🤝 On April 10, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland.

They had an in-depth discussion on the current situation in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, primarily the Gaza Strip. Speaking about the unfolding humanitarian disaster, the Parties reaffirmed the importance of an immediate ceasefire, safe and free access to people in need and the injured, as well as the release of hostages. Sergey Lavrov pointed out that Hamas’s attack on October 7 deserved to be condemned but could not and should not be used as a pretext for the collective punishment of millions of Palestinians.

☝️ The Officials focused on the possibility of relaunching a peaceful Palestinian-Israeli settlement after the end of the hot phase of the conflict. They emphasised the lack of alternatives to the two-state solution, which involves the establishment of a sovereign and independent State of Palestine within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living in peace and security alongside Israel.

They also exchanged views on the overall situation in the Middle East in light of growing tensions between Israel and Lebanon, arbitrary Israeli attacks targeting Syria, and instability in the Red Sea.

🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Moscow, April 10, 2024)

🔹 FM Sergey Lavrov’s schedule
🔹 The situation around the Zaporozhskaya NPP
🔹 The Ukrainian crisis
🔹 International Court of Justice’s provisional measures
🔹 Western cyberattacks on Russian critical infrastructure facilities
🔹 Attacks on the Russian Embassy in Lithuania
🔹 BRICS Council on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism
🔹 Russia’s CIS chairmanship

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#ZaporozhskayaNPP

❗️Since April 7, 2024, Europe’s largest Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Power Plant has been subjected to systematic Ukrainian attacks using unmanned combat aerial vehicles.

An emergency session of the IAEA Board of Governors will soon be convened on our initiative. The issue of Ukrainian attacks on the NPP will also be raised at a UN Security Council briefing. We intend to urge specialised international organisations to recognise current developments around the Zaporozhskaya NPP and Ukraine as a whole.

#Donbass

▪️ Kiev launched its “counterterrorist operation” in Donbass almost a decade ago.

In effect, this was a civil war unleashed by Kiev against its then compatriots in the country’s southeast. People there demanded only one thing – respect for their lawful rights to speak the native tongue and teach children in it, know history and pay tribute to their heroes who saved the world from fascism almost 80 years ago.

During all these years, we have known very well and said this publicly that the accusation of Donbass of terrorism is a fake. <...> Now the UN International Court of Justice has confirmed this. <...> This verdict refuted Kiev’s main argument in justifying the war it unleashed against civilians.

🗓 On April 12, 2024, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the 7th Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Russia and Central Asia Countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), to be held in Minsk on the sidelines of the CIS Foreign Ministers Council Meeting.

The meeting participants will discuss the implementation of agreements reached following the 1st Russia – Central Asia Summit on October 14, 2022, in Astana.

There are plans to exchange views on key international and regional issues. The Ministers will also conduct a separate discussion of environmental issues and prospects for cooperation in this important sphere.

🎙️Embassy Comment on the fifth anniversary of Julian Assange’s detention in the United Kingdom

Five years have passed since British police arrested Wikileaks founder Julian Assange at the Embassy of Ecuador in London on April 11, 2019. Since then, he has been continuously detained at the Belmarsh high-security prison. 

Meanwhile Kafkaesque proceedings are dragging on in British courts following demands to extradite Mr Assange to the United States.

▪︎Mr Assange’s treatment bears all the hallmarks of deliberate politically motivated persecution. He has served the full sentence for an offence under British legislation a long time ago. However he is still held in extremely harsh conditions of solitary confinement in a prison designed for most dangerous criminals. Largely due to this the Wikileaks founder’s health is known to have deteriorated to a critical point.

▪︎Thus there appear to be clear signs of a violation of a number of recognised rights and freedoms of Mr Assange. The deficiencies in his case are glaring. In case of extradition to the United States further gross violations of his rights are likely.

▪︎More generally, everything seems to have been done so that Mr Assange’s example would dissuade other human rights defenders once and for all from shining a spotlight on war crimes by the USA and its allies.

▪︎Mr Assange’s fate remains an indelible stain on the reputation of the United Kingdom and its partners across the Atlantic. It clearly demonstrates their true attitude towards universally recognised human rights and democratic values. Obviously, these concepts are of value to London and Washington only when they can be instrumentalised to put pressure on countries that do not want to play along with the rules imposed by the US and the UK.

▪︎We remain hopeful that efforts by lawyers of the Wikileaks founder will ultimately succeed, and that the situation will be resolved favourably for Mr Assange and his family.

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⚡️ Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on the successful launch of the Angara A5 carrier rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome marking Cosmonautics Day

🚀 The day before Russia’s Cosmonautics Day, Russia successfully launched its brand new Angara A5 space rocket carrying the Orion upper stage and a mass simulator. Importantly, this was the first Angara A5 launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. The rocket’s successful launch has confirmed the Russian Federation’s status as a leading space power that fully ensures its sovereignty in terms of space launches from its territory.

✅ We reaffirm our commitment to the exclusively peaceful use of space. We advocate the progressive development of space-related science and technology, and equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with all interested parties in the exploration and use of near-Earth space for peaceful purposes.

📸 Roscosmos

🎙Комментарий Посла России в Великобритании А.В.Келина информагентству ТАСС

Пафосные рассуждения мининдел Великобритании Д.Кэмерона и Франции С.Сежурне о британо-французской «Антанте» на деле носят абсолютно конъюнктурный характер.

Они свидетельствуют не о самоценности двустороннего партнерства для Лондона и Парижа, а об их совместном заискивании перед американскими законодателями, которых европейские союзники пытаются убедить и далее бросать деньги в топку украинского кризиса.

💬А.В.Келин:

▪︎Вызывает недоумение центральный тезис британо-французского воззвания – будто поражение Украины станет и проигрышем Запада. В чем конкретно будет выражаться этот проигрыш, ни в статье, ни в других высказываниях этих министров не объясняется. Ведь не скажешь же рядовым читателям, чем плохо то, что в Европе, наконец, наступит мир, а их налоги впредь не будут уходить на подпитку коррумпированного режима В.Зеленского.

▪︎Если читать «между строк», предельно ясно, что в проигрыше окажутся не западные страны, а только представители их руководства, которые сделали заведомо ошибочную ставку на помощь Киеву, сделавшему огромную ошибку, когда тот развязал войну против русских в своей стране и против России. Вот им действительно будет сложно выйти из ситуации без потери лица.

▪︎Неудивительно, что министры так и не сподобились указать на террористическую сущность киевского режима. Опять пытаются списать ответственность за чудовищный теракт в «Крокус Сити Холле» на ИГИЛ. Стараются не замечать возобновившихся обстрелов ЗАЭС, чреватых по-настоящему катастрофическими последствиями для всех европейских стран, включая Британию и Францию.

▪︎Судя по всему, сохраняя ставки в украинском кризисе, правительство тори уже не осмелиться реалистично оценить ситуацию, а попросту перебросит эту «горячую картофелину» будущему правительству – в качестве источника перманентных бюджетных расходов и имиджевых издержек.

▪︎Впрочем, насколько такой «подарок» нужен их преемникам – решать им самим.

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🎙️Комментарий Посольства в связи с пятой годовщиной взятия Дж.Ассанжа под стражу в Великобритании

Вот уже пять лет прошло с тех пор, как 11 апреля 2019 года основатель «Викиликс» Дж.Ассанж был арестован британской полицией на территории посольства Эквадора в Лондоне.

С тех пор он беспрерывно содержится в тюрьме строгого режима «Белмарш».

Одновременно в здешних судах тянется кафкианский процесс, связанный с требованием выдать Дж.Ассанжа в руки американской юстиции.

▪︎В обращении с Дж.Ассанжем налицо все признаки целенаправленного преследования по политическим мотивам. Срок наказания за имевшее место нарушение британского законодательства он отбыл уже давно. Однако до сих пор содержится в крайне тяжелых условиях одиночного содержания в учреждении, предназначенном для особо опасных преступников. Известно, что во многом из-за этого состояние здоровья основателя «Викиликс» доведено до критической точки. При этом есть серьезные сложности с обеспечением медицинского ухода.

▪︎Налицо явные признаки попрания целого ряда общепризнанных прав и свобод Дж.Ассанжа. Ни для кого не является секретом порочность содержательной стороны его дела. В случае экстрадиции в США вероятны дальнейшие грубые нарушения его прав. По сути, сделано все, чтобы пример Дж.Ассанжа раз и навсегда отбил у других правозащитников желание проливать свет на военные преступления США и их союзников.

▪︎Судьба Дж.Ассанжа остается несмываемым пятном позора на репутации британцев и их заокеанских партнеров. Наглядно демонстрирует их истинное отношение к международно признанным правам человека и демократическим ценностям. Очевидно, что эти понятия имеют значение для Лондона и Вашингтона лишь в тех случаях, когда могут использоваться в качестве инструмента давления на государства, не желающие играть по правилам англосаксов.

▪︎Надеемся, что усилия адвокатов основателя «Викиликс», в конечном счете, возымеют действие, и ситуация разрешится благополучно для Дж.Ассанжа и его семьи.

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🎙️Интервью Посла России в Великобритании А.В.Келина телеканалу Россия 24, 11 апреля 2024 года

💬А.В.Келин:

▪︎Обстановка изменилась не только на поле боя, но и в настроениях людей и в Европе, и даже в Британии. Тем не менее мининдел Великобритании Д.Кэмерон продолжает твердить, что Украина должна победить Россию. Либо надо быть слепым и глухим, либо очень бояться признать ошибочность своей политической линии в последние годы. Думаю, дело именно в этом.

▪︎Британия подчеркивает, что свою роль видит, прежде всего, в мобилизации усилий западного лагеря по содействию Киеву. Здесь Лондон и Париж соперничают: кто громче крикнет, ведь собственные возможности в плане предоставления украинцам военной помощи Британия во многом исчерпала.

▪︎В Великобритании уже не первый месяц на все лады муссируется тема «неминуемого» вооруженного конфликта. Речь идет собственно о банальном стремление силового блока, влиятельных отставников и стоящего за ними бизнеса добиться увеличения госрасходов на оборонные нужды.

▪︎Присутствие британских военных специалистов на Украине не является секретом. Лондон признает дежурство там, например, сил спецопераций. Известно о вовлеченности британцев в планирование и подготовку операций ВСУ, в т.ч. диверсий на территории России.

▪︎Из [наших] контактов с рядовыми англичанами следует, что никакой угрозы со стороны России они, разумеется, не видят и не чувствуют.

▪︎В британской прессе регулярно появляются слухи об отставке премьер-министра Р.Сунака. Внутрипартийная турбулентность, подогреваемая спекуляциями о готовящихся «заговорах», для тори характерна, особенно в последние годы. Но среди консерваторов многие действительно недовольны провалами правительства.

▪︎С марта 2022 г. Лондон методично идет по деструктивному, прежде всего, для собственной экономики пути сворачивания торгово-экономических отношений с нашей страной. Денонсация Советско-Британского соглашения о ловле рыбы в водах Баренцева моря - ответная мера.

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🇷🇺🇧🇾 President Vladimir Putin met in the Kremlin with President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko who arrived in Moscow on a working visit (April 11, 2024)

💬 We have never rejected a peaceful settlement of disputes. Moreover, this is what we were inclined to do. It was not Russia that started this war in 2014. Everything began with a coup d’etat in Ukraine. <…>

Now, as you know, the idea of holding some kind of conference in Switzerland is being promoted. We are not invited there. Moreover, they think that we have nothing to do there, and at the same time they say that nothing can be solved without us. Since we are not going there (it has now turned into a kind of nonsense), they say that we refuse to negotiate. We were not invited, but they say that we refuse.

It would be funny if it were not so sad. Once again, I would like to emphasise that we are in favour of talks. But not in the format of being imposed any schemes that have nothing to do with reality. <…>

we have recently seen a series of strikes on our energy facilities, and we had to respond. I would like to emphasise that in winter time, guided by humanitarian considerations, we did not launch any strikes on energy facilities. I mean, they wanted to have our social institutions, hospitals and so on left without power supply. But after a series of strikes on our energy facilities, we had to respond. <…> Above all, we proceed from the fact that in this way we directly impact the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. <…>

The opposite side – has driven itself into a corner, to a certain extent, by refusing to negotiate, expecting to defeat Russia on the battlefield, to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. Now, having understood that this is impossible and having refused to negotiate, they have found themselves in a predicament.

Our goal is not putting everyone in a tough spot. Just the opposite: we are ready for constructive efforts. But clearly, nothing detached from reality can be imposed on us.

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🕯 The CIS Foreign Ministers Council meeting in Minsk started with a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the March 22 terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue

🎙 Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question about the Swiss government’s decision to host a high-level conference on Ukraine

❓Question: On April 10, the Swiss government announced its decision to hold a high-level Ukraine peace conference in June. Will Russia participate in it?

💬 Maria Zakharova: We have repeatedly expressed our extremely negative attitude to this “conference.” Russia will not take part in it, even if we receive an invitation, which we haven’t so far.

Switzerland is trying to peddle the compromised Zelensky formula under the guise of good offices and keep the failed Copenhagen process going, in a new package this time.

☝️ Any events that ignore Russia’s position and are based on the ultimatum-like Zelensky formula’s provisions are detached from reality and have no future.

The intention voiced by the organisers of the “conference” to take common components out from other countries’ initiatives is nothing but a trick. It is well known that the Zelensky formula does not imply compromises or alternative solutions and completely ignores the proposals put forward by China and Brazil, as well as African and Arab states.

We have no confidence in Switzerland, either. It stands on the positions of Ukraine, supports the Kiev regime, imposes anti-Russian sanctions, and adopts strategies that exclude Russia from the system of supposedly existing European security. By definition and given the circumstances, Switzerland cannot act as a neutral host, let alone a mediator.

The West needs the Global South countries to take part in the “conference” only to give weight to a certain “collective ultimatum” that they are going to present to Russia.

👉 We hope our partners in Asia, Africa and Latin America will be vigilant and will not let themselves be drawn into yet another anti-Russian reckless scheme.

12 апреля 2024 года в День космонавтики Генеральный консул России в Эдинбурге Д.И.Москаленко возложил цветы к памятному камню, посвященному первому полету человека в космос, на острове Мейнленд (Оркнейские острова).

On April 12, 2024, on Cosmonautics Day, Consul General of Russia in Edinburgh Denis Moskalenko laid flowers at the memorial stone dedicated to the First Man in space on the island of Mainland (Orkney Islands).

🚀12 April marks the International Day of Human Space Flight - the annual celebration commemorating the first human space flight by Yuri #Gagarin, which took place #OTD in 1961.

During his 1961 trip to the UK at the invitation of the Foundry Workers' Union in Manchester, Yuri Gagarin met Her Majesty The Queen and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.

A number of places commemorating the heroic deed of Yuri Gagarin are scattered across the UK, which include: his statue at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, a memorable plaque at Manchester Airport, Gagarin’s bronze bust at the Science Museum in London. Several streets around the UK also bare his name.

The first British astronaut Helen Sharman, who was also the first woman to visit the «Mir» space station in May 1991, once said: «Wherever we go in space, and whatever we do there, we stand on the shoulders of Yuri Gagarin».

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks and answers to media questions during a joint news conference with CIS Secretary-General Sergey Lebedev following the CIS Foreign Ministers Council meeting

📍 Minsk, April 12, 2024

💬 Sergey Lavrov: Russia chairs the CIS this year. Our top priority is to ensure furthering integration ties in all areas, including the economy, security, law and order and the cultural and humanitarian area.

<...>

Nearly every CIS member country emphasised the significance of this unity, highlighting the novel character, level, and quality of our relations <...> within the framework of the Commonwealth.

<...>

Instead of fostering direct dialogue devoid of ultimatums, the West is pushing forward with the Copenhagen process, preparing for a conference in Switzerland. Here - and they openly said it - they aim to refine and present the infamous ten points of Vladimir Zelensky's “peace formula” to the Russian Federation. <...> It is evident to any astute political observer that this approach is a dead end, to say the least.

<...>

The West solemnly pledged at the top level that not a single country or organisation in the OSCE region would strive to aspire to domination. In fact, what NATO engaged in was none other than domination.

<...>

The US and its satellites are trying to impose their presence on every region where Russia is present. <...> They are creating various formats to counteract the Russian Federation.

<...>

❗️ The West’s policy is doomed to failure. True, they can use blackmail, ultimatums and threats to make our partners do things that are less than helpful for cooperation within the CIS. But these are one-off cases and cannot influence the general movement towards getting rid of Western diktat. It is a historical process, which is changing the global situation, not only the post-Soviet countries.

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🎙 FM Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks at the meeting of Russia-Central Asia Foreign Ministers (Minsk, April 12, 2024)

💬 We are grateful that you accepted our proposal to hold the seventh regular meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Central Asia and the Russian Federation. <...>

Today I would like to focus on the implementation of the results of the first Russia-Central Asia summit, which took place in the autumn of 2022 in Kazakhstan.

🤝 Our Leaders called upon us to develop recommendations to further promote cooperation in the economy, energy, and environment. In particular, the Russian side has prepared the presentation of a special project on providing support in relieving the ecological situation in the Aral region.

The Russia-Central Asia format is very important for regularly exchanging views on regional security and current international issues.

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🇷🇺 Comment by Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov to «REN TV» on the extraordinary session of the IAEA Board of Governors (with English subnoscripts)

💬 Yesterday's extraordinary session of the IAEA Board of Governors was exactly what could and should have been done

💬 To draw attention to the dangerous situation, to draw attention to violations of the safety principles formulated by the IAEA Director General regarding the Zaporozhskaya NPP and the nuclear sphere in general, to support the fairly tough position of the Director General - this was also necessary. And, in my opinion, it worked

💬 Because even Westerners, who never try to say anything bad about Ukraine, even when it is obvious that it is carrying out unacceptable actions, even they, in fact all of them, said that it is unacceptable to shoot at the nuclear power plant, without calling Ukraine by name. Then, however, they moved on to another topic, to numerous claims addressed to us, i.e. blurred the situation, blurred the focus of the discussion

💬 But, nevertheless, it seems to me that the necessary signal was sent to Kiev and I would like to hope that they will refrain from resuming attacks on the Zaporozhskaya NPP