🎙 Briefing by Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik on the crimes committed by the Kiev regime (Moscow, December 12, 2023).

Key talking points:

💬 Having suffered defeats and significant losses on the battlefield, Ukrainian Armed Forces, following instructions of their political authorities, are diverting their military capacities to attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure.

• The analysis of the strikes and its pattern, as well as weapons and methods used by the Ukrainian fighters, we can confidently state that, they kill and harm civilians, destroy civilian facilities and infrastructure deliberately with a clear understanding of the consequences.

❗️ Since November the Armed Forces of Ukraine used more than 12,000 munitions of various caliber and modification to strike civilian facilities. Some 250 civilians were affected by Ukrainian shelling, with 1 in every 5 of them killed.

• Another "innovation" developed by Ukrainian fighters is hunting civilians with drones. Operators flying UAVs equipped with explosive objects track down civilians and drop munitions on them.

🤐 Until now, we have not heard any words of condemnation or concern about the lawlessness perpetrated by Kiev from representatives of Western states and international organizations.

• The Ukrainian regime is consistently and tentatively committing an unprecedented act of abuse of the feelings and of millions of believers in Ukraine. It is trampling on the principles of freedom of religions and staking a medieval coven to expel, ban, and humiliate the believers of Ukraine's largest religious organization, the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

☝️ The Zelensky's regime is trying to eliminate all of the basics of the life of the Ukrainian people — Ukrainian Orthodox, religious, the Russian language, cultural heritage such as arts, national ethnic traditions and monuments.

🔴 #LIVE: Answers to media questions by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov following the Government Hour at the Federation Council of the Russian Federation

🔗 https://www.ruptly.tv/event_route?link_id=0e408e3c-6d73-4246-ba7e-5c4b5ae52a44&provider_id=14

🔗 https://mid.ru/en/press_service/video

🇷🇺 Russian President Vladimir Putin Set to Hold Annual Presser + Q&A Session to Summarize Events of the Year in less than one hour

⏳ As less than one hour left before he breaks floor, Sputnik India takes a look at the events that made headlines throughout 2023:

◽️NATO's proxy war against Russia in Ukraine;

◽️Failed efforts to suppress Russia through sanctions;

◽️ The advance of the multipolar world visible though SCO & BRICS summits, as well as 🇮🇳India's growing stance on the international arena & PM Narendra Modi's resistance to western pressure;

◽️Putin approved new foreign policy concept for Russia, underlining that ties with India & China of great importance, major goal — to create peace in Eurasia; Russia is not enemy to anyone — will defend its right to existence by all available means;

◽️ Major elections coming next year: Russia, India, the US among the most anticipated.

Stay tuned for live updates!

🔴 #LIVE: 2023 Annual Press Conference by President Vladimir Putin. Russia's Head of State holds the yearly 'Direct Line' call-in session for the Russian citizens and journalists this time combined with an annual news conference

🔗 https://www.ruptly.tv/event_route?link_id=7acf3598-cb46-47c7-82c6-594e516aff89&provider_id=13

🔗 https://t.me/news_kremlin_eng

🎙 Excerpts from President Vladimir Putin's answers to questions from journalists and the people of Russia during the programme Results of the Year (December 14, 2023)

Talking points:

• Many European leaders pretend to emulate [tough stance of] General de Gaulle, who fought for France's interests, but in reality, they [succumbed to the US] are like Marshal Petain, who became submitted to the will of the invaders during World War II.

Almost everyone [in the EU] acts in this fashion, except Fico, Orbán. They aren't pro-Russian politicians, they're pro-national, protect their states' interests. Such people [like de Gaulle] are no more. This is due to dependence on Big Brother - US.

• Fundamental conditions to restore comprehensive [Russia-US] relations will be created when Washington starts respecting other peoples, other nations, seeking compromise, and stops trying to resolve their issues through sanctions and military actions.

• We and Turkey proceed from the fact that UN decisions on the establishment of a Palestinian state with capital in East Jerusalem must be implemented. It is extremely important. We need to create the fundamentals for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement.

• Everything that IOC's officials are doing with regard to Russian sport is a full perversion of Pierre de Coubertin's concepts. The Olympic Movement was created to bring people together.

• As regards the [Western] "rules-based order" — no such rules exist. [The West] changes them in favour of it own interests. Thankfully, enough nations want to live by the rules set out in fundamental international documents.

#Outcomes2023

🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Moscow, December 12, 2023)

🔹 FM Sergey Lavrov’s schedule
🔹 Ukrainian crisis
🔹 International Day of Neutrality
🔹 Sweden’s assistance to Nazi Germany and Ukraine
🔹 President of Finland’s statements
🔹 Danish Ambassador Jacob Henningsen’s interview
🔹 Nazi marches and the glorification of Nazis in Europe
🔹 Dismantling the Soviet Army monument in Sofia
🔹 Day of Remembrance of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty
🔹 Kiev regime’s repression against Gonzalo Lira Lopez, an American-Chilian journalist

and more...

📰 Read
📺 Watch

#Ukraine

• This far-fetched effort to support the Russian language scared neo-Nazi MPs to the extent that they drafted an even harsher law targeting the Russian language, and the Verkhovna Rada approved it on December 8, 2023. Vladimir Zelensky signed it the same day.

They have demonstrated all this haste in their legislative efforts not because they care for ethnic minority rights so much but because of their misguided belief that this document will create a pathway for the Kiev regime to achieve its coveted goal of joining the EU.

• If the European Union does not object to the adoption of this law in Ukraine that is not only discriminatory but is designed to eliminate the mother tongue used by millions of people, and an official UN language, it will show its true face, demonstrating that it could not care less about the democratic principles, humanitarian values, fundamental rights and freedoms of ethnic minorities.

#US

• The US and its European allies have been consistently destroying the system of international security, understood as a set of treaties and institutions. They have not supported any of our substantive initiatives.

🎙 FM Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to questions during the Government Hour in the Federation Council of the Russian Federation (December 13, 2023)

Key talking points:

• The world situation has not become any easier since our last meeting in December 2021. Many of the unfortunate things that are happening today are rooted in the irrepressible striving of Washington and a small group of its associates to impose their vision of everything on the rest of the world.

• They are no longer able to contain new global centres of growth and development in their customary straightforward and rude manner. The balance of power is rapidly shifting and not in favour of our Western colleagues.

• It pains our ill-wishers to realise that their bet on a sanctions blitzkrieg on the Russian economy has completely failed. Those who unleashed a hybrid war against us refuse to admit their mistakes and are trying to use other illegal tools to “exhaust” Russia, nurturing the dream of eliminating our country as an independent geopolitical entity.

• The policy of isolating Russia has failed. Numerous contacts between President Putin and his foreign counterparts have shown that our responsible policy based on the UN Charter principles enjoys broad support among the majority of countries around the world.

• We are not accommodating concepts and schemes put forward by other countries. We independently shape our foreign policy and remain guided by our own priorities while adhering to internationally recognised norms of international law and given the interests of our partners who are willing to work with us based on mutual respect and consideration of mutual interests.

• The Western part of the Eurasian continent is sinking deeper into a political, socio-economic and ideological crisis against the backdrop of the positive trends that reflect the objective process of the formation of a genuinely polycentric, fair world order.

• Further cohesion in the multiethnic and multifaith Russian World is also on our agenda.

📄 Read in full

⚡️ Joint Statement In Support of the Efforts to Strengthen the United Nations Secretary-General's Mechanism for Investigation of the Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (Geneva, 13 December, 2023)

🇻🇪🇧🇫🇪🇷🇮🇷🇰🇬🇨🇳🇧🇾🇰🇿🇲🇱🇳🇮🇲🇲🇹🇯🇬🇶🇷🇺🇸🇾🇨🇫

📃 We, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kyrgyz Republic, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Mali, the Republic of Nicaragua, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Russian Federation, the State of Eritrea, the Syrian Arab Republic, reaffirm our dedication to protecting humanity from chemical and biological warfare, recognize the common interest of all humankind in excluding completely the possibility of the use of chemical, bacteriological (biological) and toxin weapons.

We underline that the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BWC), the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (CWC) and the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (Geneva Protocol) are essential for international peace and security.

🇺🇳 We note efforts by the UN Secretary-General and UN Secretariat, as well as national initiatives to provide relevant training to experts that could support the Secretary-General's Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (UNSGM).

👉 We are convinced that there is need for intensifying efforts of the international community with support of the UN Secretariat to strengthen the expert and technical capabilities of the UNSGM.

Read in full