🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Moscow, December 27, 2023)

🔹 FM Sergey Lavrov’s schedule
🔹 Ukrainian crisis
🔹 Situation in Serbia
🔹 OSCE
🔹 EU’s anti-Russia sanctions
🔹 EU activities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
🔹 Russia’s upcoming chairmanship of the CIS

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#Ukraine

• Fewer people are willing to take up arms and fight for the Ukrainian government, rotten as it is by pervasive corruption and nationalism. Over the past year, conscription stations sent about 40,000 people into the army, failing to offset the casualties suffered by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during their so-called counteroffensive.

To achieve the required result, Ukraine decided to amend its laws by de facto designating a substantial part of its population as slaves and depriving them of any rights. They are getting ready to hunt down those who fall within the conscription age range as part of the mobilisation effort, and plan to force Ukrainian men who fled abroad to escape the war to come back in order to mobilise them into the army.

Illegitimate EU#Sanctions

• The introduction of even limited sanctions on Russian aluminium will inevitably raise prices, put hundreds of companies in the EU at risk of being shut down, and will have a negative impact on the industrial potential of the EU and the implementation of measures towards the green economy. <...>

It is clear whose interests Brussels is serving. First, it acts against its own citizens and EU residents. Second, it serves the monopolists whose companies or interests are directly related to Washington and London.

🎙Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with RIA Novosti and Rossiya 24 TV on current foreign policy issues

📍Moscow, December 28, 2023

• Because of this hybrid war by the entire collective West, which was unleashed by the hands, bodies and other parts of Ukrainian society against us with the use of modern Western weapons, Russia has become much stronger during this year. The unity of our people has increased substantially.

• The overwhelming majority of states, the World Majority, have not joined the sanctions but cannot raise their voice high enough during debates for the time being. However, they are coming to realise that this could happen to anyone, and that any country could become a target for sanctions by the US, Europe or any US ally.

• More and more countries are telling us that they are with us. They understand that the lengthy process of forming a multipolar world has begun. They will help us by action but will have to occasionally trot out fake excuses (excuse the rude expression) to avoid being given a hard time. This is a serious trend.

• With the special military operation underway and our ongoing confrontation with the West, including on the economic and sanctions front, the objective substantiation of our actions takes on special importance.

• In the context of the emphasis on the Global Majority, on the countries that are ready to work with us in a fair, mutually beneficial and mutually respectful manner, including in the economy, politics, and security, our chairmanships, two of them, coming next year, are of central importance. One is in the #CIS and the other in #BRICS.

• Maybe, the West is even thinking about “specifying its strategy” because if “Russia’s strategic defeat” is a strategy (excuse my tautology please), it has failed miserably. <...> It is clear what they want to achieve – to leave as soon as possible from this grievous position, one that Europe was driven into primarily by Washington.

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📰 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with TASS news agency (December 28, 2023)

Key talking points:

🔹 It is time everyone drew a lesson from the consequences of US attempts to play at behind-the-curtain diplomacy in the Middle East. It was Washington’s policy of monopolising mediation and undermining the international legal framework for a settlement that resulted in the current escalation in the conflict zone.

🔹 Neither Washington, nor Brussels refrain from assisting the Kiev regime because they realise that it would be doomed without such assistance. They remain committed to containing Russia at the expense of Ukrainians and their lives.

🔹 Americans placed their bets on force in an attempt to slow down the erosion of their hegemony. This is why they have been seeking to secure their military supremacy and have a free hand to use force. And this is how we can explain their refusal to accept any restrictions in terms of arms control.

🔹 It is obvious to us that the American proposals on launching nuclear arms control talks while keeping them separate from the negative military and political context and the dismal state of relations between Russia and the West are inadequate. We can see through what Washington is after: they want to mitigate nuclear risks to themselves while securing an advantage in terms of other military capabilities.

🔹 Armenia has been and remains our strategic partner in the South Caucasus. We are confident that all these difficulties are temporary and will be overcome with enough political will to do so. The sustainable and systematic expansion of Russian-Armenian ties meets the fundamental interests of the people in both states.

🔹 Most of our partners agree with us that sooner or later our Western colleagues will have to accept the realities of a multipolar world, and then all issues will be resolved based on a balance of interests.

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⚡️ Foreign Ministry statement on yet another brutal attack on Russian civilians by the Kiev regime

❗️ The Kiev regime has once again revealed its inhuman Nazi essence by committing another cynical and horrific crime – an attack on residential areas in Belgorod using multiple launch rocket systems.

The premeditated and meticulously prepared shelling attack on the city centre resulted in the deaths of at least 14 people, including two children, and injured 100 civilians, 17 of whom were minors.

‼️ British and American consultants were directly involved in organising this terrorist attack, regularly inciting the Ukrainian authorities to commit brutal crimes. The countries of the European Union, which persistently and irresponsibly continue to supply the Ukrainian ruling clique with weapons, are also responsible for this.

It should be emphasised that the strike deliberately targeted places where civilians gather, particularly families with children. The enemy attacked pre-holiday attractions in downtown Belgorod, including the New Year's snow town, the Christmas tree and the ice rink, which were popular among the residents. The Ukrainian criminals used cluster munitions to maximise the number of victims in their terrorist attack.

The shelling of communities in Donbass, the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, Crimea, and other Russian regions, as well as the ruthless and indiscriminate killing of civilians, serve as evidence of the agony of Zelensky's neo-Nazi regime, which is immersed in terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, and cynicism. In their impotent rage, they seek to please their Western bosses by killing as many Russian people as possible.

☝️ All those responsible for orchestrating and carrying out this and other crimes by the Kiev junta will face inevitable punishment in accordance with the law.

The UN Security Council will also investigate the terrorist attack in Belgorod, specifically the use of cluster munitions, which are banned in most countries, by Ukrainian terrorists to target civilians, as well as the sources of these deadly weapons.

We urge all responsible governments and relevant international organisations to strongly condemn this brutal act of terrorism and publicly distance themselves from the Kiev regime and its Western handlers who commit such crimes.

⚠️ Silence in response to the unrestrained brutality displayed by Ukrainian Nazis and their puppeteers, as well as their accomplices from "civilised democracies," will be seen as aiding and abetting their heinous acts.

🎄 President Vladimir Putin sent Christmas and New Year 2024 greetings to foreign heads of state and government:

• President of the Republic of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania

• President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev

• President of the Republic of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan

• President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko

• President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

• President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov

• President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon

• President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty (upper house) of the Milli Gengesh (parliament) of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov

• President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev

• President of the Republic of South Ossetia Alan Gagloev

• President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia Luis Arce

• President of the Federative Republic of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

• Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban

• President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro

• General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vo Van Thuong

• President of the Republic of India Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi

• President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping

• President of the Republic of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez and Army General Raul Castro

• President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Thongloun Sisoulith

• President of the Republic of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega

• His Holiness Pope Francis

• President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic

• President of the Syrian Arab Republic Bashar al-Assad

• President of the Republic of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan

• President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa

🌐 Last year, the Russian diplomatic service pursued a foreign policy course determined by President Vladimir Putin in a situation of heightened confrontation with the collective West.

The main goals were to provide political and diplomatic support for the special military operation and to expand cooperation with countries and associations that make up the Global Majority.

👉 Main foreign policy results in 2023

1️⃣ An important milestone in 2023 was the update of the doctrine underlying Russia's foreign policy: on March 31, the President of Russia approved a new version of the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation.

2️⃣ Russia made significant efforts to develop relations with neighbouring countries, as well as the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

3️⃣ Integration with Belarus has advanced significantly. The partner countries began working on an interstate treaty on security guarantees and the Union State security concept.

4️⃣ Amid geopolitical turbulence, Eurasian integration associations that include Russia have successfully demonstrated their resilience.

5️⃣ The progress in relations with the Central Asian states was advanced by the 6th foreign ministers' meeting in the CA5+Russia format in Samarkand in April.

6️⃣ Russia contributed to the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalisation process based on the trilateral agreements of the leaders. Visas were abolished for short-term trips to Russia by Georgian citizens, and direct flights between our countries were resumed.

7️⃣ Russian-Chinese relations reached an unprecedented level in 2023. After his re-election as President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping made his first foreign visit to Russia in March. President of Russia Vladimir Putin visited China to take part in the third Belt and Road International Forum in October.

👉 Learn more about other foreign policy results

⚡️ Main foreign policy results in 2023

Per tradition, at the end of each year we summarize the outcomes of the Russia's foreign policy, implemented by the MFA and determined by President Vladimir Putin.

👉 Points 1-7

8️⃣ Russia maintained an intensive political dialogue with India, including in the context of the country's chairmanship of the #SCO and the #G20, reinforcing the Russian-Indian special and privileged strategic partnership.

9️⃣ President Vladimir Putin's meeting with Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong-un at the Vostochny Cosmodrome brought Russian-North Korean relations to a new level.

1️⃣0️⃣ Important joint steps were taken to expand Russian-Iranian relations. In particular, the parties signed an agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway, and the foreign ministers signed a Declaration on the Ways and Means to Counter, Mitigate and Redress the Adverse Impacts of Unilateral Coercive Measures.

1️⃣1️⃣ The launch of the mechanism of regular dialogue at the level of foreign ministers accelerated cooperation between the Caspian states.

1️⃣2️⃣ Relations with Türkiye reached a strategic level in the field of peaceful nuclear energy: in particular, Russia began supplying nuclear fuel to the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.

1️⃣3️⃣ Russia gained a stronger foothold in the Middle East. Relations with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, primarily the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. There was progress in relations with the League of Arab States.

1️⃣4️⃣ The second Russia-Africa Summit held in St Petersburg in July marked the culmination of collaborative efforts to significantly enhance ties in this promising area of Russia's foreign policy.

1️⃣5️⃣ The expansion of traditional partnerships with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean was central to the agenda of the successful political dialogue with regional states at the highest and high levels.

👉 Learn more about other foreign policy results

🎙 New Year Address to the Nation by President Vladimir Putin

💬 We are bidding farewell to 2023.

The main thing which has united us is the destiny of the Motherland. There is a deep understanding of the utmost importance of the historic period which Russia is going through, those large-scale objectives which society is facing and the colossal responsibility for the Motherland which every one of us feels.

Work for the collective good has united society. We are united in our thoughts, tasks and in combat, whether at work or on days off, displaying the main traits of the Russian people – solidarity, mercy and firmness.

I would like to address our military personnel – everyone who is on duty, who is on the front lines fighting for truth and justice. You are our heroes. Our hearts are with you. We are proud of you and we admire your courage.

I am well aware that now you feel the love of those nearest and dearest to you, the powerful, sincere support of millions of Russian citizens, the support of the entire people.

We have proved over and over again that we are able to tackle the most difficult tasks and we will never back down as there is no force that can divide us, make us forget the memory and the faith of our fathers, or stop our development.

The upcoming year of 2024 has been declared the Year of the Family in our country. And a truly big family is definitely a family where children grow up, where parents are given attention, and treated with warm-heartedness and care, and where everyone loves and respects each other.

I would like to convey my very best wishes for the new year to all Russian families. After all, the history of our huge, wonderful and beloved Motherland is shaped by the history of each family. We – the multinational people of Russia – decide and create its fate.

We are one country, one big family. We will ensure the steady development of the Motherland, the well-being of our citizens, and we will become even stronger.

Happy New Year, friends! Happy 2024!

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🎙 Address by Russia's President Vladimir Putin on the start of Russia's BRICS Chairmanship

💬 On January 1, Russia was passed the baton of the #BRICS chairmanship, an association which, according to the decision adopted by the 15th BRICS Summit in August 2022, now includes 10 countries.

Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates joined BRICS as new full members which is a strong indication of the growing authority of the association and its role in international affairs.

BRICS is attracting an ever increasing number of supporters and like-minded countries that share its underlying principles, namely, sovereign equality, respect for the chosen path of development, mutual consideration of interests, openness, consensus, the aspiration to form a multipolar international order and a fair global financial and trade system, and pursuit of collective solutions to top challenges of our time.

The Russian 2024 BRICS Chairmanship under the motto Strengthening Multilateralism for Equitable Global Development and Security will act precisely in this manner and focus on positive and constructive cooperation with all countries concerned.

🔸 We will spare no effort to <...> facilitate the harmonious integration of new participants in all formats of its activities.

🔸 We will start working on the modalities of a new category of BRICS partner country.

🔸 Russia will continue to promote all aspects of the BRICS partnership in three key areas: politics and security, economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian contacts.

🔸 Our priorities include promoting cooperation in science, high technology, healthcare, environmental protection, culture, sports, youth exchanges, and civil society.

🔸 In total, over 200 events of different levels and types will be held in many Russian cities as part of the chairmanship.

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🇷🇺 Russia assumes CIS chairmanship on January 1, 2024

The Concept for Russia’s chairmanship of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in 2024 has been published.

Russia will chair the Commonwealth of Independent States under the Concept of the Further Development of the CIS, endorsed by a CIS Heads of State Council resolution on December 18, 2020; the Economic Development Strategy of the CIS for the Period up to 2030 adopted by a resolution of the CIS Heads of Government on May 29, 2020, and other CIS fundamental programme documents.

Russia’s chairmanship of the CIS will be aimed at ensuring the continuity of its activities and reaching a number of goals, in part,

👉 to continue strengthening the CIS as an integration association;
👉 increase its international status;
👉 enhancing the CIS’s role as a representative venue for multilateral political dialogue on a broad range of issues;
👉 deepening its economic integration with a view to creating a common economic space;
👉 upgrading the mechanisms for countering, through cooperation, traditional and new challenges and threats to the security of the CIS member-states;
👉 promoting cooperation in the military area and on border security; expanding cultural and humanitarian interaction;
👉 aligning CIS activities with other integration associations with a view to creating a Greater Eurasian Partnership that unites the potential of all states and organisations of the region; and improving the CIS’s contractual and legal foundation and cooperation institutions.

An meaningful part of Russia’s chairmanship will be a support for measures to counter the falsification of history and attempts to rehabilitate Nazism, and to preserve the historical memory of the Great Patriotic War, including the genocide of the Soviet peoples.

In this context, special attention will be paid to preparations for holding the Year of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War in the CIS in 2025 – the Year of Peace and Unity in the Fight against Nazism.

☦️ Heartfelt congratulations to all Christians, in Russia and abroad, who celebrate Orthodox Christmas on January 7.

🙏 Love, well-being and best wishes!

#Christmas2023 #OrthodoxChristmas

Поздравляем всех наших соотечественников в Норвегии с православным рождеством!

Vi gratulerer alle våre landsfolk i Norge med ortodoks Jul!

🎙 Foreign Minister Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on the Copenhagen-format meeting in Davos on Ukraine

💬 On January 14, Davos, Switzerland, will be hosting the fourth Copenhagen-format meeting on Ukraine. Its organisers – Kiev and Bern.

The Kiev regime, together with the Group of Seven members, will once again use deceit in order to persuade the countries of the Global South and East to support the would-be peaceful proposals stemming from the so-called Zelensky formula, an infamously odious framework.

The Foreign Ministry has consistently criticised the Zelensky formula and the Copenhagen-format meetings designed to promote it for their shortcomings, hypocrisy and lack of connection to reality.

1️⃣ The Zelensky formula consists of a series of ultimatums targeting Russia. <…> Ultimatums of this kind cannot serve as a foundation for launching talks.

2️⃣ Ukraine has enacted a legal ban on holding talks with the Russian leadership. As long as this ban remains in place, discussing any proposals will not yield tangible results.

3️⃣ Discussing a settlement in Ukraine without involving Russia is senseless.

4️⃣ Kiev has been pushing the ultimatums contained in the Zelensky formula as the only possible solution with no room for alternatives. In doing so, Kiev and its masters have monopolised the right to put forward peace initiatives, effectively blocking all reasonable ideas from other countries, primarily from the Global South and East.

5️⃣ Zelensky has been bombing civilian sites with cluster munitions in Belgorod, Donetsk and other Russian cities, intentionally killing civilians, all while preparing the Davos meeting to discuss the prospects of a peace settlement.

All of this demonstrates the true intentions of the leadership in Kiev, Washington, London and Brussels.

❗️ We are convinced that our partners in Asia, Africa and Latin America fully understand the reality of the situation and will not allow themselves to be drawn into openly anti-Russian initiatives.

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Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

❗️ The US air strikes in #Yemen are the latest example of the Anglo-Saxons’ distortion of UN Security Council resolutions and total disregard for international law, aimed at escalating the situation in the region to achieve their destructive objectives.

Further detail of Russia's position 👉 watch LIVE at our weekly briefing

🎙 Statement by Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question (January 12, 2024)

💬 Russia supported Algeria's initiative to convene today's urgent meeting of the Council on the situation in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with a focus on the threat of forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, in light of the illegality of such steps by West Jerusalem in the terms of international law.

And that is only part of the deadly "puzzle" that assembles into the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

As of now, more than 23,000 people have been killed in the enclave. That includes, by preliminary data, more than 7,500 children. Thousands of people are missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings. <...> Civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities, has been destroyed almost completely. The total blockade of Gaza has led to acute shortages of water, fuel and medical supplies. <...> Since the beginning of the escalation, some 2 million people have already been displaced. Half of them are women and children. <...>

❗️ The attack of October 7 cannot be used to legitimize Israel's use of force in the Gaza Strip. <...>

A coherent strategy of West Jerusalem is emerging. Its goal is to forcibly displace Palestinians, and its logic is simple - to make life in Gaza unbearable, even impossible, leaving the civilian population with the unimaginable choice – either leave your homeland or get killed. <...>

☝️ Under the current circumstances, Russia's principled approaches remain unchanged:

• an immediate ceasefire,
• unimpeded & safe humanitarian access,
• release of hostages,
• the restoration of the political horizon on the basis of the two-state solution for the Middle East settlement.

⚠️ Without an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the Middle East risks plunging into a full-scale war with the most serious global implications.

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