🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Szijjarto (Moscow, December 9, 2025)

💬 On November 28, 2025, our respective leaders held productive and useful talks. You and I took part in them. Indeed, this was a very useful conversation between the two leaders considering their commitment to focusing on the national interests of their people and states. They act in a pragmatic and rational manner.

All the existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms have been operating in a dynamic and effective manner. I am certain that today’s meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation will make a meaningful contribution to further strengthening our mutually beneficial ties.

Of course, illegal sanctions constitute a serious obstacle in this regard. It is our so-called 'Western colleagues', in this case the European Commission’s leadership, who have been imposing these sanctions. However, despite all these challenges, trade has been increasing, which is attributable to efforts by the corresponding agencies in Russia and Hungary.

The flagship project to build the Paks NPP, the new blocks of this grand undertaking. is steadily advancing. Overall, electric power industry plays a primary role in our relations, and this sector has been generating sustained positive momentum.

Of course, we are satisfied with the way we have been working together in culture and on the human dimension of our relations. Only recently, Hungary hosted yet another Russian Music Festival devoted to Sergey Rakhmaninov’s creative legacy. There were also the Days of Russian Spiritual Culture.

Our contacts in sports have benefited from a renewed impetus. In this domain, we are the ones advocating and asserting the ideals of the Olympic movement and the sports world in general, while overcoming illegal restrictions against athletes. These restrictions are driven by political and ideological considerations.

The Leaders of our two countries could not fail to mention international developments during their conversation. This was 10 days ago, and since then there have been several events.

I am certain that we will exchange views on the way the situation is expected to evolve regarding efforts on the Ukraine settlement issue.

❗️ I know that Hungary, just like the Russian Federation, views strengthening European security and making it reliable and dependable as one of its core missions. The security framework which has emerged from the Cold War is facing a serious test. It goes without saying that we must revive the principles of equality, mutual respect and indivisible security.

There is another essential matter for both Russia and Hungary since they view it as one of the inevitable conditions for the Ukraine settlement process. I am referring to reviving international standards for protecting ethnic minorities.

We are ready to share the way we view the developments and contacts which took place after President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban.

I know that our Hungarian friends are keeping a close eye on all these developments. As usual, I am eager to learn what you think about this, and I believe that it will be quite useful.

🇷🇺🇭🇺 #RussiaHungary

🎙 Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lyubinsky’s address at the ceremonial event at the UN Information Centre on the Occasion of Human Rights Day (Moscow, December 9, 2025)

💬 On December 10, the international community celebrates #HumanRightsDay established in honour of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly in 1948.

The Universal Declaration is unique; it established a kind of “gold standard” for human rights, recognising their equal value. This document has had a decisive influence on the formation of the modern international legal framework for the promotion and protection of human rights, as well as on the development of international law more broadly.

❗️ I would note that the Declaration places particular emphasis on the importance of promoting friendly relations among peoples.

UN Member States endorsed the Declaration, driven by the desire to strengthen respect for human dignity and to reaffirm its value.

This anniversary carries exceptional significance. This year marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War and World War II, as well as the founding of the United Nations (#UN).

Won at an enormous cost in human lives, the Great Victory was made possible by the unification of all peace-loving nations in the fight against Nazism, fascism, and militarism. It determined the subsequent course of world history, created the conditions for building a new architecture of international relations, and laid the foundations of contemporary international law.

Humanity paid with tens of millions of lives for this tragic lesson: the ideology of racial superiority has no place in the civilised world.

Although the Declaration was adopted 77 years ago, it remains relevant today. This is particularly evident against the backdrop of the creeping rehabilitation of Nazism in Europe and the general policy pursued by Western countries to revise the outcomes of World War II.

Meanwhile, self-proclaimed developed democracies shamelessly invoke the provisions of the Declaration to justify interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states, imposing neoliberal “values” as an allegedly universal foundation for life. The historical, cultural, and religious particularities of individual countries are disregarded.

This instrumentalisation of human rights by the collective West takes place against the backdrop of gross human rights violations within these very states.

The Russian Federation advocates building cooperation in the human rights sphere on the basis of universally recognised principles and international law, through constructive, equal, and respectful dialogue. Everything possible must be done to counter attempts to distort the meaning of fundamental UN documents in the interests of individual states.

In conclusion, I would like to express my hope that human rights will become a unifying rather than a divisive factor in international relations and cooperation.

#RussianHistory

🇷🇺 The capture of Plevna. December 10, marks the 148th anniversary of the Russian Army’s victory in a decisive battle of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 for the fortified city of #Plevna.

The liberation war of 1877–1878 is rightly considered to be just and nation-wide. Representatives of the Russian nobility and Slavic committees raised funds to support the Russian Army, officers volunteered for the front, and their spouses served as medical nurses; Emperor Alexander II arrived to the General Headquarters in person.

During the siege and liberation of Plevna, which lasted from July 19 to December 10, 1877, more than 30'000 Russian soldiers, Bulgarian volunteers, and troops from seven countries of the Liberation Coalition were killed. During the assault, General Mikhail Skobelev, known among the troops as the “White General”, distinguished himself with exceptional bravery.

The capture of the fortress marked a turning point in the Liberation War, becoming a symbol of the heroism and selflessness of the Russian soldiers who fought for the freedom of the Balkan peoples and saved the Bulgarians from Ottoman rule.

This is the decisive actions of Russia in 1878 that brought the independent Bulgarian state to the map of Europe and the Bulgarian people gained the long-awaited freedom.

📰 Newspapers of that time wrote:

The surrender of Plevna was and will remain one of the greatest events in the history of the Slavic liberation. The recently unknown town became dear to Russia and Bulgaria, and the battle remained a paragon of the military art.

Regretably, the current Bulgarian authorities for political reasons commit to oblivion the heroic deed of the Russian soldiers who made a decisive contribution to the liberation of Bulgaria and rehabilitation of its statehood.

Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova said in her greetings on Bulgaria’s Liberation Day (March 3, 2025):

The Liberation War of 1877-1878 is rightly called just and national.

Today, the history of that war is mercilessly rewritten and cast into oblivion.

The reality is that without the decisive action by Russia at that moment, by the way, absolutely unprepared for war, the map of Europe in 1878 would not get an independent Bulgarian state and its people would not get so long-sought freedom.

🎙 Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov’s interview with the International Affairs magazine (Moscow, December 8, 2025)

Key points:

• The START Treaty stipulates one five-year extension, which was put into effect five years ago. In other words, this possibility has been used. This does not rule out other possibilities to extend the treaty beyond the designated deadline. But this should be a subject for separate discussions and separate far-reaching agreements.

• We can reiterate our stand, which we have put forth many times, including publicly, that a moment is approaching when any efforts in the sphere of arms control will have to become multilateral. We have always said, and we will continue to say that the first to join these efforts when the conditions are right should be the United States’ closest allies – the United Kingdom and the French Republic, which are openly and cynically demonstrating their aggressive plans towards us. The thoroughly anti-Russia nature of their policy is obvious to everyone. And they make no secret of it.

• The next contact between the [Russian and US] Leaders is high on the agenda. It is necessary to provide substantive content for such a contact. We cannot afford to step away from the framework agreed upon by the Leaders in Anchorage.

• The Trump administration is among the few of our Western dialogue partners, let’s call them that, and opponents who acknowledge the validity of the importance to deal with the underlying causes of the conflict which cannot be ignored.

• The current US administration’s policy shows a pattern of using a carrot and stick approach to those they find “unruly and disobedient.” There’s nothing new if you look at it from this perspective. No matter how many more sanctions, be they primary, secondary, tariff-related, or any others, are imposed, we will act solely in accordance with our national interests.

• We were deeply disappointed by the US decision to put a cap on the number of visa application points for Russian citizens wishing to obtain a tourist or other non-immigrant visas. Only two locations are left, Warsaw and Astana. This complicates matters, and there is a lot more to be addressed here.

• We have special partner relations with Venezuela. We have recently ratified the basic Treaty of Strategic Partnership and Cooperation with it. We are cooperating in all spheres, including within the framework of law enforcement and security. This is no secret either. In this extremely complicated situation, in this time of trial, we continue to stand together with our Venezuelan allies, and they are aware of this.

• We firmly and consistently call on the international community, primarily the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, to speak up so as to keep the Washington administration from the continued aggravation of the situation and to convince it to abandon its aggressive plans.

• We are witnessing the formation of a multipolar world. This phase is extremely complex and comes with many conflicts, but its momentum is irreversible. The world is moving in this direction, and I am confident it will be a more just world.

• We are dealing with a very serious adversary, an adversary of historic proportions. It is no coincidence that they have set out to “inflict a strategic defeat on Russia,” essentially denying the obvious fact that a nuclear power cannot be defeated. They openly disregard our determination to act as energetically as necessary to defend our interests.

• Sometimes it is simpler, more effective, and even cheaper to ensure national security through agreements rather than through building up military capabilities. Different stages require different solutions. Priorities vary as well, but I would not write off classical diplomacy. Nor can it be replaced by force or by artificial intelligence.

Read in full

🇺🇳 On December 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly, a document that has influenced the constitutions of almost all countries throughout the world. It became the first international instrument to proclaim fundamental human rights and freedoms.

🌐 UN member States adopted the Declaration in an attempt to bolster respect for human dignity, to revive its value. This was a natural consequence of the Second World War – the biggest catastrophe of the 20th century.

🇷🇺 The Russian Federation remains consistently committed to the standards and principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and core international human rights instruments. We are convinced that all participants in international relations need to focus their efforts on strengthening constructive dialogue and mutual cooperation on human rights issues and to be engaged in a collective process of elaborating and adopting relevant decisions in the interests of all mankind.

🎙 Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on Human Rights Day (December 10, 2025)

💬 On December 10, the international community marks #HumanRightsDay. It was on this historical day in 1948 when states came together to approve the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in an effort to strengthen respect for human dignity and reaffirm its importance. This document created a solid foundation for the present-day international framework for encouraging and defending human rights.

This year’s anniversary has special importance since it coincides with 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War and World War II, as well as the 80th Anniversary of the United Nations (UN).

It was the Great Victory, which came at an unimaginable cost with all peace-loving nations coming together to fight Nazism, fascism and militarism, that defined the course of global history and created a foundation for a new architecture of international relations, while also laying the groundwork for international law, including human rights law.

Unfortunately, certain countries have been exploiting the noble ideals and spirit of the Universal Declaration in pursuit of their momentary political and economic goals these days.

Freedom of speech has been used for justifying unrelenting attempts to revise the outcomes of World War II, justify the disastrous Nazi ideology, while casting Hitler’s followers and collaborationists as heroes. They have been referring to the principle of freedom from torture for interfering in the domestic affairs of sovereign states, while appealing to the freedom from discrimination for imposing neoliberal values as the one and only pillar of the world order.

❗️ This way of exploiting human rights as a tool for pursuing vested interests is unacceptable.

We believe that we must do everything we can to counter fraudulent attempts to assert lopsided interpretations of the fundamental human rights documents.

☝️ We call for working together on the human rights agenda by strictly following existing, time-tested and universally recognised international principles and norms while taking into account the historical, cultural and religious context in any given country.

🇷🇺🇮🇷 On December 10, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko held a meeting with Ebrahim Azizi, Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament (the Islamic Consultative Assembly), who was in Moscow on a working visit to attend events of the #CSTO Parliamentary Assembly.

The officials expressed satisfaction with the progressive development of the full spectrum of Russian-Iranian relations, guided by the spirit of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which has now entered into force.

During the meeting, the Parties exchanged views on current regional and international issues of mutual interest. They noted the close alignment, and in many cases convergence, of Russian and Iranian approaches to addressing the principal challenges of our time.

Both Sides reaffirmed their shared commitment to deepening cooperation across all promising areas.

#RussiaIran

Киевский режим продолжает тиражировать выдуманную историю о «тысячах похищенных украинских детях».

Несмотря на то, что эта информационная кампания и отдельные вбросы неоднократно опровергались: #фейкам противопоставлены реальные #факты.

***

В 2014 году киевский режим, захвативший власть в результате антиконституционного и кровавого госпереворота, перешёл к карательным операциям против собственных граждан, отказавшихся признавать радикальных националистов у власти в Киеве. Уже в апреле 2014 года Киев начал использовать против жителей Донбасса армию, задействовав бронетехнику, авиацию, артиллерию и реактивные системы залпового огня.

❗️ Тысячи мирных жителей, включая сотни детей, стали жертвами неизбирательных ударов ВСУ и военизированных националистических группировок.

2 июня 2017 года в Донецке была открыта Аллея Ангелов в память о погибших детях. Тогда на мемориале значились 66 имён. Сегодня число погибших от действий националистической хунты детей уже превысило 300.

Преступления Киева не ограничиваются убийством детей – режим опускается до преследования несовершеннолетних в Интернете.

Так, на одиозном ресурсе «Миротворец» – онлайн-«расстрельном списке», который ведут украинские неонацисты и который спокойно работает на западных серверах, – опубликованы «досье» с персональными данными на почти 400 несовершеннолетних.

В их числе – Платон Бурченков, которому в январе 2026 года исполнится… всего три года, обвинённый в «умышленном нарушении государственной границы». Другой пример – Фаина Савенкова, блогер-подросток из Луганска, чьи персональные данные были внесены на «Миротворец», когда ей едва исполнилось 12 лет. Радикалы обвиняют девочку в «посягательстве на суверенитет» целого государства.

⚡️ По информации Генеральной прокуратуры России, в результате действий украинских карателей погибли 5 000 мирных жителей, более 13 500 получили ранения – среди них 1 275 несовершеннолетних.

Тем не менее, в апреле 2023 года Киев начал тиражировать миф о «20 000 похищенных украинских детях». Его первой озвучила украинский омбудсмен по правам ребёнка Дарья Герасимчук, а затем активно подхватили западные СМИ. Цифра в «19 546 депортированных детей», опубликованная на портале «Дети войны», не подкреплялась ни списками, ни конкретными именами.

Список имен якобы «похищенных украинских детей» российская сторона получила только в 2025 году – в ходе возобновлённых прямых российско-украинских переговоров в Стамбуле. В нём оказались не «тысячи», а всего 339 имён – прямое доказательство того, что Киев искусственно раздувал цифры и фальсифицировал факты ради политического пиара.

Детальный анализ показал: многие из этих «детей» оказались уже совершеннолетними ещё на момент начала специальной военной операции. Ряд детей легально проживает в России с одним из своих родителей, а более сотни и вовсе «нашлись» в Германии (эту информацию Киев пытался старательно скрыть от общественности).

Россия обеспечивает понятный и прозрачный процесс воссоединения семей, координируемый Аппаратом Уполномоченного при Президенте России по правам ребёнка. С 2022 года 122 ребёнка из 98 семей были воссоединены с родителями или близкими родственниками на Украине или в третьих странах. 29 детей вернулись в Россию с территории Украины. Факты воссоединения детей с родными и близкими верифицируются сотрудниками Международного Комитета Красного Креста, которые сопровождают детей для их передачи родителям и родственникам.

‼️ Россия никогда не препятствовала и не будет препятствовать воссоединению детей с их семьями. Это наша принципиальная позиция.

⚡ Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

Another EU official has 'done it'.

Foreign Minister of Finland Elina Valtonen said the following in a CBS interview: “In the past 100 years, no neighbouring country of Russia has attacked Russia. During the same period, Russia has invaded 19 countries.”

When Elina was nine, her family moved to Germany, where her father worked at the Finnish diplomatic mission. She attended a German school and continued her education at the Deutsche Schule Helsinki after returning to Finland in 1995.

Her family is bilingual, and Elina communicates with her children in both Finnish and German.

Valtonen holds a bachelor’s degree in information security technology from the Helsinki University of Technology (2004) and a master’s degree in financial economics from the Helsinki School of Economics (2005).

I have a question for the Finnish government… No, that would be useless. I have a question for the people of Finland: why doesn’t your foreign minister know that Nazi Germany, led by Hitler, attacked the Soviet Union in 1941?

Is this because she studied at German schools and there are foreign agents in the Finnish government, or because of the degeneration of local democratic institutions, which appoint dunces and mediocrities to the government?

The variant “they live according to the NATO manual” is closest to the truth, but that would be too simple.

Especially for the “Minister of Fakes” Valtonen, here is a brief history of the hybrid aggressions of Greater Finland (Suur-Suomi) against Soviet Russia, starting in 1918.

• The first Finnish units invaded Russia in March 1918, but the Finnish government waited until May to declare war on Russia.

By that time, the Finnish authorities had revived the Union of White Sea Karelians (Vienan karjalaisten liitto), which was established in 1906.

The revived union launched anti-Russian and anti-Soviet propaganda among Russia’s Karelians to rally support for the Republic of East Karelia with the capital in Uhtua, a puppet regime controlled by Helsinki in the territory of Russian Karelia occupied by Finnish forces.

However, successful operations conducted by the Red Army forced Finland to withdraw from the occupied territories.

In October 1920, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) and Finland signed the Treaty of Tartu. During the talks before that, Finland insisted on marking its eastern border from Lake Ladoga to the White Sea, but Soviet diplomats ensured the preservation of the territorial integrity of the RSFSR. Under the treaty, Finland received the ice-free port of Petsamo (Pechenga).

• Finland invaded Russia again a year later, in October 1921, without a formal declaration of war.

You can form your opinion of Finland’s ideology at that time from the name of the Finnish nationalist group, Brothers of Hate, which called for “liberating” Karelians from “Soviet occupation” and for their unification with the Finns. Hatred of everything Russian was fashionable in Finland at that time.

Finnish units carried out acts of subversion, destroying food stocks, bridges and government buildings, attacking Red Army units, and killing pro-Russian Karelians. They mobilised men in the occupied territories for a war against Russia, which did not prevent Finland’s defeat.

In March 1922, the RSFSR and Finland signed a new agreement that defined Russian-Finnish borders.

☝️ In other words, before the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939–1940, Finland invaded Soviet Russia twice to seize its border regions where Karelian, Veps and other Finno-Ugric people lived.

We will soon send the Finnish translation of a book published by the Russian Military Historical Society, "The Black Book: The History of Swedish and Finnish Russophobia".

#DebunkingFakes

The Kiev regime continues to recycle its baseless accusations regarding “thousands of abducted Ukrainian children” to promote its false narratives. Although this claim has been debunked time and again, it is important to revisit the case and counter #fakes with #facts.

***

In 2014, the Kiev regime that seized power through an unconstitutional and violent coup unleashed punitive operations against the residents of Donetsk and Lugansk (at the time – Ukrainian citizens) who rejected the nationalist forces that installed themselves in power. As early as April 2014, Ukraine's armed forces against the people of Donbass using armoured vehicles, aviation, artillery and rocket systems.

❗️ Thousands of civilians, including hundreds of children, became victims of indiscriminate attacks.

On June 2, 2017, the Alley of Angels memorial was unveiled in Donetsk in honour of the perished children. Back then, the memorial listed 66 names. Today, the number of young victims has already exceeded 300.

Kiev’s atrocities go beyond the killing of children – the regime even resorts to harassing minors online. The infamous “Myrotvorets” website – a public hit list run by Ukrainian neo-Nazi, which is still operational and and is hosted on Western servers, targets almost 400 children.

Among them is Platon Burchenkov – a toddler who will only turn... three years old in January 2026 is accused of “knowingly violating the state border”. Another example is Faina Savenkova – a young blogger from Lugansk, whose personal data was added to “Myrotvorets” when she was barely 12. Ukrainian radicals claim that the teenager “encroached upon the sovereignty” of the entire state.

⚡️ According to Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office, Ukrainian punitive actions have claimed 5,000 civilian lives and left over 13,500 wounded – among them 1,275 minors.

Nevertheless, in April 2023 Kiev began circulating the myth of “20,000 abducted Ukrainian children”. It was first promoted by Ukraine's Commissioner for Children’s Rights Daria Gerasimchuk and quickly amplified by Western mainstream media. The “19,546 deported kids” figure published by the Children of War portal was not backed by any lists, names or individual records.

The Russian side received an actual list of “abducted Ukrainian children” only in 2025 during resumed Russia-Ukraine direct talks in Istanbul. It contained only 339 names, showing that the number of children separated from their families on both sides had been grossly inflated for political PR.

A case-by-case review showed that a large share of those listed as “children” were actually adults who had already turned 18 when the special military operation started. Some were found legally residing in Russia with one of the parents, while over 100 were found in Germany – a revelation Ukraine quickly tried to hide.

Meanwhile, Russia has maintained a clear and transparent family-reunification process, coordinated by the Office of the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights. Since 2022, 122 children from 98 families have been reunited with parents or close relatives in Ukraine or third countries. 29 children have returned to Russia from Ukraine. All reunifications are verified and accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

‼️ Russia has never impeded the reunification of children with their families – and never will. 👉 This is our principled position.

#See4Yourself #Think4Yourself