🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Saint Petersburg, June 15, 2023)

🔹 FM Sergey Lavrov’s schedule
🔹 Ukrainian crisis
🔹 Zaporozhye NPP update
🔹 Organ trade in Ukraine
🔹 Ukrainisation of UNSC agenda
🔹 Situation in Afghanistan
🔹 Nuclear deterrence
🔹 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
🔹 European Union

And more...

📚 Read in full

#Ukraine
As a result of the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant due to prolonged shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces, 36 settlements in Kherson Region were flooded.

A large-scale humanitarian operation has been taking place in this Russian region over the last few days. Russian Emergencies Ministry workers rescued almost 2,000 people, among them hundreds of children.

While Russia is making every effort to save the residents of the affected areas and to provide them with essential supplies, Kiev continues to target civilian sites.

#NuclearDeterrence
Russia is fully committed to the principle of the inadmissibility of a nuclear war. There can be no winners in such a war, and it must never be waged.

The hypothetical use of nuclear weapons is only possible under extraordinary circumstances for purely defensive purposes.

#EU
An astronomical amount of [COVID19] vaccines, many times the size of the EU population, was purchased on behalf of the EU member states, at an astronomical cost and mainly from a single company, Pfizer.

The multi-billion dollar amount and the terms of the contract were not made public. This was done without bidding, without documents and without witnesses. Such decisions were made simply by text message.

⚡️ More than 900 agreements were signed at SPIEF for total worth of 3.86 trillion rubles

This refers only to those agreements that are not protected by non-disclosure agreements.

150 countries from 25 “unfriendly” countries took part in the SPIEF, many of them participating incognito, as everybody is interested in the development of Eurasian cooperation.

Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the Russian President, said this at a press conference on the SPIEF results.

In total, 17,000 persons from 130 countries took part in the forum, with the most numerous delegations coming from:

🇦🇪 the UAE;
🇨🇳 China;
🇮🇳 India;
🇲🇲 Myanmar;
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan;
🇨🇺 Cuba;
🇺🇸 the USA.

👉🏻 The forum was attended by 150 high-ranking officials from foreign countries, with the President of the UAE leading the guest country delegation at SPIEF. The President of Algeria and the Prime Minister of Cuba were also in attendance, and six African leaders have now arrived for talks with Vladimir Putin.

@RoscongressDirect

☝ Несмотря на сложный период в российско-датских отношениях, в России помнят и чтят богатые культурные и исторические связи между нашими странами.

К 5️⃣3️⃣0️⃣-летию с момента установления официальных дипломатических отношений между Россией и Данией в Оружейной палате Московского Кремля открылась выставка «Сокровищница датского короля Кристиана IV».

Посетители смогут ознакомиться с произведениями немецких златокузнецов рубежа XVI и XVII вв., ранее входивших в сокровищницу короля Дании и Норвегии Кристиана IV (1588–1648) и приобретенных для пополнения царской казны в 1628–1629 гг. в Архангельске.

Экспозиция объединяет около трех десятков экспонатов, которые дают представление о правлении Кристиана IV и показывают, как складывались отношения Дании и России в XVII столетии. Важное место на выставке уделено многочисленным дипломатическим подаркам, сделанным от имени датского правителя и его послов.

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☝ Trods den svære periode i de russisk-danske forhold husker og ærer man i Rusland de rige kulturelle og historiske bånd mellem vores lande.

I anledning af 5️⃣3️⃣0️⃣-året for oprettelsen af officielle diplomatiske forbindelser mellem Rusland og Danmark blev udstillingen "Den danske kong Christian IV's skatkammer" åbnet i Kreml Arsenalet.

Besøgende vil være i stand til at kigge på tyske guldsmedeværker fra 1500- og 1600-tallet, som tidligere var optaget i skatkammeret hos Kongen af Danmark og Norge Christian IV (1588-1648) og som derefter blev købt for det russiske skatkammer i 1628-1629 i Arkhangelsk.

👉 Udstillingen samler omkring tre dusin genstande, der giver en idé om Christian IV's regeringstid og viser, hvordan forholdet mellem Danmark og Rusland udviklede sig i det 17. århundrede. En vigtig plads i udstillingen udgør talrige diplomatiske gaver, der er givet på vegne af den danske hersker og hans ambassadører.

🎥 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with RT TV Channel on the sidelines of the 26th St Petersburg International Economic Forum (St Petersburg, June 16, 2023)

Key talking points:

🔹 We can no longer rely on the promises and the agreements signed with the West which were presented as a foundation for developing constructive partnership. <...> The West has “lost” Russia at this point of history.

🔹 The dominant trend today is the awareness of the need to regionalise the development processes. This includes the #SCO and, in a wider sense, the Greater Eurasian Partnership, which President Vladimir Putin mentioned at the #RussiaASEAN Summit a few years ago.

🔹 The Anglo-Saxons and their ilk are bringing pressure to bear across the board, including on our closest #CSTO allies. The Gulf Arab countries are not an exception. I would say that the Western methods are boorish. I cannot think of another word.

🔹 Our relations with the Africans and our other partners are not based on money. What we are trying to do is identify projects that meet the interests of both sides.

🔹 #BRICS will expand, with the countries representing major Arab, or Islamic civilisation in a broader sense, joining it. This will strengthen the multipolar principles that we are discussing now and that are objectively taking shape.

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🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with the Znaniye Society on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum

Key talking points:

🔹 The exasperation with which the West is telling everyone to punish the Russian Federation and not to talk with us betrays its realisation of the fact that there will never again be such a thing as a unipolar world. The convulsions that we are now witnessing, the agony to some extent, could last for many years. I see this as a historical era of transition to a multipolar world.

🔹 Statistics shows that one in every four countries in the world is under sanctions, primarily sanctions imposed by the US, Europe, and those who collaborate with them. Currently, there is a movement towards isolation from these risks in order to continue trading, investing, promoting economic ties, and creating joint ventures and logistics chains in such a way as to obviate dependence on the West-controlled structures and mechanisms. Objectively, this process is laying the foundation of multipolarity.

🔹 If all states comply with the requirements of the UN Charter, the role of the United Nations is far from being exhausted. It would be enhanced if all states were guided by the principles of the UN Charter.

🔹 The voices demanding that the West pay for 500 years of its rule and global dominance are becoming louder. Unfortunately, it continues to act in an absolutely colonial way.

🔹 It is impossible to kill Russian culture no matter how hard one might try to do so. Such attempts are made by people who have no culture of conduct and co-existence in our world, who do not truly represent their nations. Look at who heads the European Union now.

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❗️ Комментарий Посла России в Дании В.Барбина в связи с запросом датского телеканала "ТВ-2"

"Применительно к конфликту на Украине Дания мыслит исключительно категориями новых поставок вооружений и продолжения боевых действий, не обращая внимания на то, что такая политика не способна привести к миру.

☝️ Датский арсенал дипломатических инструментов пуст, что свидетельствует о заинтересованности Копенгагена в дальнейшем кровопролитии на Украине.

Решение Дании и других стран НАТО начать обучение украинских пилотов на F-16, обсуждение возможности поставок этих самолетов на Украину приведет к еще большей эскалации конфликта и увеличивает риск прямого в него вовлечения стран НАТО."

❗️ Ruslands Ambassadør til Danmark Vladimir Barbin:

"Med hensyn til konflikten i Ukraine tænker Danmark udelukkende på at levere militært udstyr og at fortsætte fjendtlighederne uden tanke på, at sådan en politik ikke vil føre til fred.

☝️ Københavns interesse i flere blodsudgydelser i Ukraine viser, at det danske arsenal af diplomatiske værktøjer er tomt.

Danmarks og andre NATO-landes beslutning om at begynde at træne ukrainske piloter på F-16, diskuterer muligheden for at levere disse fly til Ukraine, vil føre til en endnu større eskalering af konflikten og øge risikoen for direkte involvering af NATO-landene."

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🕯 June 22 marks the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow in Russia.

82 years ago, at 4 am, Nazi Germany perfidiously attacked the Soviet Union after a lengthy artillery barrage and without a declaration of war. Nazi forces launched attacks along the entire length of the Soviet border, from the Barents to the Black Sea.

This is how the Great Patriotic War began, opening one of the most tragic chapters in the history of our country.

Romania and Italy sided with Germany. Slovakia, Finland and Hungary joined them in several days later. The aggressors controlled the industrial potential and other resources of virtually all the continental European countries.

The bloodiest war in history lasted 1,418 days and nights and culminated in the Victory of the Soviet Union and its allies, and it entailed the complete defeat of Axis countries.

❗️ The Soviet Union accounted for 40 percent of wartime losses. Its casualties totalled 26.6 million war dead, including over 8.7 million killed in action. The Nazis deliberately exterminated 7.42 million people on the occupied territories.

#WeRemember how, after living through the war and despite certain disagreements, the nations of the world were united by a striving to prevent another monstrous conflict in the future and to avoid the mistakes of the past.

Unfortunately, Nazi ideology has proved resilient over the decades. They are using Nazi ideology once again for monstrous geopolitical experiments aimed at containing Russia. Collaborators who found refuge in the West after the war, Nazi criminals and their young followers are brandishing the banner of these ideas today.

🕯 The Candle of Remembrance memorial event has been held every June 22 since 2009. Everyone can honour the memory of the deceased with a moment of silence, light a candle and lay flowers at a military burial site or a Great Patriotic War monument.

#NoStatuteOfLimitations #Victory78

#Opinion by Maria Zakharova:

💬 Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Brodsky, who is by the way a native of Leningrad, the city which survived a siege during the Great Patriotic War, told ITON-TV, an Israeli website, in pure Russian:

“The way we view people like Bandera, Shukhevich, Melnik and the like is different compared to the way most Ukrainians view them. In fact, these people supported Nazi ideology. While fighting for Ukraine’s independence, they wanted Ukraine without Jews, or Poles, or communists, and probably many others. <…> And Ukraine, of course, is searching for its identity and its heroes. Of course, we do not like these heroes, but most Ukrainians view them as independence fighters. <…> However, in all objectivity, there is no stopping this process today. <…> It would be wrong to demand that Ukraine stop renaming streets or calling Bandera or Melnik heroes as a condition for our support for Ukraine or our assistance to Ukraine because, if you look at things the way they do, this is not going to happen.”

Not a single organisation for protecting the memory of Holocaust survivors raised an eyebrow. Hey! You receive billions in funding to keep this topic in the public space! Haven’t you missed something? The Holocaust must be remembered not only because it happened in the past, but also to make sure that it never happens again, and not just against a single ethnic group or religion, but against any of them.

Since there is no one else to defend the victims of the Holocaust but us, let me remind Mr Brodsky about the ethnic policy of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists, with Stepan Bandera at its helm. Here is a quote from the second resolution of OUN B’s General Assembly in April 1941: “The Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists combats Jews as supporters of the Russian Bolshevik regime.” And here is a quote by Yaroslav Stetsko, a Bandera and Melnik accomplice: “I therefore support the destruction of the Jews and the expedience of bringing German methods of exterminating Jewry to Ukraine, barring their assimilation and the like.”

In fact, there was a massive effort to exterminate, burn and bury, without any burials or markers, Jews in Nazi-occupied Ukraine, and these inhuman heroes were proactive in assisting this effort. About 1.4 million people perished this way.

What kind of heroes was Mikhail Brodsky referring to?

German society of the late 1920s and early 1930s was also searching for its identity and heroes. Instead of humanism, a great tradition in German culture, it chose two words: blood and soil (Blut und Boden). And the heroes lived up to this slogan by initiating the Holocaust, creating concentration camps, and killing women, infants and the elderly. For the next 90 years, Germany tried to wash itself clean of this identity. But this is something that leaves a permanent stain.

If Mikhail Brodsky believes that Kiev has the right to these heroes and identity, this is the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s business.

No one has the right to have such heroes. These were not heroes, but demons, and this was not an identity, but a disgrace for the people of Ukraine. This is an act of glorifying Nazism.

As for the idea that there is nothing anyone can do about it, how blasphemous of him to say that! This was the logic of those who sponsored Hitler in the 1930s. Most of them were Anglo-Saxons, by the way.

If this was the logic of Soviet soldiers, Brodsky would not have existed today, and there would be no memory of the Holocaust to preserve either.

In one of his songs, Vladimir Vysotsky wrote: “But our squadron commander corrected its course, as his boots sent the Urals spinning.” This meant the Soviet soldiers changed the course of history and enabled humankind to recover its true face. But this did not last, as it turns out. Here we go, all over again.

⚡️ The European Union continues its attempts to pressure Russia through unilateral restrictive measures. On June 23, EU countries passed the 11th package of sanctions against Russia. We believe that these actions by the EU are illegitimate, and that they undermine international law prerogatives of the UN Security Council.

In response to these unfriendly actions, Russia has considerably expanded the list of representatives of European institutions and EU member countries who are not allowed to enter the Russian territory under Federal Law No. 114-FZ On the Procedure for Exit from and Entry to the Russian Federation, of August 15, 1996.

This measure applies to representatives of law enforcement agencies, state and commercial organisations of EU countries and citizens of EU member countries involved in providing military assistance to the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev (supplies of weapons, military equipment and uniforms, training Ukrainian service personnel, raising funds to meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, providing intelligence data and communications services, facilitating logistics, etc.). The list also includes representatives of EU agencies responsible for imposing sanctions against Russia and trying to undermine Russia’s relations with other states. The restrictions also apply to members of EU countries’ parliaments promoting a confrontational agenda with regard to Russia.

❗️ We confirm that any unfriendly actions by Western countries will meet with a quick and appropriate response in the future.

⚡️ Обращение Президента России В.В.Путина к гражданам России

Выдержки

• Россия сегодня ведёт тяжелейшую борьбу за своё будущее, отражает агрессию неонацистов и их хозяев. Против нас направлена фактически вся военная, экономическая, информационная машина Запада. Мы боремся за жизнь и безопасность наших людей, за наш суверенитет и независимость. За право быть и оставаться Россией – государством с тысячелетней историей.

• Эта битва, когда решается судьба нашего народа, требует единения всех сил, единства, консолидации и ответственности. Когда в сторону должно быть отброшено всё, что ослабляет нас, любые распри, которыми могут воспользоваться и пользуются наши внешние враги, чтобы подорвать нас изнутри.

• То, с чем мы столкнулись – это именно предательство. Непомерные амбиции и личные интересы привели к измене. К измене и своей стране, и своему народу, и тому делу, за которое бок о бок с другими нашими частями и подразделениями сражались и погибали бойцы и командиры группы «Вагнер».

• Любая внутренняя смута – смертельная угроза для нашей государственности, для нас, как нации. Это удар по России, по нашему народу. И наши действия по защите Отечества от такой угрозы будут жёсткие. Все, кто сознательно встал на путь предательства, кто готовил вооружённый мятеж, встал на путь шантажа и террористических методов, понесут неминуемое наказание, ответят и перед законом, и перед нашим народом.

• Тот, кто организовал и готовил военный мятеж, кто поднял оружие на боевых товарищей, – предали Россию. И ответят за это. А тех, кого пытаются втянуть в это преступление, призываю не совершать роковую и трагическую, неповторимую ошибку, сделать единственно правильный выбор – прекратить участие в преступных действиях.

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⚡️ President of Russia Vladimir Putin's address to citizens of Russia

Excerpts

• Today, Russia is waging a tough struggle for its future, repelling the aggression of neo-Nazis and their patrons. The entire military, economic and informational machine of the West is directed against us. We are fighting for the lives and security of our people, for our sovereignty and independence, for the right to be and remain Russia, a state with a thousand-year history.

• This battle, when the fate of our nation is being decided, requires consolidation of all forces. It requires unity, consolidation and a sense of responsibility, and everything that weakens us, any strife that our external enemies can use and do so to subvert us from within, must be discarded.

• What we are facing is essentially a betrayal. Inflated ambitions and personal interests have led to treason – treason against our country, our people and the common cause which Wagner Group soldiers and commanders were fighting and dying for shoulder to shoulder, together with our other units and troops.

• Any internal revolt is a deadly threat to our statehood and our nation. It is a blow to Russia, to our people. Our actions to defend the Fatherland from this threat will be harsh. All those who have consciously chosen the path of betrayal, planned an armed mutiny and taken the path of blackmail and terrorism, will inevitably be punished and will answer before the law and our people.

• Those who staged the mutiny and took up arms against their comrades – they have betrayed Russia and will be brought to account. I urge those who are being dragged into this crime not to make a fatal and tragic mistake but make the only right choice: to stop taking part in criminal actions.

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⚡️ Foreign Ministry statement on the current political situation in the country

💬 The attempted armed mutiny in our country is resolutely rejected by Russian society, which strongly supports President of Russia Vladimir Putin. Reckless aspirations of the conspirators are essentially aimed at destabilising the situation in Russia, destroying our unity, and undermining the efforts of the Russian Federation to reliably ensure international security. Therefore, the mutiny plays into the hands of Russia's external enemies.

We warn Western countries against undertaking even the slightest attempts to use the domestic Russian situation to achieve their Russophobic goals. Such attempts would be futile and will find no resonance either in Russia or among reasonable political forces abroad. We firmly believe that in the near future the situation will find a solution worthy of the age-old wisdom of the Russian people and the Russian State.

All the goals and objectives of the special military operation will be achieved.

☝️ Our country will continue on its sovereign course to ensure its security, defend its values, strengthen its authority in the international arena, and establish a just multipolar world order.

We highly value the understanding of this principled position by our allies and foreign partners, which we are fully aware of already now.

🎥 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with RT (Moscow, June 26, 2023)