🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Moscow, November 15, 2023)

🔹 FM Sergey Lavrov’s schedule
🔹 Ukrainian crisis
🔹 Palestinian-Israeli conflict
🔹 Briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large on the Kiev Regime’s War Crimes, Rodion Miroshnik
🔹 ‘Effectiveness’ (NOT) of the EU’s anti-Russia sanctions
🔹 NATO’s efforts to militarise the Baltic region
🔹 Xenophobia and anti-Semitism increases in the West
🔹 Continuing discrimination against Russian athletes
🔹 The 78th anniversary of launching the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg
🔹 Situation in South Caucasus
🔹 Russia-Moldova relations

and much more...

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#Ukraine

According to reports, between 20 and 36 percent of Western financial aid was misappropriated by Ukrainian officials, primarily the former leadership of the Ministry of Defence. What happened to that money next? That's a big question <...>

Maybe they should admit just once that they need to defend themselves not from Russia, not from the Kremlin, but from themselves, from the chaos and disarray in their heads that their Western puppeteers have created by instilling liberal values? <...>

The Kiev regime, accustomed to parasitising on others, is incapable of fighting the rampant corruption that has become the “signature piece” of modern Ukraine.

#Sanctions

Citizens and business circles in the European Union are increasingly wondering about the purposes of the sanctions and whether they are worth the sacrifice they have had to make as part of the sanctions war against the Russian people launched by their self-assured pro-Atlantic elite <...>

In the past 15 years, the EU’s share (without Great Britain) in the global economy has dropped from 25.3 to 16.7 percent while the share of the US has remained at around 25 percent. This is the logical outcome of the EU political elite bowing, like vassals, to the US course for the EU’s self-isolation from Russia.

🎙 Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on the 10th anniversary of the beginning of Ukrainian Euromaidan

💬 Anti-government riots started on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) ten years ago, on November 21, 2013. They triggered the current disaster in Ukraine and, at the same time, took it to the point of no return.

Skilled US and European-trained provocateurs brought crowds of people into the streets under the attractive slogans of “a better European life,” visa-free travel to the EU countries, democracy, freedom of speech, human rights and an anti-corruption struggle. <...>

In January and February of 2014, artificially encouraged riots developed into an armed mutiny and ended in an anti-constitutional coup that was rejected by residents of many districts of the country.

The November 2013 events were triggered by the government’s decision to suspend the planned signing of the EU Association Agreement.

☝️I’d like to emphasise that it was only about the suspension of the signing of the agreement, not its cancellation. The problem was that the new commitments Kiev was to assume under the EU Association Agreement were at odds with its obligations to the CIS free trade zone. <...>

❗️In November 2013, the West and the radical neo-Nazi Ukrainian opposition went all-out to finally change Ukraine’s multi-vector course and put its economy and politics into the neocolonialist Western coordinate system. <...>

It is appropriate to ask today what the events on Euromaidan have given Ukraine?

👉 The answer is obvious. The self-sufficient, industrial and populous republic of the former USSR has turned into a poor, dying territory. Ukraine has lost its state independence. It is on the Western colonialists’ payroll who now determine its domestic and foreign policy. <...>

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💬 On 21 November 2013, ten years ago, the Maidan protests began in Kiev, leading to a bloody coup d’état that had tragic consequences for Ukraine, as well as for regional and global stability. Remarkably, the overtly nationalistic mass riots that preceded this event were held under the slogans of European values, freedom and democracy.

The Maidan rally was a pretext for creating the conflict. Russia has always tried to resolve it by political means. The West, however, as it turned out, always sought to provoke an escalation.

On 14 January 2014, Jose Manuel Barroso, then President of the European Commission, said:

“It was on the streets of Kiev we have seen Europe at its most popular: a beacon of hope and values, a guarantee of human rights and liberties. Around diplomatic tables, we have seen Europe at its best: united in defending Ukrainian citizens' dignity and opinions; ready to support their sovereign right to decide on their own destiny, and to improve their chances of a better, more prosperous and more democratic future”.

A guarantee of human rights, seriously?

⚠️European leaders said nothing when the Ukrainian government unleashed a real war against the eastern part of its country in 2014. Ukrainian armed forces have been shelling Donbass all these years. An inhumane socio-economic and transport blockade was imposed on its inhabitants, bringing the region to the brink of survival. This destructive line of Kiev was supported by the United States and its NATO allies.

In early 2022, the situation deteriorated sharply. The population of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics faced a real threat of direct physical annihilation by the authorities in Kiev.

❗️Russia had no choice but to recognise the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics on 21 February 2022 and to launch a special military operation on 24 February 2022 to protect Donbass, demilitarise and denazify Ukraine, and eliminate threats to Russian security.

#NoStatuteOfLimitations
#LeastWeForget

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the 41st meeting of the Council of the Heads of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Moscow, November 20, 2023)

💬 We are for culture remaining outside any political processes, conflicts, or crises. It should know no boundaries.

We are ready to develop cooperation in this sphere with all countries, especially those whose leaders support promoting contacts in this area, but we are not closing the door to cultural and artistic figures from the countries that are currently led by unfriendly governments.

👉 It is important to pursue Russia’s scientific and academic potential. Many regional centres accommodate unique higher education institutions, research organisations, and research infrastructure.

👉 We are interested in seeing the number of foreign students studying at Russian universities grow. We would like to encourage regional education institutions to maintain ties with their graduates.

👉 We are interested in promoting the status of the Russian language, especially in the countries that border Russia, as well as expanding educational programmes in Russian, including for migrant workers.

👉 International relations in sports, youth exchanges, and the volunteer movement deserve special mention.

👉 You are aware of our focus on tourism. We want foreign tourists to increasingly see Russia as a preferred destination.

The cultural potential of the regions can and should be used to strengthen cooperation within new types of multilateral associations involving Russia. I am talking about #BRICS, in which we will assume chairmanship next year.

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