Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow, April 12, 2023
- The upcoming fourth ministerial conference of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries
- Regular meeting of CIS Council of Foreign Ministers
- Sixth meeting of foreign ministers of Russia and Central Asian countries
- Ukraine Crisis
- The 240th anniversary of Crimea’s incorporation into Russia
- An armed incident on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan
- Saudi Arabia receives SCO dialogue partner status
- World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day
- Universal Day of Culture
- The 20th Meeting of Culture Ministers of SCO Member States
- The 90th anniversary of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Belgrade
- The opening of “Sergey Rachmaninov: I am a Russian composer” exhibition in Paris
- The anniversary of independence of the Republic of Zimbabwe
- International Day for Monuments and Sites
- Moscow International Film Festival
- 20th anniversary of the Declaration of Friendly and Partner Relations between Russia and Indonesia in the 21st Century
- International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace
- 60th anniversary of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
- Statements by the German Interior Minister
- The complicity of Poland and Ukraine in the incident at the Nord Stream gas pipelines
- The anti-Russia policy of the Council of Europe
- Russia’s efforts to facilitate an Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement
- An Easter ceasefire in the conflict zone in Ukraine
- Talks between the Republic of South Africa and the United States
- The situation around the arrest of Evan Gershkovich
- The involvement of the United States and NATO in the Ukrainian conflict
- Statements by the President of France
- A leak of classified US and NATO documents
- Holding a meeting of Russian, Turkish, Syrian and Iranian foreign ministers
- The consequences of supplying depleted uranium shells to Ukraine
- The activities of anti-government groups on Russian territory
- Implementing the grain deal
- Russian-Ukrainian talks
- Russia’s attitude to the supply of depleted uranium shells to Ukraine and their use
- Russian-Finnish relations
- The Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement
- Russia’s efforts to facilitate Armenian-Turkish contacts
- Statements by Armenian officials
- Latvia’s anti-Russia policy
- Extending the grain deal
- Armenia’s participation in NATO’s military exercises
- SCO counter-terrorism measures
The upcoming fourth ministerial conference of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries
As reported earlier, Samarkand will host the fourth ministerial conference of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries on April 13. The conference will include Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will head the Russian delegation.
The meeting participants will discuss the continuing plans to facilitate an Afghan political settlement and to stabilise the humanitarian and socio-economic situation in this country. They will focus on the development of regional economic integration and the implementation of transport and energy projects involving Kabul under earlier agreements.
Regular meeting of CIS Council of Foreign Ministers
On April 14, the Kyrgyz Republic will chair a regular meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers in Samarkand.
The foreign ministers will exchange opinions on current international and regional issues, discuss the prospects for developing and strengthening multilateral intra-CIS cooperation, and review the interaction between foreign ministries in 2022.
The meeting participants are to adopt a number of decisions in law enforcement and the cultural-humanitarian and educational spheres, with some of them to be submitted to the heads of state and government for approval. There are plans to grant Patrice Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia the status of the main CIS institution for educating and advanced training of journalists.
Sixth meeting of foreign ministers of Russia and Central Asian countries
On April 14, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the sixth meeting of foreign ministers of Russia and the Central Asian countries (the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan) in Samarkand.
The meeting participants will discuss promising aspects of the six countries’ political, diplomatic, trade and economic, transport, energy, and cultural-humanitarian cooperation, as well as mechanisms for its effective implementation under the resolutions of the First Russia-Central Asia Summit, which took place in Astana on October 14, 2022.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the aforementioned events. As always, we will promptly inform you about this. The Foreign Ministry website and its social media accounts are always available to you.
April 7 was nine years since a congress of representatives of Ukraine’s Donetsk Region administrative and territorial units adopted the Declaration of Sovereignty and the Act on the Declaration of State Independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). The delegates also decided to hold a referendum on the DPR’s self-determination on May 11, 2014. The results are common knowledge. It led to the emergence of a young republic that covered an uphill road from its self-declared status to international recognition. During all these years, the residents of the DPR have been inseparably linked with Russia, their historical homeland. This finally predetermined their decision to become part of the Russian Federation following the referendum in September 2022. You are well aware of how these events unfolded.
Today, the people in the DPR, LPR, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions are doing all they can to establish peaceful life. They will live in peace regardless of what we are now hearing from the Kiev regime and the collective West. People there will live in peace and harmony based on the values they and their predecessors have upheld for years, decades and centuries.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, hundreds of kilometres of gas pipelines were built there in 2022. A distribution system independent of Ukraine has been established in the Zaporozhye Region. Some 11,000 buildings have been restored in Mariupol.
I would like to add emotions to these words and figures. People are building everything (roads, pipelines and buildings) not just in complicated conditions. They are doing this contrary to the predictions and actions of those who jeered at the local population for many years. The building of these structures, gas pipelines, roads and other infrastructure comes with high risks to their lives. The Mirotvorets (Peacekeeper) website launched many years ago lists names of the Kiev regime’s potential victims. Many actions are taken against those who oppose this destructive ideology and try to create a new life.
Remember this when you hear about the construction of buildings, flats, children’s playgrounds, schools and kindergartens there. I know many people in this region. They have come from Moscow, the Moscow Region and other parts of our country, representing federal, regional and municipal agencies. Now they are establishing peaceful lives there with their own hands. This is exactly what they are doing. Their priority is the future of people rather than personal wellbeing and security. They are working for this regardless of their lives (not to mention health) or any life circumstance. I say “region,” but we must always realise that people are primarily implied when we talk about regions or territories. These are not dry figures. They reflect a history of creating and countering destruction, a history of love, loyalty and commitment to these values. Don’t think that this is just statistics or reporting. This is not all of it. It is much bigger than that. It was announced that this year the pace of construction will increase. But this implies not just the pace of the work, but also the contribution of the people and their determination. This work is conducted to allow these regions, territories and people to live in peace and wellbeing and be in harmony not only with themselves and with future generations but also with the previous generations that gave up their lives to preserve peace there.
The new regions are launching a preferential mortgage programme with a 2 percent interest rate. The Russian Government is drafting a programme to repair roads on 21,000 km. Cellphone communications will soon be cardinally improved. A water line for the DPR that the Armed Forces of Ukraine completely destroyed in 2014, is now ready. It will soon supply the Donetsk metropolitan area with water.
After all, water, electricity and power grids are one more target for defeating the Kiev regime and its supporters. When they were shutting off water and mining power transmission lines and power grids, they were saying that those who did not obey, or (as is clear now), who did not greet the Kiev regime with a Sieg Heil salute would permanently live in basements. These are people who took the punishment, torture and trials staged by the Kiev regime. All will be well in their lives. We were told that those who decided to remain loyal to the past generations and to all of their values will not have a future. But they will have it, and their future will be a good one.
April 10 marked the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Odessa from Nazi and Romanian occupiers. Unfortunately, after so many decades, the city has been put through the horror of Nazism again – the modern Ukrainian variety. Odessa has not celebrated this anniversary on a mass scale for a long time, while newly-arrived nationalists from Western Ukraine have been running the show. Is this day no longer significant for Odessans? Has it been edited out of textbooks? What about the memory of their ancestors? Isn’t your conscience bothering you? You play songs from those years about those events, glorifying those who wrote and performed them, but you no longer want to know what they mean, who they commemorate and what kind of suffering prompted them. Well, you should, and you will. We will keep talking about it and keep reminding you. With all the terror unleashed by the authorities, the original residents of Odessa never forget who saved them from Nazism, and they religiously keep the memory of their liberators – the Red Army soldiers who represented all the peoples of the USSR. Those people never thought of themselves in terms of ethnic or religious background; the Red Army was multinational. Its soldiers focused on what really mattered, that they had to free themselves and their loved ones (and maybe strangers, too) from the evil threatening our planet. We believe Odessa will be able to rid themselves of the oppressive Ukrainian neo-Nazis and will again become a free and “sunny city with blooming acacias on the Black Sea,” according to the song by the legendary Leonid Utesov.
April 14 is a tragic date. The day after tomorrow marks the 9th anniversary of acting President of Ukraine Alexander Turchinov’s announcement of what he called the “antiterrorist operation” in Donbass. That was the start of the violent suppression of civilian protests in the region, where people courageously stood up to the government of radical nationalists. Let me remind you that this “government” was not just extremist, it was illegal. It came to power as a result of an unconstitutional armed coup in Kiev in February 2014. More than that, it was not even national or domestic, but inspired from the outside. Remember how many EU and foreign ministers as well as the US Secretary of State were present during those “popular protests” at Maidan. Remember the scale of the technological, material, informational and political support the collective West countries provided to them, including the EU as a supranational association, how they all held hands in round dances and sang songs while promoting political destruction and undermining the foundations and pillars of Ukrainian statehood. They eventually ruined the very essence of the country, state and society on the territory of Ukraine. They did that. The Maidan crowds were formed with their money, at their instigation and with their direct involvement; they handed out many items with certain symbols – something that could not have been achieved without huge financial support.
Let me remind you that the punitive operation unleashed at the time claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people, including women and children. The West was not just silent, but actively involved. The West did not just inspire it or what it unfolded, but enabled, encouraged, financed and directly participated in, and later led the events. The consequences of this criminal step by the Kiev regime are obvious. The Banderite Ukrainian junta has been escalating bloody repressions in Donbass for eight years, and that situation eventually forced Russia to launch a special military operation to protect the people in the DPR and LPR, to de-Nazify and demilitarise Ukraine, and to eliminate the threats to Russia's security based in this territory.
There is no end to Western countries pumping weapons into Ukraine, demanding that Ukraine continue fighting, disregarding the victims. The Anglo-Saxons aren’t hiding the fact that a truce is unacceptable to them (while insisting and reiterating that they are not a party to the conflict). They are expecting Kiev to take decisive steps and be ready for a bloody massacre “to the last Ukrainian.”
The scale of direct US military assistance to Ukraine is growing steadily and has reached $35.8 billion over Joe Biden’s presidency. This figure exceeds the annual GDPs of Cyprus and Iceland, and is comparable to Estonia’s GDP. The bulk of these funds ($34.8 billion) were allocated after the start of the special military operation. The Kiev regime receives various types of heavy and offensive weapons, ammunition and equipment from Washington.
Furthermore, 28 of the 31 NATO countries provide bilateral military assistance to Ukraine, with a total worth exceeding 65 billion euros. While NATO leaders continue to insist that the alliance does not provide direct military assistance to the Kiev regime and is not a party to the conflict, NATO agencies are involved in coordinating logistics, the distribution of Ukrainian requests for weapons and military equipment, and upgrading of the Ukrainian army’s control systems. They gather intelligence, share information and adjust fire. They are helping in a variety of ways.
At the same time, NATO is supplying Ukraine with “non-lethal” military equipment under the Comprehensive Assistance Package and using a number of trust funds. They are implementing or considering over 500 million euros’ worth of projects to transfer satellite communication systems, anti-UAV systems, engineering and pontoon equipment, fuel and lubricants, medicines, and medical and fire trucks to the Kiev regime.
Since February 28, 2022, the European Union has actually fully reoriented its European Peace Facility to supply weapons to Ukraine, allocating over 3.6 billion euros in seven tranches for this purpose. In fact, that step exhausted the fund’s resources in less than a year, while the “peace facility” was designed to facilitate security in all regions of the world until 2027. That is, the amount spent in one year to escalate the hostilities on the territory of Ukraine had been intended to ensure security in various regions of the world until 2027. On March 13, the EU countries had to chip in over 2 billion euros each, bringing the size of this facility to almost 8 billion; that money will go to supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine with extensive numbers of artillery rounds. Again, more of the EU taxpayers’ money will be absorbed by this Ukrainian “black hole” and by American defense corporations, which are keen to prolong the hostilities on the European continent. Overall, the European Union has allocated about 13 billion euros for military assistance to Ukraine.
More Ukrainian personnel will be trained as part of the EU Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine, which is now aiming to train as many as 30,000 militants for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the country’s neo-Nazi battalions by the end of 2023.
The Ukrainian army and foreign mercenaries are using weapons supplied by the West to destroy the civilian populations of the DPR, LPR, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, including women and children. Ukrainian artillery carries out regular strikes on residential areas and civilian infrastructure, and the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is being shelled with all the ensuing threats of a nuclear catastrophe. We have repeatedly sounded the alarm, reporting that Western weapons sent to Ukraine, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank systems, are spreading around the world due to endemic corruption in the country’s political and military circles. They eventually pop up in other regional conflicts, fall into the hands of crime rings, terrorists and extremists, including in Europe, the blossoming “garden” that Josep Borrell spoke about. The challenges this poses will not leave anyone safe, creating a threat to the internal security of every state on the European continent, and in particular their civilian air traffic.
This is the simplest analytics available to everyone. It is not so difficult to read what happened after the United States and the anti-Iraqi coalition’s occupation and aggression against Baghdad – where the weapons ended up, what terrorist attacks occurred, what terrorist groups were formed, and what threats emerged to peace and security. The same holds true for Libya and the Arab Spring. The world has been through this. Apparently, the Western regimes failed to draw any conclusions from those mistakes (or to correct their mistakes).
On April 5, 2023, Russia initiated an informal Arria-Formula Meeting of the UN Security Council in New York to discuss the withdrawal of Ukrainian refugees’ custody of their children in Europe.
Here is an egregious picture of what is happening in the beautiful “garden” Josep Borrell talks about. Children are being removed by local authorities without parental consent and with significant procedural violations. No one will return them.
One more case. In March 2022, 85 children with developmental disabilities were taken to
How are the forces doing that support the ICC and shout that this is the right organisation? Don’t they want to ask about the fate of these children? You can ask about everything that has been said concerning the notorious “receipts” issued for the fate of each child, which is inconsistent with any legal norms. It was in this hall that a detailed news conference was held by Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, who not only spoke about this, but stressed that she was open to discuss the fate of every child. Tell me, what’s with this wild hypocrisy and dehumanisation, when no one, on the whole or individually, cares about children disappearing in EU countries? How many examples have we given? There were many direct quotes showing that official and executive representatives of law enforcement agencies of the EU executive and legislative authorities consider this to be a huge problem for them: Ukrainians, including women and children who “disappear” after entering the country and do not register. Then they become victims of violence, human trafficking and perversion. Nobody in
The European states are behaving contrary to the traditional values of Christianity. Let me remind you that Christianity is the foundation of what has been built in the European space over the centuries. This is also contrary to human rights, a new concept that emerged on the European continent in the 20th century. There is no explanation for this. In addition to what I have already said, this demonstrates complete indifference to the fate of members of the most vulnerable and defenceless category of the population: children.
A wave of repressions against Orthodox priests continues In Ukraine. They are not just persecuted but are subjected to cruel experiments and abuse. A few days ago, a video showing Bishop Nikita of Ivano-Frankovsk and Kolomyia of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, being beaten, got on the internet.
The worst thing is that local authorities encourage such behaviour. They have launched a whole persecution campaign. Law enforcement agencies are not pursuing the attacker, whose face is clearly visible in the video. All this reinforces the feeling of permissiveness and impunity among Ukrainian neo-Nazis. I will tell you something else: they understand what is wanted from them. Their assignment is clear.
Unfortunately, relevant international organisations, such as UNESCO and the OSCE, as well as members of the global community, do not in any way condemn the crimes against the Orthodox Church. The reaction of the US State Department turned out to be the height of cynicism.
I believe that it is the rarest occasion when millions of people around the world pay attention to the comments by a State Department spokesperson. Let me remind you that Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the Department of State Vedant Patel said that he had not heard anything about the persecution of Orthodox priests and the seizure of churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Perhaps later he will be able to comment on this, but it is not clear.
Despite all the efforts of the collective West and its Kiev wards to harm Russia at any cost, the special military operation will continue until all the tasks set are implemented, which the Russian leadership spoke about.
The 240th anniversary of Crimea’s incorporation into Russia
April 19 marks 240 years since the peninsula was incorporated into the Russian Empire. On that day (April 8 Old Style) in 1783, Empress Catherine II issued the Manifesto On the Acceptance of the Crimean Peninsula, the Island of Taman, and the Entire Territory of Kuban into the Russian Empire. Crimea’s accession to Russia was a significant event in the development of the Russian state, the importance of which could hardly be overestimated. In 1783, after a long period under the Turkish and Tatar rule, the strategically crucial peninsula was restored to Russia, enabling it to come back to the Black Sea. This step was dictated by the need to ensure the security of Russia’s southern limits and consolidate the political, military and economic power of the Russian Empire.
Crimea’s accession to Russia took place at the request of local residents: the Russian archives still hold numerous so-called oath-of-allegiance lists, whereby residents of Crimea swore allegiance to Russia. This became one of the most democratic forms of annexation of new territories in that epoch. Crimea’s ethnic groups were granted equal rights with the other subjects of the Russian Empire, something that helped them to preserve their culture and identity.
After Crimea became part of the Novorossiya Province, its industrial and agricultural potential was given an opportunity for dynamic development, while its mild climate made it a famous resort and a popular holiday destination for generations of Russians.
Owing to its strategic location, the peninsula was a coveted prize for many aggressors, who attacked this country as a whole. Visitors to Sevastopol, Kerch and other places will certainly get a sense of history and see it with their own eyes. You will hear accounts by local residents and see the monuments. You will understand how many generations of Russians, our ancestors, defended this territory. They fought to the bitter end to prevent this land from being desecrated, as occasionally was the case in the past.
Many nations wanted to take hold of the strategic peninsula. Let me remind you that one of its sites is the legendary Sevastopol (founded in 1783), a city covered with martial glory by many generations of Russian fighters and the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. A testimony to the heroic spirit of local residents is the fact that two Crimean towns, Sevastopol and Kerch, were proclaimed hero-cities following the Great Patriotic War.
Russia’s ownership of Crimea was confirmed by the March 16, 2014 referendum, where the residents of Crimea consciously made their choice in favour of reunification with Russia.
Given the state importance of Crimea as part of the Russian Federation, in 2018, April 19 was added to the official list of Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia.
At the initiative of the Government of the Republic of Crimea and with support from the Russian Historical Society, the Russian Post is going to issue a souvenir sheet dedicated to the 240th anniversary of the signing by Catherine II of the Manifesto on Crimea’s incorporation into Russia.
I would like to use this occasion to congratulate the residents of Crimea and all citizens of Russia on this day and assure them that Crimea’s future is forever with Russia. These are not just words or slogans. This implies daily painstaking efforts, including spiritual work. This is what the peninsula’s residents voted at the referendum in March 2014.
An armed incident on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan
On April 11, an armed incident occurred at the line of contact on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the area of the village of Tegh. According to available information, there are, regrettably, casualties, with several people wounded or killed. Representatives of Russia’s Armed Forces and FSB Border Service stationed in the region immediately contacted high-ranking officials in Armenia and Azerbaijan and took steps for de-escalation.
The incident once again confirms the need for Baku and Yerevan to display mutual restraint and strictly comply with the package of trilateral agreements reached by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 9, 2020, January 11, 2021, November 26, 2021, and October 31, 2022.
Saudi Arabia receives SCO dialogue partner status
Saudi Arabia has completed the necessary procedures under a memorandum on granting SCO dialogue partner status to Riyadh. This has become yet another step to consolidate the entire potential for joint, mutually beneficial and safe development, for strengthening connectivity in a vast region where countries of the SCO Family are located.
We are confident that active work to implement the document, now entering into force, will create additional opportunities for interaction in maintaining regional security and stability. This implies efforts to eliminate challenges and threats posed by terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, trans-border organised crime and illegal activities in the information sphere. New opportunities will open up for trade, economic and investment cooperation, for facilitating transport, infrastructure and logistics interdependence, for implementing energy, agricultural and telecommunications projects and those in other spheres of mutual interest, for advancing inter-civilisational dialogue and for intensifying cultural and humanitarian ties, primarily in culture, education, science and technology.
In turn, Russia reaffirms its readiness to actively assist Saudi Arabia and other SCO dialogue partners in exploring the opportunities provided by the SCO for confident and stable national development.
World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day
On April 12, 1961, Soviet citizen, First Lieutenant Yury Gagarin orbited the Earth for the first time aboard the Vostok spacecraft and thus ushered in the era of manned space missions. Yury Gagarin gained worldwide fame overnight and, in effect, became a citizen of the world.
The launching of the first guided manned spacecraft was a triumph of Soviet science, which for many years determined our country’s leading positions in the global space exploration. As I see it, on this day, we should recall everyone who helped make this fantasy a reality. Rocket and spacecraft designer Sergey Korolev, Head of the Baikonur Cosmodrome Administration Anatoly Kirillov, and scientist and rocket technology tester Leonid Voskresensky supervised the Vostok launch.
On April 9, 1962, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree on establishing Cosmonautics Day, which received an international status at a conference of the World Air Sports Federation in 1968. Since 2011, it has also been called the International Day of Human Space Flight. On April 7, 2011, acting at Russia’s initiative, a special session of the UN General Assembly passed an official resolution on the 50th anniversary of the first step in exploring outer space. Over 60 states were co-authors of this resolution.
The Russian Federation, a legal successor to the Soviet Union, voices a principled approach to the development of space programmes. Russia promotes the adoption of joint statements with other countries on the no-first placement of weapons in outer space. It is therefore striving to make space weapon-free, to turn it into an area of peace and cooperation and to focus on the development of civilian technologies.
A statement by Yury Gagarin formulates Russia’s current position on outer space most vividly: “Orbiting Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let’s preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it.” These are great words uttered by a unique person. We need culture in order to appreciate and increase beauty. In fact, culture consists of increasing and preserving our legacy, the best our civilisation has created.
The Universal Day of Culture is marked in Russia and many other countries on April 15. It is associated with the adoption of the Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments in 1935. It is also known as the Roerich Pact, named after its initiator, an outstanding Russian artist and philosopher Nicholas Roerich.
The treaty was instrumental in formulating the standards of international law in art and served as the basis for the adoption at UNESCO of universal international laws aimed at protecting cultural heritage and diversity, such as the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, and the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. I would like to remind you that Russia signed all these international treaties and is scrupulously implementing its obligations.
Russian culture is an integral part of global cultural heritage. It is diverse, distinctive, creative, highly spiritual, and is an important element of cooperation and interethnic dialogue.
We are open to cultural and humanitarian cooperation with those who respect and appreciate our country, its history and traditions, language and artistic achievements. However, we are aware of the recent unprecedented rise in xenophobia, which we have denoted as Russophobia. In some countries it has taken the form of open discrimination and cancel culture. There are different words for it. New words have been invented to replace propaganda with “strategic communication.” It sounds fine, but this has not changed its essence. It is not “cancel culture” but xenophobia and hatred in a colourful wrapper that contains destruction inside. They have set out to destroy what they didn’t create and don’t understand. More than that, they cannot even read, become aware of or listen to it, let alone study it. Yet they have decided to cancel it.
On the other hand, how can they succeed if they don’t know what to cancel? They can’t even pronounce the names of universally appreciated writers, don’t know composers and have forgotten – most of them – how to enjoy museums. We can see and are fully aware of this. Those who visit museums do so out of idle curiosity and for decorum or as part of a business project. This is obvious as well. Culture and art have become a business, an art business. Everything they touch turns from spiritual, moral and real into passing, corruptible and materialised as so-called business projects. They can try to cancel us, but they won’t succeed. We pointed this out on numerous occasions. Those who had their doubts or lived in an illusory world saw this clearly last year.
The collective West has started a war against Russian culture, severing years-long partner ties and changing the nationality of Russian artists for political reasons. Do you remember how they changed the titles of their pictures, the ethnicity of the artists and even their names, and dismantled monuments, which is old news since it has been going on for decades. They attempted to erase any manifestations of historical memory connected with our country and hence with global history.
This is not only deeply regrettable and makes us wonder about the cultural and moral standards which our former “partners” proudly brandished. The situation is much more horrible and complicated. This is not just dehumanisation and renunciation of the factors that distinguish nations from one other. It is the renunciation of the fundamental characteristics of human beings and humanity. It is much more complex and dramatic than just part of a political campaign against our country.
The 20th Meeting of Culture Ministers of SCO Member States
On April 3, the 20th Meeting of Culture Ministers of SCO Member States took place via videoconference. Russian Deputy Minister of Culture Vladimir Osintsev took part in the event.
Timed to the meeting, the National Museum of India opened a digital exhibition dealing with the shared Buddhist heritage of SCO countries and featuring, among other exhibits, items from the collection of the Russian State Museum of Oriental Art.
Numerous cultural and humanitarian projects have been implemented during India’s SCO presidency, specifically, the SCO Film Festival (January 27-31, 2023), an SCO cultural exhibition during the Surajkund Mela 2023 International Crafts Fair (February 3-19, 2023), an international conference devoted to the common SCO cultural heritage (March 14-15), as well as the programme of the SCO’s tourist and cultural capital. Varanasi in the Republic of India received this honourary status in 2022-2023.
The meeting participants supported Kazakhstan’s proposal to declare Almaty the next SCO tourist and cultural capital. A final decision on conferring this status will be made at an upcoming SCO Heads of State Council meeting.
The meeting of culture ministers continued a series of high-level SCO events on a wide range of cooperation areas. Above all, this includes the Meeting of SCO Security Council Secretaries (New Delhi, March 29, 2023), the Meeting of Supreme Court Presidents of SCO Member States (New Delhi, March 10-12, 2023), the Meeting of SCO Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (via videoconference, March 3, 2023), the Meeting of SCO Energy Ministers (via videoconference, March 14, 2023), the Meeting of Heads of SCO Ministries and Agencies Responsible for the Development of Physical Fitness and Sport (New Delhi, March 15, 2023) and the Meeting of Heads of SCO Tourism Administrations (Varanasi, March 17, 2023).
We note the productive and dynamic efforts of India, now presiding in the SCO, to improve diverse intra-SCO interaction in the interests of regional security and sustainable development. The focus on cultural and humanitarian aspects helps promote active inter-civilisational dialogue, strengthen contacts between the peoples of the SCO member states, and forge mutual understanding, friendship and trust in the region.
The 90th anniversary of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Belgrade
On April 5-7, the oldest centre of Russian culture in Europe – the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Belgrade (RCSC), the Russia House – marked its 90th anniversary.
The Russia House opened at the initiative of the Russian Cultural Committee with support from King Alexander I Karageorgievich in April 1933 and was named after Czar Nicholas II. It was a centre of attraction for Russians who lost their homeland as a result of the tragic events of 1917 and a centre of spiritual and cultural life in the Balkans.
On the occasion of this anniversary the RCSC is hosting an exhibition dedicated to the history of Russian emigration in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (future Yugoslavia), as well as Russia House’s activities in different periods of its existence. The exhibition includes archives, digitised documents, unique artefacts and works of art from the collections of leading Russian and Serbian museums and from private collections. The Archives of Serbia gave the centre a visitor's book to be kept by the RCSC which contains unique evidence of visits to Russia House by prominent figures in Russian emigration, including Feodor Chaliapin.
The renowned Serbian film director Emir Kusturica was awarded a commemorative medal from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, “The Great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky 1821-2021,” in the context of the anniversary date. Serbian historian and academician of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and former Serbian ambassador to Moscow Slavenko Terzic was elected foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. And the Serbian Post issued a commemorative stamp, the “90th Anniversary of Russia House in Belgrade.”
The anniversary events were attended by Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, head of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) Evgeny Primakov, Director of the Department for Multilateral Humanitarian Cooperation and Cultural Relations of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Alimov, Russian and Serbian officials, executives representing Russian-Serbian business entities and figures of science, culture and art.
The opening of “Sergey Rachmaninov: I am a Russian composer” exhibition in Paris
The celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian composer Sergey Rachmaninov, which is included on the UNESCO calendar of commemorative dates for this year, continues. The events of the anniversary programme dedicated to the life and work of the legendary composer arouse sincere interest among connoisseurs of Russian culture abroad.
On April 7, the grand opening of the exhibition “Sergey Rachmaninov: I am a Russian Composer” was held at the Russian House of Science and Culture in Paris. The exhibition was made possible by the Russian National Museum of Music with support from the Russian Ministry of Culture and is based on materials donated to the museum by relatives and close friends of the composer. The exhibition project was presented in French and focuses on Rachmaninov as a composer, pianist and conductor. The multimedia content makes up a significant portion of the exhibition. Visitors can use QR codes to hear archival recordings of the most famous works by Rachmaninov performed by the composer himself and outstanding musicians.
A roundtable discussion was held at the Russian House of Science and Culture in Paris the day before the exhibition opened, during which General Director of the Russian National Museum of Music Honoured Artist Mikhail Bryzgalov spoke about the studies, teachers, family and friends, the musical legacy of the famous composer, and his life in Russia and abroad.
The anniversary of independence of the Republic of Zimbabwe
April 18 is Independence Day in the Republic of Zimbabwe commemorating the first democratic general election held in 1980.
Over the past years, that country has travelled a difficult path of overcoming acute socioeconomic issues, consolidating society in order to maintain internal political stability, and consistently defending its own position on key items on the global and regional agendas.
We highly value the traditionally friendly nature of our relations with Zimbabwe which is based on mutual respect and consideration for each other's interests. Moscow and Harare continue their political dialogue and successful interaction in the international arena, and build up cooperation in the trade, economic, humanitarian and other spheres.
We congratulate our Zimbabwean friends on the occasion of their national holiday and sincerely wish well-being and prosperity to the people of Zimbabwe.
International Day for Monuments and Sites
April 18 is marked as the International Day for Monuments and Sites (IDMS). It was established by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in 1982 and adopted by decision of the 22nd UNESCO General Conference in 1983.
Every year, the ICOMOS and its national committees, including the Russian committee, organise events and actions to draw public attention to the important humanitarian issue of protecting and safeguarding the world’s historical heritage for future generations.
I wonder how those who have called for cancelling Russian culture will participate in these events and cooperate with these agencies. I can’t imagine how they will do it. On the one hand, they allegedly want to save global couture for future generations, but on the other hand, they are quietly obliterating everything that doesn’t fit the opinions of some distorted minds. This is incredible.
This year’s IDMS theme is Heritage Changes. Russia is an active and responsible signatory of the fundamental international laws in this area, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
There are 31 sites from the UNESCO Heritage List in Russia, including 20 cultural sites. Our Tentative List includes 32 sites we consider to be cultural and/or natural heritage of universal value. As a member of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which is the governing body under the 1972 Convention, Russia is highlighting the further development of international cooperation for the protection and sustainable governance of world heritage sites on a professional and depoliticised basis.
In accordance with the 1954 Hague Convention and the executive order of the Defence Ministry of Russia issued during the special military operation, our armed forces are taking effective measures to ensure the protection of world heritage sites, museums, religious establishments and houses of worship in Ukraine.
Regrettably, some countries, acting with the connivance of their “big brothers” in Washington and Brussels, are flagrantly violating international law, neglecting their commitments to protect cultural and historical heritage, and then brazenly parade their illegal actions. You can see what is taking place there, such as the demolition of monuments and religious sites.
After the West brought neo-Nazis to power in Ukraine in 2014, the new authorities launched the process of forced de-Russification and the destruction of their own history and all the cultural objects that connect it to Russia and the Soviet Union.
Nearly all Soviet-era monuments have been demolished, including numerous monuments to Vladimir Lenin, who created Ukraine in the first place. The Ukrainian far right have not spared monuments to Red Army soldiers who fought the Nazis and their Ukrainian accomplices during WWII. They went as far as to vandalise these soldiers’ graves. Even the monument to General Nikolay Vatutin, who liberated Kiev, has been removed. It’s a disease. They are unable to stop or make any exception. We’ll have to wait until Ukraine recovers. I’m sure this will happen. Our men are fighting for this.
Monuments to universally recognised Russian writers and poets, political and military leaders, as well as enlighteners, such as Catherine II, Peter the Great, Alexander Suvorov, Alexander Pushkin and Leo Tolstoy, have been dismantled or demolished. The inspirers of these illogical and barbaric actions forgot about the artistic value of these monuments. They thought that they were fighting against Alexander Pushkin, an imaginary enemy who must be defeated in Ukraine. But monuments are part of our cultural heritage. Regardless of who they are dedicated to, they are works of art.
The war on monuments and the desecration of historical sites is ongoing. The neo-Nazi regime in Kiev, which was nurtured by the West, is depriving Ukrainian citizens of their history, distorting their rich culture and replacing it with narrow-minded nationalism based on primitive Russophobia that is alien to the majority of people in Ukraine. Nothing will change the fact that the history of the territories that were or are part of the current Ukrainian state is inseparable from Russian history, and any attempt to rewrite it will fail.
The destruction of Soviet miliary memorials in Poland has become part of state policy. In accordance with the law, local governments were obliged to remove all “communist symbols,” including Soviet monuments located outside cemeteries, by March 31, 2018. As the result of a barbaric campaign of “state vandalism,” only about a hundred of the 561 Soviet-era military memorials from the 1997 list compiled jointly with the Polish authorities are still standing.
A sweeping campaign to destroy Soviet-era memorials and cultural heritage objects is underway in the Baltic states under the pretext of the Ukraine crisis. Special laws have been adopted for this purpose. For example, in violation of Article 13 of the 1994 Russia-Latvia intergovernmental agreement on the social protection of military pensioners, local governments in Latvia have torn down over 120 Soviet-era monuments from June through November 2022. Over 60 such monuments have been demolished in Estonia and about 30 in Lithuania. These are the statistics of dehumanisation. Using the pretext of fighting the “glorification of Russian imperialism,” they are considering the removal of monuments to cultural workers, scientists and military leaders from public parks.
We have been working to stop these barbaric actions at the bilateral level, which is a shaky foundation, and on international platforms such as the UN, the OSCE and UNESCO. The loud silence of international organisations will have extremely negative consequences because it would amount to justifying those who are destroying our heritage and would encourage a distorted perception of their existence. What do we need the OSCE for if it doesn’t react to such actions? Should it focus on security instead? But there is no security any more in the OSCE space. Didn’t they notice this? They should have. There are still ways to respond. They remain silent when monuments are dismantled. They remain silent when freedom of speech and the media is trampled upon. They remain silent when human rights are violated. It appears the OSCE is cancelling itself.
Moscow International Film Festival
The 45th Moscow International Film Festival, one of the oldest and most prestigious film industry events since 1935, will take place April 20-27.
The scope of participation is expanding – this year, the Moscow International Film Festival will feature films from 65 countries from every region of the world. In particular, Chinese filmmakers will present 23 films in various categories; France, 18 films; Spain, 15; the United States, 12; India and Iran, 10 each, and Mongolia, two films.
More than 30 international premieres are expected at the festival. Many of the films on the festival programme have to do with the socioeconomic problems faced by young people and the cinematic interpretation of the need to bridge the gap between generations.
This year’s main competition jury will be headed by Rahul Rawail, a prominent Indian filmmaker. Leading Chinese director, Hao Yun, heads the documentary competition jury, and Giorgio Cugno, Italian director, screenwriter and actor, the shorts jury.
Boris Khlebnikov’s film The Bullfinch will open the film festival. The Final Game (Spanish: 42 Segundos), a Spanish-Andorran sports drama directed by Alex Murrull and Dani de la Orden, about the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona will be shown at the closing of the event.
April 21 marks 20 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Friendly and Partner Relations between Russia and Indonesia in the 21st Century. This document set the main direction for our long-term bilateral cooperation.
Over the past years, Russian-Indonesian cooperation has reached a qualitatively new level, with regular top-level and high-level contacts. Indonesian leaders have visited our country four times; President of Russia Vladimir Putin has visited the archipelago twice (1,2).
Russian and Indonesian foreign ministers regularly compare notes with regard to international and bilateral issues. During 2022 alone, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, met four times on the sidelines of international forums. A wide range of issues of mutual interest are discussed in a constructive and businesslike manner at inter-MFA consultations at various levels.
The two countries have established a productive inter-parliamentary dialogue and are increasing direct contacts between ministries, agencies, research, cultural and religious organisations. Russia and Indonesia are also working to improve the legal framework for bilateral relations.
This declaration gave a tangible impetus to our economic cooperation. Indonesia is one of Russia’s leading trade partners from among the ASEAN states. In 2022, bilateral trade increased almost by 45 percent, reaching $4.79 billion. A number of major joint projects are being implemented in mining and the processing of minerals. The Russian-Indonesian Joint Commission for Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation continues to function effectively. Negotiations are underway on a free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Indonesia.
This declaration seems especially relevant in the current geopolitical reality, as it confirms Russia and Indonesia’s commitment to building interstate relations based on the principles of mutual respect and equality and both partners’ interest in contributing to creating a fair and stable world order.
With their shared approaches to global issues, our countries are effectively interacting at the UN and other multilateral platforms, and deepening cooperation as part of the Russia-ASEAN strategic partnership.
We note with satisfaction that Russian-Indonesian cooperation is progressing steadily in accordance with the basic principles and guidelines defined 20 years ago.
International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace
April 24 is International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace. Established by a UN General Assembly resolution on December 12, 2018, at the initiative of Venezuela, which chaired the Non-Alignment Movement that year, this holiday is a reminder of the need to abandon Cold War and zero-sum mentality for a brighter future for all of humanity.
There is no doubt that the international community must redouble its efforts to ensure a priority of solidarity over unilateral egoistic policies amid rapidly deteriorating international security and loss of trust caused by the destructive actions of the United States and its satellites. Russia and like-minded countries are ready to continue working energetically towards this end.
It is notable that on April 24 Russia will hold an open debate at the UN Security Council titled “Effective multilateralism through the defence of the principles of the UN Charter.” It will be a key event in Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council this April.
The main goal of the event is to give the member states an opportunity to reaffirm their unfailing commitment to the main provisions of the UN Charter, above all undivided respect for the sovereign equality of states and non-interference in their internal affairs. Moreover, in light of the aggressive policies of the collective West, which has been trying to force the organisation into serving Western interests, this will be a chance to give a clear signal in support of the depoliticised operation of the UN, which remains an indispensable platform for looking for collective solutions to global issues during the current historical stage.
60th anniversary of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which we often cite, opened for signing on April 24, 1963. We regard it as one of the most important practical instruments of international law. In the 60 years since it was adopted, the convention has become a universal document and a major asset for organising consular operations in the overwhelming majority of states. We would like to remind you about the key point in its preamble, which says that the convention is designed to “contribute to the development of friendly relations among nations, irrespective of their differing constitutional and social systems.”
At the same time, it should be said that the actions taken recently against the Russian Federation by a number of unfriendly states are actually undermining the prestige of the convention and are eroding its unifying nature. The authorities of these states, while trespassing upon some provisions of the convention, such as Article 20 on the size of the consular staff and Article 23 on persons declared non grata, and seeking to justify their decisions to expel our consular staff and shut down consular offices, are disregarding their obligations under the convention to protect consular premises and guarantee their inviolability and security, including from acts of vandalism. Regrettably, such unfriendly actions are undermining the effective performance of one of the consulates’ most important functions, that is, the protection of fellow citizens’ interests in the host country.
We hope that the consolidated efforts of the international community will help to expand the constructive experience of regulating consular relations, which has been accumulated since the adoption of the convention, and to make broader use of its potential in the decades to come.
Question: At the beginning of this week, German Federal Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser demanded that countries hosting major sporting events deny visas to athletes from Russia. “Countries where major sporting events take place are not powerless [with regard to the IOC decision]. They can control via the issuing of visas whether Russians can actually participate. If we organise international competitions in Germany, we can act accordingly. Here we will always act with a clear position,” she said. How would you comment on this statement?
Maria Zakharova: This statement is nothing less than another encroachment on the independence of sports, an attempt to politicise sport, which is unacceptable, and to spite Russia in addition to the total sanctions imposed on Russian sports solely for political reasons. Such statements and actions by Western functionaries certainly run counter to the underlying values of the Olympic movement. As a reminder, the most important of them is to provide all countries and athletes with equal access to competitions and unequivocal promotion of the “sport out of politics” principle.
There are a lot of such statements. I would understand if illiterate and poorly educated people arrogant enough to comment without having even the basic knowledge were saying this – a widespread problem in the last centuries. But when I hear such statements from officials, ministers, representatives of current regimes or sports professionals in certain bureaucratic positions, I want to ask them: have you even read the documents you signed? This isn’t pulp fiction, but materials that regulate international sports.
Major international competitions that do not include Russian athletes will be far less competitive. Without Russian athletes, international tournaments will lose their appeal in many ways. Moreover, this will affect other competitors as well as spectators, who won’t see any spectacular rivalry without Russian competition in a number of events. And this is one of the components of the sports industry.
For its part, Russia remains an open and hospitable country that can host international competitions at the highest level. We participate in important international competitions where the atmosphere of friendship, fair competition and solidarity reigns. We are always happy to host competitions and those athletes who, like us, support sports without artificial restrictions or discrimination.
The German Interior Minister’s statement is a total shame. It’s not just an embarrassing thing to say or hear. What they utter is pure, undiluted shame.
Question: The Washington Post claims that the authorities in Poland and Ukraine may be involved in bombing the Nord Stream gas pipelines, while the article explicitly states that the NATO countries are not trying to get to the truth in investigating this sabotage. In your opinion, how seriously can one take the new “versions” that appear in the Western press, absolutely levelling the alleged involvement of the United States, which was described in detail by US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh?
Maria Zakharova: There was a terrorist attack. Other countries probably have their own opinion. We gave ours. This was some kind of extremist activity that undermined a peaceful civilian infrastructure of critical importance.
Investigations between and within countries were announced. As always, the investigations were carried out not with a desire to involve other countries to attain more opportunities to find the truth, but based on the principle “friendship against somebody.” The absence of any “movement,” not even news or breakthroughs, in the direction of the investigation in the Western countries, their endless “whispering” and incongruous reservations regarding the removal of Russia from participation, hiding their “secret guesses” and claims that it is difficult to establish the truth, the reluctance to actively and transparently pursue the appropriate set of investigation measures – all this gives rise to these media reports.
You can say that an investigation is a matter for professionals. Investigators and experts should be working on this. This is not for cameras or microphones. We absolutely agree with this. But there are two important points. First, the previous high-profile cases took place in Western countries in exactly the same way: through 24-hour broadcasting at the microphone and the endless involvement of the public in the discussion process. Second, a suspect was found almost instantly. Even in the most complex and intricate cases, they found the suspect and ran to the microphone to talk about it.
These two aspects of the Western countries’ behaviour in previous years have given rise to bewilderment among everyone: journalists, experts, countries, and international organisations. What went wrong this time? Why are there no official statements on how the investigation is progressing? Why are there no comments from experts who were “broadcasting” for days in the previous cases? And why is there no progress in the search for the truth? This is so unusual for representatives of political parties, governments and current administrations, which previously demonstrated quite the opposite behaviour. All this has given rise to relevant questions and various versions among the media, bloggers and professional investigative journalists.
As to their versions, which are numerous, as you can imagine, I am ready to discuss and comment only on the ones that are properly signed, with specific people behind them who put their name and reputation on the line and speak openly about it. I am not interested in anonymous leaks or vague sources quoted and then re-quoted by other outlets. We have already seen the system of “controlled leaks” the British tabloids used with previous stories. It’s uninspiring and pointless to comment.
If you have a version, not speculation, but a specific investigation someone is conducting, how can it be that no one puts their name to it? True, there are specific reporters writing for The Washington Post, but they do not disclose their sources; they do not even name the departments or countries their sources are from. How can anyone consider this an expert evaluation?
Let’s start with the back story. As you certainly know from detective stories and documentaries, motive is what matters most. It underlies everything. You don’t investigate a crime from the moment it was committed; you start with what led up to it.
The United States continues to deny involvement. Clearly, it is the main beneficiary. Let me remind you that American journalist Seymour Hersh, who has actually risked his good name, his reputation and the many years of professional experience as an investigator, several decades in fact, has given an exhaustive answer. First, Washington threatened to blow up this pipeline, publicly, at the highest level. Next, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Under Secretary Victoria Nuland spoke with undisguised enthusiasm about destroying it, admitting how pleased they were with the pile of “scrap metal” lying at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
US attempts to get off by strongly denying any facts while planting various kinds of fabrications and implausible versions in the media like “involvement of private companies” or some vague individuals from Kiev or Warsaw, along with slurred explanations from America’s satellites, confirm Hersh’s version in the best possible way.
Let me remind you that he is not just another journalist who decided to become an investigator and collect some materials, with no way of knowing who is backing him. He is backed by his professional career. He’s someone who investigated Watergate at the time, a story mentioned in American textbooks on politics, journalism, investigations, and so on.
After the Russian-Chinese resolution on Nord Stream was rejected at the UN Security Council meeting on March 27, suspicions about the involvement of the US administration in sabotaging the pipelines became, if anything, stronger. Washington and its allies have gone out of their way to avoid an objective multilateral investigation into the Nord Stream attack.
We are confident that if the US administration were interested in establishing the truth and punishing the perpetrators, they would have acted differently. The United States has precedents. Only, the country wasn’t the suspect in those cases. They accused others and ran to international organisations calling for some sort of investigation, even when what they wanted was outside the organisation’s mandate.
There is no doubt that many Western states, including Denmark, Sweden and Germany, do not want the true initiators and perpetrators of this terrorist attack to become known. The disclosure of their names is fraught with loosening the “cohesion” of the entire modern transatlantic world.
We insist on conducting a comprehensive and open international investigation, which absolutely has to include Russian experts. We believe that everyone involved in the bombing of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines will definitely be identified, and the details of this crime will be uncovered. Russia will do its best to prevent the collective West from suppressing this issue.
Question: It was reported that the Council of Europe intends to establish some kind of a register of the damage caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Can you comment on these plans?
Maria Zakharova: A fascinating story. The Council of Europe has never bothered to register the damage from the Nord Stream bombing, despite the damage that was sustained by investors, builders, gas companies, and civil infrastructure in several countries that supported and implemented this project. Do I have to mention the damage done to the environment, which is on the Council of Europe agenda. Where is the register of damage here? There isn’t any, and there never will be. Why? Apparently, they suspect that they will only find themselves in the course of an investigation. I am talking about the countries that I mentioned and which are active troublemakers in the Council of Europe, even though some of them are not in Europe.
Let’s think about this further. Let me remind you that we left the Council of Europe over a year ago. Apparently, Strasbourg cannot reconcile with this. Like, come back, but I will forgive nothing. I can feel this in any resolution from the Council of Europe. They are literally obsessed with Russia. They do not want to think about anything else. And the special military operation has nothing to do with it. It all started long before that. They have already tried to expel us, limit our rights, take away our voice. In recent years, no other country has been the target of such caustic and biased attention from the bodies of the Council of Europe as Russia.
There is nothing surprising about this obsession. The Council of Europe has long been used by the West (I mean NATO and the United States) in the hybrid war against Russia, primarily as an instrument of “legal aggression.” Let’s not forget that this organisation has largely lost its original reason for existence as envisaged in its charter. It has lost its pan-European coordinates. In fact, it has become the ideological department of the European Union. Once again, we are aware that in a political sense, there is no EU at this point. There is only NATO.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for the multi-thousand-strong and well-paid Strasbourg bureaucratic machine to convince taxpayers of its usefulness. In fact, everyone understands that this is a propaganda tool. In the past, the focus was on human rights. Then, when it turned out in the course of recent events that they were the ones who did not respect these rights, they took up the crazy topic of gender. This subject began to dominate like there was nothing else in the world: let’s talk about gender and adopt a resolution.
Propaganda for sexual minority rights is no longer enough for them. Strasbourg bureaucrats are not used to addressing the real problems of Europeans, whose civil and social rights are being subjected to ever greater restrictions. They do not know how to do it. They were originally created for something else. In recent years, they have been trained to do something that contradicts their original purpose. All the energy, potential and material and technical resources are wasted on hurting Russia.
As a result, they came up with the idea of keeping a register of material claims to Russia for conducting the special military operation. It should be said that this undertaking has no precedent in the history of the Council of Europe. They never dared to condemn, but instead encouraged the inhuman military adventures of the West, such as aggressions against Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, and Syria, in which not only the United States, but also members of the Council of Europe participated. Will they calculate, estimate, and figure out what they owe these destroyed countries?
Unlike the special military operation, they had nothing to do with protecting legitimate security interests. The Council of Europe have never calculated the extent of losses incurred by crimes that the West committed all over the world. Apart from large-scale campaigns, there were some minor ones. It appears that Strasbourg believes that NATO shells carry a dose of freedom and democracy, rather than death and destruction. They have this illusion.
Any unbiased observer realises that, by compiling the register, the West is trying to shift the blame for their own experiments on those who are trying to overcome the consequences of their actions. They are trying to blame Russia for the consequences of their own policy, specifically, NATO’s eastward expansion, nurturing a neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine, turning Ukraine into a military bridgehead, sending weapons and mercenaries there, and demolishing Ukraine’s sovereignty and statehood. In effect, they are trying to find someone responsible for their own provocative actions that made the special military operation inevitable.
To be honest, we should start from the harm inflicted on the people of Donbass and the damage done to regional infrastructure since 2014 as a result of the punitive operation launched by Kiev. We should also assess losses incurred by the water and energy blockade of Crimea, as well as those from illegitimate Western financial and economic sanctions against Russia and these regions.
Do you remember that the people of Donetsk and Lugansk had to exert tremendous efforts to obtain pensions, social payments and benefits? Do you remember how they were mistreated? They were told to relocate to territories controlled by the Kiev regime to obtain all payments. We recall assurances by the Normandy Format’s members that they would work with the Kiev regime and would make sure that people in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics got subsistence money. This does not amount to unemployment benefits, vacation loans or political activity grants. This is what they had earned with their own labour. None of this was fulfilled. If it were not for Russian humanitarian assistance to these regions over these years, their residents would simply have failed to survive.
We should also include the freezing, or downright theft, of Russian assets abroad. The Council of Europe should calculate this. They are not calculating it, so far, but we are doing this. We are kind-hearted, and we have a good memory.
The Council of Europe officials do not even realise what a bottomless Pandora’s box they have opened. It appears that many Asian, African and Latin American countries should now analyse this experience. This is an interesting story. We should think of compiling an international register of losses incurred by the long-time Western colonial exploitation and their ongoing neo-colonial exploitation. We should assess the idea of recording losses incurred by the genocide of entire nations and by plundering natural resources and cultural property. And what about slave trade? Have they already calculated the losses it had incurred? The instilling of racism also proved costly for many countries and peoples.
I don’t even know whether this Council of Europe idea is mostly hypocritical, foolish or dehumanising. Do its initiators realise that such projects only serve to escalate the standoff on the continent still further, with hard-to-predict consequences?
Recently, I took part in a certain politological discussion. One of the subjects was about the United States that talks endlessly about damages and tribunals. What is its attitude towards its own indigenous population? Has it counted how many indigenous people, primarily native Americans, it killed? I am not talking about payment and compensation. Does the current generation know what its predecessors did on this land? Can it imagine at least a hundredth of what they did and on what bones the United States rests? Do they know that it does not rest on freedom, democracy and a desire to build a new nation without any relationship to the grievous legacy of Europe that enslaved and colonised other countries? It rests on the destruction of the native population that lasted for many years. It was horrible because this population was abused and subjected to monstrous experiments on stopping its development as an ethnic community. Read about it yourself.
Indicatively, the Council of Europe is planning to create this register as an open agreement and it is enough for 16 of the 46 members of the organisation to sign it. Apparently, the initiators understand that they cannot count on unanimity even in such a biased platform as the Council of Europe. Can you imagine what would happen if the European countries started discussing the historical damage inflicted on each other?
There is no need to explain why we will consider the activities and decisions of this register negligible and qualify the accession of any state to it as a hostile act towards the Russian Federation.
Question: President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said that work on a peace treaty with Armenia is not going that smoothly, but Baku is still motivated to normalise relations. How is Moscow helping Baku and Yerevan in this respect? Are they planning any trilateral meetings to discuss the next steps?
Maria Zakharova: Russia is not relaxing its efforts to support Azerbaijan and Armenia in drafting a peace treaty. Our partners have accepted our proposal to hold one more round of bilateral talks in Russia. We will tell you about the exact dates as soon as they are coordinated and we can publish them.
Question: You talked about yesterday’s incident on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Do you think this aggravation could have been caused by the renewed activities of the Western countries in the South Caucasus, as many Armenian and Azerbaijani media outlets report?
Maria Zakharova: We did not make assumptions, but shared with you our conclusion that the incorporation of the new players or structures that have never dealt with the settlement of this long-standing conflict will not have “added value” or help reach the announced goal of establishing peace. To our deep regret, it will be used to aggravate the situation and prevent the sides from reaching this goal.
There is no need to make theories about this conflict or ask about an assessment of the different parties. We have already done this and have predicted what is bound to happen. Now we are beginning to see, with bitterness and regret, different manifestations of further destabilisation due to the interference of external parties that have never suggested a constructive idea.
Question: An American analytical centre, the Institute for the Study of War, published a special report where it said that Russia might announce a ceasefire on the Easter holiday. Under what conditions might Moscow accept the possibility of a ceasefire in Ukraine on Easter? Has Moscow received an official proposal on an Easter ceasefire from Kiev?
Maria Zakharova: Kiev has not made any official proposals regarding an Easter ceasefire to Russia. It is unlikely to happen given the Kiev regime’s displayed belligerent intent to continue hostilities. The Kiev regime and Vladimir Zelensky are unfamiliar with humanness and sympathy. They are carrying out acts of vandalism where nothing calls for it. There is no point in talking about the desire to normalise the situation or think about people. This is not the Kiev regime’s style; they do not value human life. This is an ideology brought in by the West through pro-Western (or directly Western) politicians to the territory of Ukraine that is being implemented there under the motto of fighting to the last Ukrainian.
We remember well that in the beginning of the year, Kiev sent out orders to go on with hostilities on the Orthodox Christmas holidays of January 6-7. They ignored our call to declare a ceasefire.
There is no point in counting on the Kiev regime’s displaying Christian mercy.
Question: South Africa is planning to hold talks with the US on immunity for President of Russia Vladimir Putin during his visit to the BRICS summit in South Africa. Do you know what the talks between South Africa and the US are about? Is Russia in contact with South Africa on this issue?
Maria Zakharova: I do not have any information about such talks. I saw some news in the media, but I do not have detailed information. You can address your questions to the parties you mentioned. If Russia is mentioned or there is some other development, then we will be able to comment.
Question: Has the American side made any attempts, through the Foreign Ministry, to begin talks on exchanging WSJ correspondent Evan Gershkovich? Is there any possibility for this?
Maria Zakharova: First, we have repeatedly said that these issues are within the competence of the relevant authorised agencies.
Second, we are seeing this strange dynamic of creating a buzz at the instigation of the US authorities or the other agencies behind it. It seems that they believe that if they make noise, and boo and hiss, it will help them. They have forgotten their previous experiences when this approach didn’t change anything.
There are relevant channels and authorised bodies. They are supposed to deal with these issues, not anyone else.
Question: American media are reporting that classified US documents on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict have appeared in several social networks, including Twitter. One of them contains information about surveillance on President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. The British newspaper The Guardian reported on April 10 that the disclosure of more than 100 highly confidential documents may be just the tip of the iceberg. Many media outlets believe this proves that the US and NATO are deeply involved in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. Can you comment on this?
Maria Zakharova: There has been no need to read leaks or articles on this. It is clear that NATO, the United States and Great Britain are not just deeply involved, but are directly conducting and managing the destabilisation of the situation in this region through the Kiev regime. Nobody is hiding this. Relevant statements are made every day.
They say they are not a party to the conflict. But they have never hidden any information about their involvement. On the contrary, this has been endlessly “elevated,” assigned a special historical role, and called “their mission.” There is nothing more to expect or analyse. Nuances or additional facts may appear, but hardly anyone on the planet has any doubt that the collective West, headed by the US and Great Britain, are behind this.
Regarding surveillance, I will not comment on planted stories and anonymous sources. It is useless and counterproductive. The fact is that this is not news either. Surveillance is a fact, first of all, on their allies, those who trust them. Did someone not know this? If so, it means that people are not following the agenda.
Let me remind you that several years ago information, officially confirmed by Germany and many experts, was published that the telephones and other means of communication used by Angela Merkel, who was the German Chancellor at the time, were tapped by her close partner, the United States. Everyone shrugged and forgot about it. That’s old news. This is evidenced by many archival documents that were classified and then officially declassified over time. They were not leaked, stolen or lost, but were declassified because the time restrictions ended.
Remember the famous writer Ernest Hemingway who said he had the feeling that he was being watched? Everyone laughed at him and said that he had psychological problems. After his death, American intelligence services materials were published, and it became clear that his home and car were stuffed with tracing devices. Everything they had previously denied was documented in the declassified materials.
It comes as no surprise that they are following Vladimir Zelensky. And what does it mean to follow him? He is all “packed” with American-made things: from communication devices and equipment to weapons. Add to this a close circle of experts and advisers, people who pretend to be citizens of Ukraine, while having US or other countries’ passports. In Kiev, members of the government in the years since 2014 have been citizens of other countries, contrary to their own laws. This is not a revelation.
Question: Emmanuel Macron said recently that a key goal of European policy was to preserve “strategic autonomy,” preventing Europe from turning into a vassal. He also said Europe must reduce its dependence on the United States as regards weapons, energy and the dollar’s extraterritoriality (to cite Politico). He said the Europeans should wake up, think about their own interests and stop walking to the American rhythm. What does Moscow think about this statement? Does it mean that Europe is beginning to understand the essence of US policy towards the Old World?
Maria Zakharova: I don’t want to suggest any medical conclusion, but traditionally a person is deemed sound when his actions match his words. When this doesn’t happen, people around him start wondering whether he keeps his word and follows moral and ethical standards or has deeper problems.
We see France’s actions, the actions of its government, the executive authorities and the Macron administration during his second term, and this is a long time. These actions are telltale. Macron made striking statements describing NATO as brain dead, but France did not withdraw from the alliance. He made the statement, but it wasn’t matched by an action. This is for French society to judge, for its people, political scientists and politicians. They should analyse to what extent the words of their leaders are matched by their actions.
This approach and the desire of European politicians to make verbal statements about “sovereignty” in relations with the US are nothing new. They have made statements like this before, especially during the Trump presidency. In a speech at Sorbonne University in 2017, Macron insisted on the need to enhance European sovereignty. Later, in 2019, he spoke about the “brain death of NATO.” We haven’t forgotten, either, his attempts to promote a rather constructive approach to relations with Russia, notably, the start of a Russia-France strategic dialogue at his initiative at Bregancon in the summer of 2019 as a necessary step to create “an architecture of trust and security” on the European continent.
First, this statement was not matched by any practical action. Second, the steps taken by the President of France and the executive government point to the contrary. Time has shown that the correct ideas expressed by the French leader in this respect are at variance with his words.
In practice, the EU is demonstrating the complete loss of its political independence and a greater dependence on the US than two decades ago. Since the afore-mentioned speech, the EU has not even come close to perceiving itself as the third global centre of power. The EU’s inability to implement its project of European “strategic autonomy” can largely be explained by the immaturity of other European countries, and their lack of willingness to pursue a policy independent of Washington. Many of them pursue a Washington-dictated policy. As before, they want the US to resolve many political, economic and other problems for them.
The EU’s refusal to buy Russian gas at Washington’s demand is a graphic example of this. This was not just an additional resource. EU politicians themselves admitted that Russian gas guaranteed Europe’s prosperity for decades. Now this gas is being cut off and money is being spent to buy expensive weapons from the US. We see a lack of will from the EU in the Nord Stream pipeline bombing, the tapping of European leaders’ phones by US secret services, and the breaking of the French-Australian contract on building submarines, under US pressure. Talk of sovereignty is groundless.
On January 10 of this year, the EU and NATO signed an indicative joint declaration. In this document, Washington unabashedly announced the use of the EU’s political, economic and military resources for reaching its own geopolitical goals of deterring Russia, China and other sovereign states under the pretext of uniting Western civilisation (one billion people).
Paris itself has obediently joined Washington’s course of fierce confrontation with Russia and reckless support for the Kiev regime – in effect, being an accomplice in Kiev’s criminal acts. It is hard to believe in this situation that France (its ruling regime) is capable of leading a European political force that is really striving for genuine independence and strategic autonomy.
We believe that in today’s multipolar world, the majority of Europeans would benefit from an independent Europe that is guided by its own, rather than American, interests, and wants to make its residents safe and prosperous. But it is still far from reaching this goal because no amount of words is buttressed by actions.
Question: Can you comment on the news about the leaked US and NATO documents on Ukraine? It is being said that the leaks were the work of Russian security services.
Maria Zakharova: I have already commented on this. There can be many versions. Soon they will say it was aliens. I do not think it’s necessary to comment on anonymous nonsense. Now is the time for America’s official representatives – the Pentagon, US security services, the Department of State, the White House – to comment on all this. Let them say what is going on. As soon as they do this and present concrete facts, and if it concerns us, we will comment. So far it’s all conspiracy theories.
Question: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday that the foreign ministers of Türkiye, Russia, Syria and Iran will meet in early May in Moscow. Can you tell us the date or other details regarding the preparations for this meeting, or about the meeting itself?
Maria Zakharova: I cannot tell you the date. As soon it is set, we will share it with you. The preparations for this event are underway. Currently the date for the ministerial meeting is being discussed, given the ministers’ busy schedules. It is not an easy arrangement. As soon the date is set, we will announce it to the media.
Question: You recently said that Britain’s delivery of depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine is a sign that London wants to turn the country into a scorched and deserted land. At the same time, President of Russia Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would be forced to respond if Kiev receives these munitions. Have there been any preventive actions taken against sending depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine?
Maria Zakharova: The United Kingdom’s statements on their intent, desire and readiness to supply Ukraine with depleted uranium munitions are a serious threat, including for the people of Ukraine whom London is allegedly trying to help. We are still concerned about it. Despite several warnings, London has not abandon its plans, which we consider malicious. Maybe they hope they will get away with this crime again, like in Yugoslavia, Iraq and other countries.
No. They should not hope for that. This time, they will answer for this crime.
The Russian party continues to actively use all platforms and resources at its disposal to draw international attention to this problem. We are sounding the alarm; this is the only way to do it. The main thing is that the world community understands that it won’t be spared from this problem. No, this problem will concern everyone.
One recent example is what happened with the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. Back then, due to man-made causes, a disaster occurred there and part of radioactive materials polluted the water, which soon reached other continents. To this day, the aftermath has not been eliminated. Nobody should have any illusions that, after polluting the soil at one site (both the soil and the atmosphere),t it will not affect indirectly, or maybe directly, other countries and peoples.
We have repeatedly spoken at the UN Security Council and the OSCE Forum on Security Cooperation about the unacceptability of delivering depleted uranium munitions to Kiev.
The use of such controversial weapons in Ukraine will lead to the further destabilising of the situation, the prolonging of the conflict and the increased suffering of civilians, including from radioactive pollution.
We believe that London should keep what remains of any rational thinking. Maybe it can prevent these reckless, irresponsible criminal plans from happening. And if not – you quoted the Russian leaders correctly – Russia will act based on the situation.
Question: We have recently noticed increasing attacks, like assassinations and sabotage, in the Russian Federation, for which alleged anti-government groups have claimed responsibility. They call themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps, or the National Republican Army, the Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists or Black Bridge. Is the Russian Federation concerned about the activities of these groups? And does it suspect that they receive external support from Ukraine or other foreign governments, including the United States?
Maria Zakharova: I am surprised. You are an American journalist but you are not interested in the fate of your colleague? Strange. If this issue is a priority for you, and you care so much about Russian citizens, this does you credit.
We went through the 1990s. Let me remind you what it was like in Russia. There was a fight against international terrorism in the North Caucasus. Under the flag of internal opposition, separatism, which was posed as freedom-loving, international terrorism carried out the wildest, most terrible attacks on our country and Russian citizens from inside. We have experience and skills on how to counteract this. We also have a realistic assessment of what is happening.
The link with the Kiev regime and all the terrorist acts assumed to be by these organisations is obvious. I do not represent any law enforcement agency, security force, or special service. I rely on their data. It is obvious that this trail really leads to the Kiev regime, and sometimes even further. Law enforcement agencies should be responding to this. They publish information about it, and there will be more information.
I can also say that the Russian special services, who selflessly fight terrorism, are in control the situation in this area and effectively prevent much of what was planned. They also investigate committed crimes. Punishment for all crimes (and there can be no justification for them) is inevitable.
As for the United States and its involvement. The entire Kiev regime is a “baby” created by the United States. This process went on for many years. Huge funds have been allocated for this, coups were carried out to change the legitimate government, and people who did not express the will of the Ukrainian people were brought to power. Accordingly, they did not come to power through a democratic procedure. They were brought in through coups. The United States is behind everything that the Kiev regime is doing now. We have never hidden this.
Question: During his visit to Ankara, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov complained once again about the failure to fulfil demands, as regards Russian agricultural exports, under the Russia-UN memorandum. Have you received any proposals regarding the fulfilment of Russia’s demands under this memorandum following Russia’s statement on extending the grain deal for 60 days? Do you expect that some of Russia’s terms under the memorandum will be fulfilled during this extension period?
Maria Zakharova: They should not be submitting any new proposals. They need to implement the agreed-on provisions. What proposals are you talking about? The document states expressly what each country should do. All of it should be implemented.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has already commented on this. He has given detailed assessments at his news conferences. You have quoted them.
I can also draw your attention to the remarks by President of Russia Vladimir Putin at the Russia-Africa in a Multipolar World conference. He also provided a related evaluation.
There was also a statement by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin. He said that this 60-day deadline was enough to evaluate the UN’s assurances on unblocking Russian agricultural and fertiliser exports to the global market in an objective way.
As the leadership of Russia has said, we will decide on our next actions during this period. We have indicated what is not working correctly; we have taken some actions to show this in reality, rather than in word. We will make the appropriate decisions following the above-mentioned 60-day period. Everyone knows our motives and demands quite well.
Question: While in Ankara, Sergey Lavrov also said initiatives aiming to make Russia and Ukraine sit down at the negotiating table were a symptom of a situation that has come about due to the US policy of establishing its hegemony in international relations. In his opinion, it is necessary to establish principles on which a new international world order (that all of us need instead of a unipolar order with one hegemon) should hinge. The Minister mentioned a principle in the UN Charter that the collective West directly violates. What particular principles should be complied with for creating a new international order? Will these principles be included in a list of Russia’s demands for holding peace talks on the Ukraine conflict?
Maria Zakharova: We advocate a more equitable and democratic international order that will promote reliable security, the preservation of unique cultural-civilisational identity and equal opportunities for the development of all states. This can only be guaranteed within the framework of a multipolar system of international relations.
It will take time to list the principles and to comment on them. One way or another, they are formalised in the new Foreign Policy Concept, approved by the President of the Russian Federation on March 31, 2023. I can list them: the sovereign equality of states, cooperation based on a balance of interests, the diversity of cultures and civilisations and others. This is basically what we call international law, and this is formalised in the UN Charter.
Question: Is it possible to view the establishment of a new world order and the principles you just mentioned as Russia’s demands for starting peace talks on the Ukraine conflict?
Maria Zakharova: This is Russia’s foreign policy concept, our global approach to building international relations. Based on these principles, we will do everything – develop international relations, work in world organisations and offer initiatives. Russia will conduct its foreign policy in line with these principles. I am talking in general, not about each principle separately. All of them are formulated in Russia’s Foreign Policy Concept.
Question: You recently commented on the threat related to the delivery of depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine. How can Russia establish that they were supplied or used on the battlefield?
Maria Zakharova: First, the British authorities themselves established this when they declared their intention. They made a statement to this effect. Second, all details are within the competence of the Russian Defence Ministry.
It is easy to establish that depleted uranium munition were sent or used. Our country has the necessary means of objective control. You understand, this is done by our power block not the Foreign Ministry. They have everything they need for this expertise.
I would like to emphasise that we believe Britain is fully aware of the pernicious nature of its intention and the responsibility it assumes if these munitions are supplied and used by the Kiev regime.
Question: In its statement on Finland of April 4 of this year, the Foreign Ministry focused on the political problems of relations with the country after its accession to NATO. What can you expect in other areas of bilateral ties with your neighbour, which was neutral at one time?
Maria Zakharova: Russia has consistently and sincerely pursued a policy of developing friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation with Finland. By tradition, this was rooted in strong trade and economic relations and comprehensive ties that had been developed over decades. Finnish leadership destroyed all this by choosing a confrontational course towards our country in the wake of general Western anti-Russia propaganda and military psychosis. The prospects for normalising bilateral relations must be correlated with Finland’s actions. We have said this more than once as well.
This was not our choice. We warned that all this would deal a blow to bilateral ties.
As recorded in the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation, the key conditions for restoring interaction are as follows: the realisation by the states of Europe that there is no alternative to peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial equal cooperation with Russia, an increase in the level of their foreign policy independence and a transition to a policy of neighbourliness with the Russian Federation. This fully applies to bilateral ties with Finland. This is exactly the case. This newly adopted document conceptually formulates all of these principles. We will use them comprehensively and apply them to all cases and elements of our foreign policy.
Question: Yesterday, an Azerbaijani Armed Forces unit opened fire against Armenian Armed Forces who were carrying out engineering work near the Tegh community. The Armenian side took retaliatory actions. As a result of the Azerbaijani provocation, the Armenian side lost four people and six were wounded. How do you assess Azerbaijan’s intrusion on the territorial integrity of Armenia?
Maria Zakharova: You expressed this correctly; I already commented on this. There is nothing to add.
Question: Azerbaijan, continues to keep the Lachin corridor closed in violation of the trilateral statement dated November 9, 2020. On April 4, the Azerbaijani side also prevented Russian peacekeepers from transporting 27 civilians to Nagorno-Karabakh, subjecting them to psychological pressure and intimidation. How do you assess the actions of Azerbaijan and the obstruction of the peacekeepers’ humanitarian work?
Maria Zakharova: We support the complete unblocking of the Lachin corridor. Efforts for this are being made by the Russian Defence Ministry and the Russian peacekeeping command in cooperation with our department. Our Armenian and Azerbaijani partners have detailed proposals on this matter.
The peacekeepers on the ground are working to provide the people of Karabakh with food and essential goods. Dozens of tonnes of humanitarian cargo are delivered daily.
We expect a speedy resolution to the situation in order to promote the normalisation of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations in compliance with the package of trilateral agreements at the highest level.
Question: During Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Türkiye, the normalisation process in Armenian-Turkish relations and the restoration of regional connections were also discussed. What was stated on these issues?
Maria Zakharova: I would not like to reveal all the details. You understand, the process is not yet completed. Diplomacy should be able to work hard on such a sensitive topic.
I can say what Moscow’s position on Armenian-Turkish normalisation is. It has been expressed many times and is well known. We support the resumption of a mutually respectful dialogue between Yerevan and Ankara, as launched with our direct participation in January 2022. I will not repeat the whole story of the phased normalisation process. You know about Russia’s participation in multilateral formats on this matter.
We believe that such a “thaw” will help improve the general situation in the South Caucasus and make a significant contribution to establishing long-term stability in the region. We see that the process has been gaining steam lately. We are ready to continue to provide the necessary assistance.
Question: You talked today about Russia’s role in deescalating tensions after Azerbaijan’s latest provocation yesterday. A deputy from the ruling party said today that there was no mediation by anyone and that a settlement was achieved by direct talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Maria Zakharova: We do not belittle their direct efforts. It is great that they can come to terms on the most complicated issues.
I said about our contribution to resolving the problem and it should be commented on not only (and maybe not so much) by individual members of political movements but also by representatives of the executive government who are responsible for this area.
Question: He was a representative of the ruling party.
Maria Zakharova: Armenia is a democracy. Everyone can express his or her own view.
Question: What about talks with the Armenian authorities on deploying a CSTO mission in the republic? Have the sides reached any specific agreement on this? When will it be deployed? Now you will say that I am once again citing a deputy from the ruling party. Yesterday, the Chair of the Standing Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Relations…
Maria Zakharova: I won’t say that you are citing a representative of a political party. In turn, I will cite Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who said Russia is content that Armenia is interested in hosting CSTO peacekeepers.
As soon as Yerevan is ready, we will be able to resume the practical work of fixing what diplomats call specific modalities, details and aspects of the CSTO mission’s deployment in Armenia.
Question: What about tentative dates?
Maria Zakharova: This is really a question for Yerevan not for us. After all, the mission may be deployed in Armenia.
Question: The Latvian Saeima is discussing a draft law on migration. Is the Russian Foreign Ministry following this discussion? What is Moscow’s position on it? Are you preparing for the possibility of accepting a large number of Russians that might be deported from Latvia for a failure to pass the Latvian language proficiency exam?
Maria Zakharova: What is happening in the Baltic Region can only be qualified as a cruel attempt to resolve the Russian issue. Apparently, before, we stood on ceremony and wanted to maintain a chance for the ruling circles to improve the situation but now we see that they are simply imposing this line.
This is not just in Latvia but also in Estonia and Lithuania that prominent representatives of the Russian language community are being deprived of residence permits and expelled to nowhere. They don’t have housing or jobs abroad. Sometimes, they don’t even have relatives that might be willing to receive, settle and shelter them. People are being expelled only for their desire to preserve the right to use their native tongue and culture, to keep their links with historical reality, with their homeland. In the past, no one could visualise such a situation. They were born in certain conditions, they lived and created for the benefit of their republics.
This xenophobic policy of the ruling circles of the Baltic countries must be resolutely condemned, in part, at the relevant international platforms. However, their Western curators block any attempt to do this. They have been using the Baltic republics as a Russophobic bridgehead for many years.
As for support for the Russian citizens who have been forced out of these countries, I can assure you that Russia won’t leave our compatriots in the lurch.
Question: Previously, Russia has repeatedly extended the grain deal, complaining that the terms on which it insists are not being fulfilled. Is Russia likely to show firmness and withdraw from the deal if this continues?
Maria Zakharova: I have already cited President of Russia Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin. I don’t think I should repeat myself. Conclusions on the implementation of the Russian part of the deal will be made after 60 days. We have already explained this.
Question: Armenia refused to host CSTO military exercises but agreed to take part in the NATO war games. What does the Foreign Ministry think of this position? Is this seen as an unfriendly step by Yerevan that can worsen our bilateral ties?
Maria Zakharova: I won’t repeat what I said. I just commented on the Armenia-CSTO issue.
As for NATO, they continue to try hard to involve others in their exercises. NATO is doing this by introducing its standards. It is trying to reformat the defence sector of these states and acquire levers of influence in their domestic and foreign policies and the development of their armed forces. NATO is primarily interested in the post-Soviet space that it regards as a field of geopolitical confrontation with Russia. The United States and its allies are trying to discredit cooperation between the region’s countries and Russia. They are drawing these countries into different formats of interaction, which are anti-Russian and sometimes Russophobic in nature. These NATO actions destabilise the situation in different regions. They are leading to an increase in conflict potential and the creation of new dividing lines.
We have asked our Armenian partners to provide an official explanation for participating in NATO exercises. We will determine our reaction after their response.
Without doubt, Yerevan’s refusal to host CSTO exercises is regrettable and does not help enhance regional security.
I would like to remind you again of my reply on CSTO-Armenia cooperation.
Question: The Press Service of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) reported, following the 39th session of the SCO RATS Council in Tashkent on April 7, that the secret services of the SCO countries will conduct counter-terrorist exercises in Kyrgyzstan in 2023. The meeting participants decided to hold the first joint information operation on preventing the use of the internet for terrorist, separatist and extremist purposes. What is the first joint information operation about? Can you comment on this in more detail? Is it censorship or… ?
Maria Zakharova: Our country is paying primary attention to developing cooperation on countering challenges and threats to security in the SCO space. The decisions made at the 39th RATS Council session, including those you mentioned, are aimed at promoting the coordination and interaction of the competent bodies of the SCO countries in countering terrorism, separatism and extremism.
As for the approval by the RATS Council of the decision to hold the first information operation on preventing the use of the internet for terrorist, separatist and extremist purposes, this is the SCO’s response to the rapid spread of radical ideologies and terrorist propaganda in the digital space, recruitment of new followers, the organising of terrorist attacks and the funding of criminal terrorism activities through modern ICT. The competent bodies of the SCO member countries are working out the format and parameters of this operation. Considering the sensitive character of this issue, the results of the operation will be assessed after its completion.
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