📞🇷🇺🇧🇭 On April 26, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.

During the exchange of views, the officials compared their positions on key topics on the Middle East agenda, with a focus on the continuing tensions in the area of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the escalating situation in the Red Sea and its adjacent waters.

☝️ Sergey Lavrov and Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani noted the importance of combining the efforts of the international community with a view to creating as soon as possible the necessary conditions to reduce the escalation in this strategically important area of the world by building a reliable system of collective security based on the principles of mutual respect and neighbourliness.

The Ministers also exchanged views on other aspects of regional issues and discussed practical matters for future strengthening of the multifaceted Russia-Bahrain relations.

#RussiaBahrain

#Opinion by Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

💬 The old colonialist ideologies persist; moreover, in the 21st century, indigenous peoples continue to endure increasing hardships under the dominance of European and overseas colonial powers.

Take Greenland, for instance. It’s officially an autonomous territory under Denmark, inhabited by the Inuit. They have their language, beliefs, culture, land, and cities. However, the land was colonised by Northern Europeans, and later the Americans, without consulting the locals, established a military base on the island. In 1968, an American B-52 bomber carrying thermonuclear bombs crashed there, resulting in widespread radioactive contamination.

As a result, Inuit Greenland transformed into a colony and then into an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark with the added presence of American military forces.

Like all Western metropoles, Denmark, and consequently the EU, extracted resources from the island. Recently, Ursula von der Leyen, the gynaecologist-turned-head of the European Commission and recipient of the 'Ms Vaccine Corruption' title for the 2020-2021 season, visited Greenland. Were the locals of any interest to her? Their living conditions, social issues? Despite being formal residents of an EU member state (though Greenland itself is not part of the EU), they were not.

Ursula went to Greenland to assess its mineral resources. According to The Guardian, “the autonomous Danish territory is of strong interest to Brussels, especially for highly sought after raw materials.” Her special adviser affirms his boss’s interest: “Greenland had many of the raw materials – such as rare earth elements and metals – that it needed for its green transition.”

Meanwhile, the Aftonbladet newspaper featured an article detailing the disregard and violation of the rights of the Sami, the small indigenous community of Northern Europe, in Sweden.

Erika Bjureby, head of the local Greenpeace office, and Anna Johansson, Secretary General of Amnesty International Sweden, write, “The enduring hostility toward the Sami people is resurging. Presently, oppression intertwines with the exploitation of the natural habitats crucial to the Sami’s livelihood. Sweden neglects indigenous peoples’ rights, prioritising land exploitation over Sami well-being.” Sweden will continue exploit the Sami land and oppress its population. What future awaits the Sami in such a country?

In Canada, the indigenous residents, the First Nations, the Indians have suffered racism from London and then Ottawa for decades. Tragic stories emerge from boarding schools where numerous Indian children faced abuse and death. Last month, Karen Hogan, the country’s auditor general, criticised the federal government’s mismanagement of Indigenous housing issues. Despite a budget of 45 billion Canadian dollars for housing and communal services, only under 4 billion was allocated. Consequently, indigenous people continue to reside in substandard housing, while their homes remain neglected compared to those of “respectable whites.” Justin Trudeau may talk a lot about reconciliation, but the harsh reality reveals persistent discrimination and banal colonialist racism in Canada. Statistics indicate that over half (54 percent) of respondents became victims of incidents due to their race or ethnicity.

NATO countries exhibit racism and harbour colonialist attitudes towards other ethnic groups.

🎙 Opening remarks by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Plurinational State of Bolivia Celinda Sosa Lunda

📍 Moscow, April 26, 2024

💬 Your visit to the Russian Federation is an important foreign policy event. Bolivia is our good friend and one of our key partners in Latin America and the Caribbean. We have been promoting long-term, multilateral agreements with Bolivia, which are based on mutual respect, trust, and an orientation towards concrete results.

We have a high regard for Bolivia and its leadership’s policy of protecting their national sovereignty and upholding the key principles of international relations, primarily justice and sovereign equality.

We have started an exchange of views and assessments with regard to various international challenges at G20 events held in Rio de Janeiro in February of this year.

Today, we have a good opportunity to exchange opinions on the situation in world affairs, doing that in a more detailed and substantial manner. This situation is developing rapidly and calls for the unification of all supporters of justice and equality the world over. <...>

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🇷🇺🇧🇴 #RussiaBolivia

⚡️For the MEPs who voted for it, the resolution on the Russian presidential election was a kind of final chord in their "anti-Russian song", which they had been playing in various variations throughout the five-year legislature.

This time, helpless anger is coupled with a spring aggravation. One last question to ask the outgoing MEPs: do they really fail to realise that their opuses such as this are perceived by everyone as an attempt to interfere directly in the internal affairs of third countries?

❗️All this seems to prove once again that MEPs live in a world of their own, or, as they say in the European quarter, in a “bubble”. Well, it will burst at the European Parliament elections scheduled for 6-9 June 2024. Let us see if the next “bubble” remains as full of anti-Russian substance.

🇸🇱 Sierra Leone celebrates its Independence Day today!

⛓ For several centuries, that African country suffered from inhumane policies of European colonisers. In the late 15th century, the Portuguese built a fort there and began exporting slaves. The slave trade continued until the late 1850s, during which time about 1 million people were taken out of the country.

In pursuit of profits from the slave and ivory trade, the Dutch, the French, and the British tried to establish themselves on the coast. In 1808, the territory of Sierra Leone came under the British crown, and in 1896 it received the status of a protectorate.

The worsening economic situation and the growing political activity of the African population forced the British government to make concessions. After years of struggle, the people of Sierra Leone finally gained independence on April 27, 1961. 

🇷🇺🇸🇱 Cooperation between our countries has traditionally relied on friendship, the principles of equality and mutual respect. Russia has repeatedly provided humanitarian assistance to the people of Sierra Leone and aims to further develop trade, economic and humanitarian ties with that country.

🎉 We congratulate our colleagues and the people of Sierra Leone on their national holiday and wish them peace, well-being and prosperity.

#RussiaAfrica

🎙️Embassy comment on comments by Chief of the UK Defence Staff Sir Tony Radakin

▪︎In his recent interview with the Financial Times Chief of the UK Defence Staff Sir Tony Radakin "predicted" the escalation of strikes carried out by Ukrainian armed forces deep into Russian territory using long-range systems.

▪︎Tellingly, the forecast came on the heels of a pledge of a new tranche of British military assistance, including Storm Shadow cruise missiles. The comments made by the high-ranking military figure will certainly be perceived by the Kiev regime as a go-ahead for ratcheting up the conflict with the use of Western materiel.

▪︎The line separating such provocative utterances and the justification of terrorism is quite thin, at times almost elusive. On previous occasions British leadership had turned a blind eye to numerous Ukrainian strikes against Russian cities while continuing to provide their nefarious charges with more weapons.

▪︎Against this backdrop the sweet-sounding solicitations, regularly addressed by British diplomacy to leading countries of the "Global South", to constructively engage in achieving "a just peace" seem like downright hypocrisy.

☝️London's as well as other Western allies' true intentions are crystal clear - to prolong and intensify the conflict that serves as the lynchpin of their "civilizational" confrontation with Russia, in which the end justifies all means. In the best traditions of George Orwell, while waxing lyrical about peace, London is actually fanning the flames of war.

🇷🇺🇺🇳 The Russian Federation plans to participate in the Diplomatic Conference to conclude an International Legal Instrument Relating to Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources (May 13-24, Geneva). Our interministerial delegation, which will include representatives from Rospatent, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Education, will be headed by the Director of Rospatent, Yury Zubov.

❗️ Given the breakthrough nature of the document, which aims to regulate the rights of indigenous peoples in the field of intellectual property, the upcoming event has attracted the attention of a broad audience. WIPO expects more than 1,500 participants, including representatives of indigenous peoples and local communities as observers.

🤝 The work on the future international legal instrument, for which the Diplomatic Conference is convened, has been ongoing for 25 years (since 1999). At all stages, Russia has consistently contributed to the development of the document. Now, as we reach the final stage, our delegation plans to constructively collaborate with our partners on clarifying and resolving any remaining differences in the text's formulations and definitions.

ℹ️ If adopted, such an international document could enhance the efficiency, transparency and quality of the patent system. It would prevent the erroneous issuance of patents on inventions that lack novelty and inventive step in relation to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.

🧬️ *Genetic resources are genetic material of plant, animal, microbial, or other origin containing functional units of heredity (DNA) and representing actual or potential value.

#Announcement

🎙 Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova will hold a weekly briefing on current foreign policy issues at approximately 2 pm MSK (11 am GMT/ 1 pm CEST/ 7 pm Beijing) on May 3.

For accreditation inquiries, please contact the Russian Foreign Ministry's Press Centre. Accredited journalists will receive detailed explanations on the technical aspects of submitting questions.

The Foreign Ministry’s Spokeswoman will answer media questions received by the call centre.

❗️ Accreditation is open until 11 am on May 2.

🗓️The European Parliament resolution adopted on 25 April 2024 on alleged “Russian interference” resembles a potboiler. It features “witch hunting” against political opponents, references to unknown intelligence sources, and even recounting cheap (well, who knows how much was paid by the sponsors) newspaper articles. One may read such text at night to forget it the next morning. Still, this yet another opus produced by the European Parliament– the second in one day – contains two elements that indicate the direction in which the European Union is heading.

1️⃣First, they want to cleanse completely the European information space. Today, under the guise of countering the “Russian threat”, MEPs are calling for the adoption of further sanctions against the Russian media. They do not mind that this violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The aim is to isolate ordinary Europeans from alternative sources of information and to create an information vacuum. Tomorrow, under someother equally fictitious pretext, they may voice similar frantic calls for restrictions against European media – merely because they do not share the views of the EU mainstream. And actually, such preparations are alreadyunder way.

2️⃣Second, they accuse Russia of spreading “false historical narratives”. Such loud claims serve to cover up their own attempts to revise the outcomes of the Second World War, the glorification of Nazism and a burning urge to “quietly” shed the burden of historical responsibility for the crimes committed and for collaborationism. But while today they are trying to target the country that liberated Europe from Nazi slavery, sooner or later “historical wrangling” may begin within the European Union.