However, it is clear that international sports collaboration, influenced by Western interests (and now officials influenced by them, such as Thomas Bach), has become politicised. This is impacting global sports bodies, including the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee, which are facing unprecedented pressure that compromises their integrity. The issue of doping is being wielded as a tool for blackmailing and tarnishing the reputation of certain countries.
A notable example is the situation faced by Russian and Belarusian athletes, as international sports bodies attempt to prevent them from participating in international competitions or impose discriminatory conditions on potential participants.
These actions are causing harm to the entire global sports community and contributing to the decline of the international sports movement. By excluding the strongest participants and diminishing the level of competition, international sports bodies impede the progress of world sports and diminish the entertainment and spectator interest in competitions. However, this is not the most concerning aspect. Promoting segregation and division based on nationality is not just encouraged but celebrated. The glorification of a nationalistic, racist approach to countries and peoples is now being celebrated even in the realm of sports, which should serve as a unifying force for all.
Our country remains committed to fair sports cooperation with all interested nations, in line with the genuine spirit and principles of Olympism, rather than following Thomas Bach’s agenda, without politicising and bias. We advocate for competitions that are conducted with integrity and impartiality.
This commitment is evidenced primarily by our country’s successful hosting of numerous major international sporting events at the highest standards, including the 2013 Summer Universiade in
Today, in collaboration with like-minded partners, we are dedicated to advancing sports, creating new forms of sports engagement, and organising fair competitions that are free from political influence and discrimination.
A notable demonstration of this commitment is the introduction of the innovative phygital movement and the successful hosting of the first international multi-sport event, the Games of the Future, which took place from February 21 to March 3 this year in
This year, our country will host a series of major sporting events, including the Children of Asia International Sports Games, the BRICS Sports Games, and the World Friendship Games. As always, these events will be organised to the highest standards. We extend an invitation to all interested countries.
I want to draw your attention to the recent public statement made by Thomas Bach, which was circulated in a video format. Frankly, I’m baffled by his remarks. However, what he said is crystal clear. It was a shocking admission that his position is being manipulated in defiance of all international legal frameworks aimed at fostering sport for peace, development, and cooperation.
An investigation must be initiated, whether internal or external, especially considering that anything related to the Olympic Games tends to attract significant media attention, particularly in Western countries. It’s crucial to ascertain the methods Thomas Bach employs in fulfilling the responsibilities entrusted to him.
Why are we hearing allegations of collusion between the head of the International Olympic Committee and one specific country to obstruct athletes from other nations from participating in global sports events? Why are statements being made that blatantly indicate a growing inclination to politicise sports from someone who pledged allegiance to entirely different principles? Why are we witnessing a direct infringement on freedom of speech, with a ban on athletes expressing their viewpoints, which are not extremist but merely aimed at voicing their perspectives (including political ones) regarding their own country?
This demands thorough and meticulous analysis, examination, and inquiry. People like Thomas Bach are discrediting global sports and the Olympic movement. Such remarks directly contradict the principles of global Olympism.
On April 7, the Russian segment of the internet, affectionately nicknamed Runet, marks its 30th anniversary. The .RU domain is in the top five largest country-code top level domains, with the number of registrations exceeding 6 million today and over 4,300 new names added every day. In February 2023, .RU joined the top three fastest-growing domains in the world. Russian alongside with French is the fifth most used language in the digital space: in 2023, it accounted for over four percent of the total number of internet websites. The Russian Cyrillic ccTLD, .РФ, is not far behind. It marked its 13th anniversary in May 2023. It is the largest Cyrillic domain in the world.
The Foreign Ministry has been contributing to the development of the Runet for many years. In 1998, the Foreign Ministry was among the first Russian agencies to launch its own website. The ministry was also the first to start its own accounts in several social media back in 2011-2013, and the first to start live streams of speeches and talks with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. We were also among the trailblazers on Russian digital platforms (VKontakte, Rutube, Odnoklassniki). Our work did not go unnoticed. In 2014, the Press and Information Department of the Foreign Ministry won the Runet Prize in the Culture, Media and Mass Communications category. As a department, we receive many different awards, prizes, and badges of honour, but this one was among especially valuable ones. Ten years ago, and we were pioneers in many areas.
The content of our website, which stores all official statements, comments, speeches for more than a quarter of a century is what we are especially proud of: this is a storehouse of knowledge for any user interested in foreign policy. Using materials from 10-20 years ago, one can trace the consistency, continuity, transparency, and logic of our foreign policy.
Materials on the ministry’s website are published in eight languages. In addition to Russian, these are English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, and Portuguese.
I cannot but mention our work in social media. The Press and Information Department can be rightfully called the cradle of the Russian digital diplomacy. There is no other foreign policy agency that has so many active accounts, content quality, updating speed and all-day-round flow of information. This is our contribution to the Runet’s development.
The dynamic growth of the Russian internet segment is the key to our digital sovereignty, as well as evidence of the creative potential and activity of the Russians and our compatriots around the world. Today, when Western internet monopolies pursue a policy of double standards, promote cancel culture, ban, block, and delete opinions and resources they do not like, the Runet remains largely committed to the original idea of the internet as a medium of free communication, exchange of knowledge and information.
Answers to media questions:
Maria Zakharova: The government of the Republic of Korea has adopted decision to impose unilateral sanctions, starting April 3, 2024, against two Russian vessels, which allegedly carried military cargo between Russia and North Korea, and two organisations and two private individuals over their alleged involvement in recruiting North Korean workers for projects in Russia.
This unfriendly move by Seoul is highly regrettable. The adoption of these illegitimate sanctions will have a negative effect on relations with Russia, which are in the grip of a serious crisis through the faut of Seoul, which is acting at Washington’s prompting.
I am not going to comment on the allegations of Russia’s military cooperation with North Korea. Our foreign relations do not contradict statutory documents or international law. We are committed to UN Security Council resolutions in their entirety and as a whole. Russia is developing neighbourly relations with friendly North Korea in keeping with the norms of international law and without any detriment to South Korea’s national security.
South Korea is worried that Russia-North Korea cooperation could potentially damage it. Seoul should ask itself what damage it is doing to Russia, North Korea and the region as a whole by yielding to US pressure. Maybe it should impose sanctions against itself for infringing on the natural course of economic ties in this subregion?
We are disappointed by South Korea’s attempts to settle the problems of the Korean Peninsula through sanctions and pressure, which has been proved ineffective and can only contribute to tensions, disrupt relations between countries and ultimately have a negative effect on South Korea’s security itself. We urge Seoul to rethink its counterproductive policy and to resume the joint search for political and diplomatic methods of settlement based on respect for the legitimate concerns of all interested parties. We will respond to Seoul’s move, just as we always do in such cases.
Maria Zakharova: I would like to offer an explainer for those who don’t know what you are talking about. On March 27, 1918, Sfatul Tarii or the Council of the Country convened in Chisinau. Acting in violation of democratic procedures and in the presence of Romanian military and police, the Council members voted for the union of Bessarabia with Romania. Many of them later publicly disavowed that decision. The then Prime Minister of Romania Alexandru Marghiloman made no secret of the fact that the decision was not made in Chisinau but in Bucharest. We see it as a historical analogy to the current developments.
On the anniversary of that union, the Moldovan leaders, nearly all of whom have Romanian citizenship, spared no words of gratitude to the neighbouring state. The pinnacle of the event was a statement by President of Moldova Maia Sandu, who read out a list of everything Moldovans must be grateful to Romania for. Moldovan experts pointed out ironically that the list included the used school buses Romania sent to Moldova 10 years ago and the far from free electricity Romania delivered to Moldova during the autumn 2022 blackouts.
Members of the Moldovan public also reminded President Sandu about the role of March 27, 1918, in the history of Moldova:
• for many years after it, Bessarabia lived in a state of siege, with plunder and persecution on an almost daily basis;
• the freedom of speech, assembly and association was seriously limited;
• a half of Bessarabia’s budget was spent on penal deterrence, with approximately half of the 45,000 Romanian gendarmes deployed in Bessarabia;
• over 30,000 protesters were killed in the first seven years of Romanian occupation, and several large anti-Romania revolts were drowned in blood;
• the arbitrariness of the officials appointed by Bucharest and Bessarabia’s separation from the Russian market led to its economic degradation and large-scale emigration (over 400,000 people fled Bessarabia in the first 10 years of Romanian occupation).
Anti-government demonstrations and strikes were held throughout the occupation period. The anti-Romanian sentiments were so evident that major Romanian historian Nicolae Iorga, who witnessed those events, wrote than not even 10 percent of the local population had appropriate feelings for Romanians. An agent of Romanian security services reported on the results of the first six months of the occupation: “According to reliable sources, the general population of cities and villages regards Romanians not just with mistrust but with hatred.”
Moldovan political analysts write that the current Moldovan authorities seem to be trying to repeat the experience of the inter-war period:
• Romanians are gradually “taking over” Moldovan government offices;
• fresh attempts are being made to Romanise Moldovan society and dismantle its cultural and language identity through the suppression of dissent and a purge of the information space;
• Russia is being demonised again, and efforts are being taken to sever Russian-Moldovan ties to the detriment of the national economy.
History should teach people. But it cannot teach those who choose money over reason, moral standards and values, logic and common sense. Like in 1918, the policies these people are pursuing now cause mistrust and encourage open resistance among the Moldovan people, who cherish their national identity, history and culture, and who remember and value Russia’s contribution to their preservation and development. I would like to say again that the Moldovan language exists and will exist.
Maria Zakharova: Not only did we see the reports but also we reposted them on our social media to draw greater publicity. Russian parliament members and public activists filed inquiries with the Russian Investigative Committee and law enforcement agencies in Germany, Cyprus, the United States and France.
The Russian law enforcement agencies are currently dealing with this matter. The Russian Investigative Committee issued a statement the other day, calling for an investigation into how the terrorist attacks against our country are funded and organised. There are reasons to suggest that Ukraine is not the only country behind this. The Kiev regime has already claimed responsibility for some of the terrorist attacks I mentioned today. Its accountability was confirmed, including based on our authorities’ investigations.
Presumably, the West is behind this. The West is specifically funding the Kiev regime’s terrorist activities. As far as I know, the parliament members and public activists addressed the authorities in the countries I named. We will take note of the response from our authorities and from abroad.
Maria Zakharova: Russia’s oil supplies to India remain steadily high. There have been no issues with determining the payment instrument for Russia’s ‘black gold’ exports. We prioritise payments in national currencies, as it helps us be independent, in bank transactions, from the rules of the game imposed by the Western countries. The Indian rupee is a globally recognised and reliable payment instrument. This currency opens broad opportunities for investing into India’s rapidly developing economy. India’s GDP grew by 8.4 percent in the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
Maria Zakharova: We have read reports in Russian media outlets saying that the United Nations has recognised that Russian prisoners of war were tortured in transit places on their way to internment centres in Ukraine.
These misleading conclusions result from the selective approach the journalists used when taking out of their context certain points from the quarterly report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. It released it on March 26, 2024, in Geneva.
As a matter of fact, the report mentioned in the Russian media is not beaming with impartiality, just like all the preceding papers of this kind. In fact, over 95 percent of data compiled into it by the UN workers are designed to demonstrate grave violations of international law allegedly committed by Russia, including human rights violations, in “occupied Ukrainian territory, including Crimea.” By tradition, to render a veneer of balance and impartiality to its work, the Monitoring Mission included information about its conversations with Russian prisoners of war in its report. These PoWs said that they were tortured in transit places after their evacuation from the battlefield to the internment centres. At the same time, the mission claimed that Russians did not voice any complaints about harsh treatment or unbearable internment conditions. All this enabled the UN workers to welcome Ukraine’s responsible and proper performance of its obligation under international humanitarian law.
Including provisions criticising Kiev is a tactic the Monitoring Mission used in its previous reports as well by, for example, mentioning the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church clerics. However, they have a pre-defined goal to target Russia with this publication. One report after another hinges on politically-motivated criteria.
In addition to this, we would like to remind you that the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine was established in March 2014 and results from an agreement between the Kiev authorities and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It derives its mandate from a bilateral “memorandum of understanding.” Intergovernmental bodies, including the UN Human Rights Council or the UN General Assembly, have not taken any resolutions to this effect. When drafting its reports, the Monitoring Mission relies on UN General Assembly Resolution 68/262 Territorial Integrity of Ukraine. It was adopted without a consensus and is anti-Russian by its nature. The mission also relies on the decisions adopted at the UN General Assembly’s 11th Emergency Session which designate Russia as an aggressor, while describing our new regions as “temporarily occupied territories.”
It is not surprising that the Kiev regime has been persisting in using accusations against us contained in the mission’s reports and ordered by the collective West as evidence when filing lawsuits with the International Court of Justice against Russia.
This politically driven and biased approach by the Monitoring Mission prompted us to reject any forms of interaction with this structure.
Maria Zakharova: It is increasingly difficult to comment on Moldovan official statements from the point of view of logic and common sense. As for “democracy” and “human rights,” or, to be more exact, their absence in the Baltic republics and the EU as a whole, we have repeatedly focused on this situation. Today, the people of Moldova experienced this as well.
What started the ball rolling was last week’s high-profile return to Moldova from Belarus of the Rhapsody children’s musical studio theatre and choir. On March 25-27, it participated in the 7th Minsk International Children’s Theatre Forum “Steps” and was awarded the Grand Prix.
On March 28, Poland, followed by Lithuania, refused to let the group travel home through their territory under the pretext that they had no relevant transit documents. Deprived of normal food and elementary conveniences, the children and their escort had to spend the night in their bus. Luckily, good-hearted representatives of local Belarusian authorities, the republic’s Youth Union, the Alexey Talay Foundation, and volunteers came to their rescue.
What was done by the Polish and Lithuanian authorities has caused outrage among the Moldovan public and dealt a heavy blow to Maia Sandu’s “European project,” which is losing support in Moldova anyway as being absurd in itself. The Moldovans openly said in the social media that it was not their “European choice,” nor anything to do with the future of their children, who were forced to feel “secondary-class” citizens.
We could recommend to the Moldovan politicians speculating about the “lack of democracy in Russia” to pay more attention to the requirements of their own citizens who are increasingly reluctant to share Maia Sandu’s “European dreams.”
Maria Zakharova: Your question seems to contains an opposition of the two notions – our commitment to follow the UN Security Council resolutions and our use of the veto right.
You seem to be calling into question our right to use the veto as part of our law enforcement culture. Any permanent member of the UN Security Council has the right to use the veto. If this is not done in order to block the Security Council’s proceedings, if there are good grounds and motives, if a move of this kind is based on sound arguments and existing procedures, and if it stems from reality and facts, this is fully in line with the UN Charter and the UN mechanisms.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that we have commented on this topic on two occasions in recent time. Apart from remarks by our representatives to the UN, relevant materials have been posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website on March 29 and 30.
To reiterate: on March 28, the UN Security Council considered the issue of extending by yet another year the mandate of an expert group operating under one of its subsidiary bodies – the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea (established pursuant to Resolution 1718) – which is due to expire on April 30. Russia voted against the US-proposed draft resolution of the UN Security Council and the expert group will stop functioning in late April of this year.
This decision was adopted precisely because Russia practices a responsible approach to the UN Security Council’s sanctions agenda tasked with maintaining peace and stability in the world. We cannot be complacent in situations where these emergency measures are turned into an indiscriminate tool to punish some or other states. In the context of the situation on and around the Korean Peninsula, this is what has happened. It is clear that the endless sanctions are absolutely useless in terms of achieving the goals specified and can only lead to a financial and economic blockade of an entire state, with all the ensuing consequences for its population.
I don’t know how you will interpret this or what conclusions you will draw, but this is the motive for and explanation of our approach.
One more point. With regard to all moves at the UN, there is such a thing as motivation and explanation of circumstances of the day, which explain a country’s position depending on or independently of this or that vote or decision. We have done this; we have explained our approach. And we will continue in the same vein. We will explain, motivate, and adjust based on the real situation and our national interests, as well as in the interests of peace and stability on the planet.
Maria Zakharova: We have already commented on both.
With regard to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s allegation that Russian athletes will not be welcome at the Olympic Games, first of all, I have not seen a public opinion poll in France. Second, we fully realise that the public opinion in France has been manipulated for years by the mainstream media, which stick entirely to Western narratives and policies.
The day before, we published a material dedicated to the second anniversary of the Bucha provocation. This has become absolutely clear by now, given that there are no lists of the victims. Neither Ukraine, nor the Kiev regime, nor specialised international agencies have provided any. Who are those people, whom this regime has declared dead because of Russia’s actions? No one knows.
Neither is there any factual evidence such as memorials or burial sites linked to the killings the Kiev regime has been referring to all along as “a terrible tragedy in that city.”
But this all makes sense if we consider the timeline of the events. The Russian army pulled out from the city. There were no photos, videos or comments online for a few days – nothing that could have indicated a tragedy they describe. Only a few days later, after the mayor of Bucha made an official statement on camera that the city was back to normal life, did the Kiev regime begin to spread this false narrative. Encouraged by the British and Americans, Kiev carried out a special information operation to accuse Russia of the alleged “atrocities” in Bucha, demonstrating corpses and so on.
Even the British media said a month later that those people had died from mine fragments, not from bullets, which should have been the case if the developments the Western media described had really taken place.
We have seen nothing that would have prompted the mayor of Paris to say that Russian athletes were “not welcome” there. If she was talking about her own attitude, who gave her that right? If she was talking about the residents, the Paris government had not asked them. If we consider the Elysee Palace policy in general, the French government has been conniving in the propagation of misinformation by publishing and supporting falsehoods, including those about Bucha. They use various political techniques and methods; that was another statement made in the context of the misinformation campaign.
French farmers have had their say after the government, which they have entrusted with protecting their welfare through policies that support France’s economic stability, has achieved the opposite effect. Is the mayor of Paris asking for French businesses to have their say now too? Or French manufacturers, whose goods are marketed in the Russian Federation? Any product made in France or using French companies’ services can just as easily be labeled “not welcome in Moscow.” Is Anne Hidalgo ready for French manufacturers and industrialists to surround the Paris City Hall and use the same stinking substance farmers have used to target French authorities? One must take responsibility for their own words.
Regarding the statement by IOC President Thomas Bach, we have been pointing out for years that the Olympic Movement is in a deep crisis because of the IOC leaders’ inconsistent policies and political bias, as well as the pressure of the Western countries pursuing their own goals. The international sports officialdom is yielding to the pressure.
Bach’s latest revelations were nothing less than shocking. They testify to collusion and definitely warrant investigation. There is an obvious collusion and conspiracy with representatives of one country/team to prevent representatives of another country/team from participating in international sporting events. As if the extremely politicised decision-making with regard to Russian and Belarusian athletes or the lack of uniform standards was not enough. There are numerous brutal conflicts going on in the world, including in the Middle East. However, we have not seen athletes from those countries being subjected to any bizarre sanctions by the International Olympic Committee. They are not required to compete under neutral flags. Their anthems are not banned.
Russian athletes, on the contrary, have been unjustifiably and illegally discriminated by the IOC for years. All this warrants a full-fledged investigation.
The statement about the IOC asking Ukrainians to watch what Russian athletes say online to decide on their admission to the Olympic Games in Paris amounts to a complete disqualification of Thomas Bach.
Such odious actions by Bach and other IOC leaders are not just discrediting them in the eyes of the world sporting community, but are killing the International Olympic Movement.
The discriminatory conditions that the IOC has been imposing on Russian athletes for years undermine the Olympic Charter and bring division into global sport, killing the idea that sport should unite people. Any segregation, dividing people by nationality in a disparaging way is unacceptable.
Maria Zakharova: I have just commented on this matter. There is no need to add anything else. We covered it in detail.
Russia is developing cooperation with North Korea while complying with its bilateral obligations and obligations under international law. It is absolutely logical and clear.
We understand very well why our cooperation with the DPRK has been met with so much resentment by the West. They have different plans for the Korean Peninsula. We must take this into account.
The West seeks to turn the Korean Peninsula not only into a zone of destructive developments and lack of stability and security; the West wants to drag the peninsula into the abyss of conflict. This is a direct goal primarily for the United States, to create a controlled chaos. This region has been balancing on the edge for decades. All measures have been tried – information, political and even military campaigns – for the United States to achieve its dream (or a task that was put aside in the 20th century and brought back on the table in the 21st) of creating a clash and an open confrontation on the Korean Peninsula. We fully understand what stands behind this and why our cooperation with North Korea has caused so much frenzy.
The United States had better watch its own obligations. We heard from its representatives in the UN Security Council that some resolutions are not mandatory. How can they question and especially reproach others? This is an absolute lack of literacy, or legal nihilism on behalf of the United States.
You asked me about the bilateral relations between North Korea and Russia. This cooperation and the entire context of what has been happening between North Korea and Russia are certainly being hindered by the “brains” in the West and mainly in the United States who wish to destabilise the Korean Peninsula. Unfortunately, they are using South Korea in their own hideous plans. Apparently, South Korea lacks immunity to protect itself from Washington’s external impact. They are acting to their own detriment.
Maria Zakharova: Unfortunately, we see that Yerevan bowed to the pressure from the West in this matter. The Armenian economy will suffer tangible losses and Armenian citizens will face serious inconvenience. It will become difficult for the Armenians working in Russia to transfer money back home. Russian tourists will be unable to use Mir cards for payments. Last year, more than 1.1 million Russians visited Armenia. There are other potential consequences for the Armenian economy.
We are certain that the costs of this step will be much higher than any hypothetical damage from Western restrictions.
Maria Zakharova: We have commented on the destructive impacts from the Western sanctions policies and the way they have a negative bearing on various countries and regions in various contexts, regularly and offering a wide range of examples. It has been long since they needed any pretexts for doing this. They used to search for pretexts or concoct them, but then simply switched to talking about inflicting what they called a strategic defeat on Russia, all while containing China, at least for the time being. However, we do remember that there was a time when they did not treat us this way. At the outset, it was also about containing us. Inflicting a strategic defeat on us came later.
All this sanctions-related action demonstrates that the United States leaders and elite suffer from persecution mania, lack confidence and know that they are facing a crisis. It keeps occurring to them that someone seeks to attack or is already attacking their American democracy and is doing this from abroad. But the problem is inside the United States. It seems that all this trouble comes from people around the world. They view everyone as a distraction, and believe that meddling in elections and US domestic politics is on everyone’s mind. They refuse to notice their own problems or the ones they created with their own hands. Indeed, this does resemble persecution mania. If practice is any guide, Washington has a wide range of instruments at its disposal for throwing dirty punches against its economic rivals, and never shies away from acting this way.
We have noted many times that global supply chains, international commerce and collective efforts to promote sustainable development all suffer from illegitimate sanctions.
Unfortunately, there is no one in the West who shares this perspective. They make statements and say beautiful words, get together at various forums to discuss hunger, poverty, unemployment, inflation, and slowing economic growth, all while failing to see the root causes of all these challenges. One of the main causes here is that sanctions have a disruptive effect on the natural evolution of economic ties and relations. There are also the trade wars, since, considering the sheer amount of sanctions imposed by the collective West, this is more than just using sanctions to pressure others, but a real trade war against competing nations.
As for the safety and stability of the global supply chains, I suggest referring this question to those seeking to disrupt and restrain them by imposing more illegitimate unilateral sanctions.
Maria Zakharova: We have already commented on it. The same day, the Foreign Ministry released a statement to this effect. Yesterday, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya also presented the corresponding assessment during a Security Council meeting.
Maria Zakharova: I have already offered a general comment on this matter, but I will ask our experts to answer your specific questions.
Maria Zakharova: During the previous briefing, we have already expressed our views on the situation at the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We urged them to reduce tensions. It is also important for the media to play a constructive role rather than fuel tensions and carry provocative information in the media space.
I will explain our position once again: Baku and Yerevan must settle all territorial disputes and mutual grievances exclusively through political and diplomatic means in the framework of the bilateral commission on the delimitation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. For our part, we are ready to facilitate this process.
We believe the time has long come to restore the smooth work of the tripartite mechanisms of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. We urge our partners to display political will and resume contacts in the formats that have proved their efficiency. In these formats, Russia has already helped launch an effective search for solutions of the most difficult issues, including the delimitation of the border, unblocking of transport and logistics routes in the region, and the drafting of a peace treaty.
As distinct from the EU and the US that are trying to get concessions out of one side and threaten the other side, we have always favoured a comprehensive compromise settlement of all differences with a view to establishing durable peace and prosperity in the South Caucasus. Our proposals are still on the table.
Maria Zakharova: We have become so used to American leaks into the information space and subsequent denials that I would like to ask you to obtain from them hard facts: when did they transfer this information and to whom. They can talk as much as they want.
We heard different information about the Crocus City Hall from the United States and its satellites. Let them first tell us what information they provided and to whom. What particular episode do they have in mind? When we gave the Americans information, it was specific; we were prepared to be responsible for it. We did this in public, for instance as regards the Boston Marathon and the Tsarnayev brothers.
In this case, if it is possible to specify the information and the episode they are referring to, we will be able to understand if it is possible to comment on it in principle. If we can do this, we will readily do it.
Maria Zakharova: I would like to draw your attention to the detailed discussion of this issue in Natalya Metlina’s programme “Meanwhile” on the Zvezda TV Channel. I replied to all questions in detail there.
It is a pity that Yerevan is stubbornly ignoring the anti-Russia connotation of such events that are aimed against the interests of the majority of the region’s countries and, most importantly, do not match the goals of reaching peace and stability in the South Caucasus. The main point is the absence of examples how those that are now promising everything to Yerevan have ever fulfilled their promises. Such examples simply do not exist. There are examples of the opposite when they promised even more but did not do anything at all. Their actions led to the destruction of the economy and statehood and deterioration of social problems. There were many examples to this effect.
As for US and NATO plans in the region, we rely on hard facts. US military instructors have been staying in Yerevan since April 1 of this year. They have arrived to share methods of US military propaganda with the hosts. On March 19, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Armenia to multiply anti-Russia narratives and ideologemes. In September 2023, Armenia hosted the Eagle Partner military exercise with US participation. All these anti-Russia events are aimed at destabilising the situation in the region.
We must give credit to Armenia. Yerevan and the Armenian leaders really have a positive experience of settling regional problems by both their own resources and those of adjacent countries. As soon as all these instructors, advisers and politicians from the EU (actually, they are from NATO and are just using the EU as a cover) start interfering in the region, Yerevan immediately gets all kinds of problems. Later on, these problems are blamed on those whose cooperation they rejected – neighbouring countries, participants in the relevant international mechanisms of settlement, and so on.
All countries are free. They may and should make their choices themselves. The point is that those who make decisions should be responsible for them rather than blame them on the CSTO, Russia or bad weather.
Maria Zakharova: I know only one CSTO member that keep saying different things – now it withdraws from the CSTO, thenit it is still a member, then it suspends its participation. A lot of verbal acrobatics, but it comes only from the Yerevan authorities. I am saying this based on facts.
Armenia continues being a full member and has relevant commitments, including under the 1992 Collective Security Treaty and the 2002 CSTO Charter, to name a few. I’d like to recall that the CSTO Charter and the protocol signed by the leaders of the member-states in 2011, allow a CSTO member to make a decision to deploy troops and military facilities of third countries only after urgent consultations (coordination) with other member-states.
Relevant documents also clearly determine potential consequences for violating commitments by CSTO members. The Collective Security Council may suspend the participation of a member-state or even remove it from the CSTO for violating its commitments. I am citing CSTO documents.
Maria Zakharova: I think CSTO Secretary-General Imangali Tasmagambetov said what is written in every manual that describes terrorist atrocities and how to counter them. Indeed, one of the goals of terrorism is not to kill or abduct people but also to sow panic and set at loggerheads different ethnic, religious or social groups.
When a shell bursts and a huge amount of shrapnel flies, they may injure or kill a person or damage facilities to no less extent than the shell as such. Sometimes, this causes fatal consequences. The same is true of the recent attack. Unfortunately, this terrorist attack and terrorist attacks of the past have a number of “shrapnel” consequences. I think this is what Mr Tasmagambetov was referring to.
That said, I think our country responded to this challenge properly. President of Russia Vladimir Putin spoke about this. He said Russian society demonstrated maturity and unity. After the terrorist attack, officers of law enforcement bodies and rank-and-file citizens demonstrated not fear but cohesion and readiness to act in a united front against this threat. We are firmly convinced that terrorism cannot be associated with any ethnicity, religion or race. This is not our choice.
We have been through many things, including the 1990s and international terrorism in the North Caucasus. We know what it consists of and how people called “educated and “civilised” operate under the cover of religious groups. They are rooted in Western capitals. We have seen all this. We understand how many crimes are committed under the banner of terrorism and, unfortunately, with the participation of secret services of other countries. We have seen this as well. Syria is one example. Our law-enforcement and security bodies are now working and will give a befitting response to these threats.
We are grateful to everyone. I will never tire of talking about it. I will say it every time. We are grateful to all those who expressed their sincere sympathy with us and unequivocally condemned this terrorist attack and who supported us sincerely, from the heart, whether by words or deeds, in the context of the horrible terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall. We saw how the diplomatic corps in Moscow expressed the will of their compatriots by leaving entries in the books of condolences and attending a spontaneous memorial rally at the site of the terrorist attack. We are seeing how sincere they are and highly value their attitude. We are also seeing hypocrisy and, unfortunately, its manifestations are widespread. But we are looking up to the Global Majority that was unanimous on this issue.
Question: What can you say about Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan’s statement to the effect that
Maria Zakharova: I take it you are referring to Mr Mirzoyan’s interview with the Argentine publication Todo Noticias on March 31 of this year. Replying to a direct question on a possible severance of diplomatic relations with
It is sad to hear this now, especially on the anniversary day of our diplomatic relations. I think this deserves special emphasis. I am not saying that some people have no right to express their views, No, they have this right and must use it. But there are also peoples of the two countries and their interests that should be given priority in this case.
Mr Mizoyan’s statement about the
Question: In January of this year, Vladimir Zelensky “renewed” the army leadership and now he is cleansing his own executive office. Experts say he has just started this process that will affect his government as well. What is the reason for these large-scale personnel changes in
Maria Zakharova: I fully agree with you. This is cleansing rather than reshuffling. These changes are rooted in the extremist character of his regime. Incidentally, they are linked not only with external processes or attitude to our country. Their extremist character affects
Question: The Federal Security Service has shut the channel via which explosives in icons were brought to
Maria Zakharova: You should, of course, ask them. I believe that comments on the actions of lunatics are fraught with a threat to contract the same disease. The logic of extremists and terrorists must be explained by them themselves or by doctors that specialise in this disease. I will remind you of what has been done.
On April 2 of this year, officers of the Federal Security Service and the Federal Customs Service found foreign-made explosives while inspecting a car at the Ubylinka international checkpoint on the Latvian-Russian border section. The explosives were found in a consignment of Orthodox icons and church utensils brought from
The explosives were hidden in 27 icons and transported from
In addition to explosives, experts found delay detonators used by special units and circuit boards with SIM card slots. Such an explosive device could be made ready for action in a matter of minutes. The explosives in vacuum packs were hidden in a recess on the obscured back of the icons.
Experts established that the consignment of loaded icons was produced in
Detailed questions should be referred to the law-enforcement bodies investigating this case. As for the logic of terrorists, this is a question for psychiatrists that may interpret their thinking. These items and utensils are linked with the faith and trust of people. Even touching them always implies certain trepidation, care and a special attitude. I cannot answer this question and I don’t even want to interpret the criminal logic of terrorists.
Question: On March
Maria Zakharova: I would like to remind you that we are currently holding a series of events to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first inter-state Agreement on Economic and Cultural Cooperation between the
For more detailed comments, we recommend contacting the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission or the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation.
Дополнительные материалы
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Фото
Выступление С.В.Лаврова на презентации Республики Дагестан.mp4)
С.В.Лавров с министром иностранных дел Абхазии О.М.Барцицом (1).mp4)