📅 On February 4, 1945, the Yalta (Crimean) Conference commenced. It was the second meeting of all anti-Hitler coalition countries leaders: Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill & Franklin Roosevelt.

Yalta hosted the conference when successful strategic offensives by the Red Army had liberated the Soviet territories as well as several European nations from fascist occupation. Just on February 3, the Vistula-Oder Operation had concluded, while the Western Carpathian & East Prussian operations were in full swing, marking the final stages of the war against Nazi Germany.

📜 The leaders approved key international documents, including the Declaration of Liberated Europe & documents outlining the fundamental principles for the creation of the UN, which laid the foundation for post-war international relations & defined the contours of the post-war world order.

Certain issues regarding post-war Germany were also resolved. Conference participants expressed their unwavering determination to eliminate German militarism & Nazism. They agreed on France's participation in addressing the German issue, defining the borders of Poland, outlines of the future Polish government & the conditions for the USSR's entry into the war against Japan.

The tremendous growth in the international authority of the Soviet Union, bolstered by the outstanding achievements of the Red Army, had a significant influence on the course & outcomes of the negotiations.

🤝 The Yalta Conference of the leaders of the USSR, the USA, and the UK held immense historical significance, being one of the key summits of the Second World War. It demonstrated the readiness for cooperation & compromise among the three allied powers in their fight against the common enemy.

❗️ The decisions of the Yalta Conference strengthened the anti-fascist coalition in the final stages of the war & contributed to the victory over Germany. In the post-war years Soviet diplomacy largely focused on Implementing the conference's decisions.

#HistoryOfDiplomacy #WeWereAllies

🎙 Интервью Посла по особым поручениям МИД России, председателя Комитета старших должностных лиц Арктического совета Н.В.Корчунова информационному агентству «Интерфакс» (5 февраля 2024 года)

#АрктическийСовет

• Деятельность Арктического совета в данный момент вызывает озабоченность в связи с ограничением вовлечённости некоторых стран АС в его работу. Организация функционирует на самых низких оборотах.

• Попытки норвежского председательства возобновить работу Арктического совета в полном формате пока не встречают поддержки со стороны всех стран-членов АС, некоторые из которых, судя по всему, взяли линию на ослабление роли этой организации в архитектуре международного арктического сотрудничества.

☝️ Перспективы дальнейшего участия России в Совете увязываем с возобновлением его работы и тем, насколько его деятельность будет соответствовать российским интересам <...>.

#НАТО #Арктика

• Многие аналитики в связи с возрастающим значением Арктического региона в мировой экономике, <...> , с одной стороны, и деградирующей военно-политической обстановкой в регионе – с другой, в последнее время стали указывать на возрастающую военно-политическую напряжённость.

• Среди факторов, усиливающих эту тенденцию, можно выделить решение Североатлантического альянса о расширении НАТО и включении Арктического региона в сферу своих интересов, <...> наращивание военного присутствия НАТО в регионе и рост задач не оборонительного, а наступательного характера.

#СеверныйМорскойПуть

• В связи с логистическим кризисом на Красном море мы готовы гарантировать максимальную безопасность и экологичность судоходства по Северному морскому пути для всех грузоотправителей, включая коммерческое и научное судоходство, осуществляемое в соответствии с международными правилами и российским законодательством.

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🇷🇺 Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishery has offered Japan to help rescue the orca whales caught in the drifting ice.

The agency’s letter to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan says that the Fishery Agency and the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography have the necessary competencies and knowledge to rescue the ice-trapped whales, which are on the Red List of Threatened Species.

According to media reports, a pod of 16 orcas have become trapped by sea ice several kilometres off the coast of Rausu in the Nemuro Strait, which divides the north-eastern coast of Japan’s Hokkaido from the Russian island of Kunashir.

🎙 Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on anti-Serbian moves by the Kosovo authorities

❗️ The position of Serbs in Kosovo is worsening literally every day. Violations of fundamental UN Security Council Resolution 1244 have become gloomy routine. The level of ethnic tensions is rapidly growing.

After the decision to ban the circulation of the Serbian dinar, which deprived the local non-Albanians of the opportunity to receive their pensions, allowances and other payments, the local authorities have taken a new step in eliminating administrative and commercial structures beyond their control, including Serbian postal branches. They are conducting illegal searches, withdrawing documents and cash, detaining employees and fabricating criminal cases.

The criminal regime of Prime Minister Albin Kurti has finally gone into the active phase of anti-Serbian ethnic cleansing: the expelling of Serbians from their ancestral lands. In this way Pristina hopes to avoid the need to fulfil its commitments, primarily, on creating the Community of Serb Municipalities of Kosovo.

By encouraging Albin Kurti and the terror he unleashed, the West is trying to punish Belgrade for its firmness in upholding its national sovereignty, the right to pursue an independent policy and the resolve to preserve friendly relations with Russia and other states outside the Euro-Atlantic orbit. Attempts are being made to compel the Serbians to give up their vital interests, including protection of their compatriots.

☝️ We are seeing this not only in Kosovo but also in Bosnia and Herzegovina where the West is trying to reshape the country in line with a unitary model and put it under its control.

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⚡️ Statement by the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on the direct responsibility of the collective West countries, which supply weapons to the Kiev regime, for the death of civilians in the Russian Federation

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💬 The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation firmly protests against the collective West countries continuing to supply the Kiev regime with weapons, munitions and military equipment, which are being used to murder civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure in Russia.

<...>

The Ukrainian armed forces conduct these heinous actions with the use of weapons, munitions and military equipment sent to Ukraine, in part, by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, the Czech Republic and several other member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the European Union.

<...>

☝️ The Federation Council hereby declares that in continuing to deliver weapons, munitions and military equipment, the countries of the collective West are becoming direct accomplices in the crimes of the Kiev regime, responsible for the death of innocent civilians, including women and children, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and gross violations of international law.

❗️ The Federation Council urges the parliaments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, the Czech Republic and several other member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the European Union to acknowledge the direct responsibility of their countries for the death of innocent civilians in the course of attacks conducted by the Ukrainian armed forces on civilian infrastructure in the Russian Federation and to take urgent measures to stop the supply of weapons, munitions and military equipment to the Kiev regime.

⚡️ President Vladimir Putin answered questions from Tucker Carlson, a journalist and founder of Tucker Carlson Network.

Key talking points:

💬 After 1991, when Russia expected that it would be welcomed into the brotherly family of ”civilized nations,“ nothing like this happened. You tricked us (I'm talking about the US), the promise was that NATO would not expand eastward, but it happened five times, there were five waves of expansion.

• I proposed that the US, Russia and Europe jointly create a missile defense system that, we believe, if created unilaterally, threatens our security. <...> In the end they just told us to get lost. Our proposal was declined, that’s a fact.

• In 2008 the doors of NATO were opened for Ukraine. In 2014, there was a coup, they started persecuting those who did not accept the coup, and it was indeed a coup, they created a threat to Crimea which we had to take under our protection. They launched a war in Donbass in 2014 with the use of aircraft and artillery against civilians. This is when it started.

❗️ And what triggered the latest events? Firstly, the current Ukrainian leadership declared that it would not implement the Minsk Agreements. <...> A year or a year and a half ago, former leaders of Germany and France said openly to the whole world that they indeed signed the Minsk Agreements but they never intended to implement them. They simply led us by the nose.

•After we withdrew our troops from Kiev, the other side (Ukraine) threw away all these agreements and obeyed the instructions of Western countries, European countries and the US to fight Russia to the bitter end.

❓ Wouldn't it be better to negotiate with Russia? Make an agreement, already understanding the situation that is developing today, realizing that Russia will fight for its interests to the end. And, realizing this, actually return to common sense, start respecting our country and its interests and look for certain solutions. It seems to me that this is much smarter and more rational.

Read in full

🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Moscow, February 7, 2024)

🔹 FM Sergey Lavrov’s schedule
🔹 Foreign Ministry’s preparations for holding the Presidential election abroad
🔹 Ukrainian crisis
🔹 Terrorist attacks of the Kiev regime
🔹 Decision by the Swedish authorities to close the investigation into the bombing of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines
🔹 Situation in Moldova
🔹 The summoning of the Russian Ambassador to the French Foreign Ministry
🔹 US website YouTube bans accounts of regional media
🔹 Increase in Norwegian-US military cooperation
🔹 Death penalty in the US

📰 Read in full
📺 Watch

***

#Election2024

• Ensuring security at the polling stations, with most of them located within the grounds of our foreign missions, will be one of our main priorities during the upcoming election.

• Russian embassies and consulates have witnessed a stark deterioration in terms of their security lately, which raises the most serious concerns. This is largely attributable to efforts by unfriendly regimes.

• Obviously, there will be a much greater risk of provocations during the voting abroad to elect the President of Russia, but we will take this factor into account when planning our security arrangements to enable Russians to cast their ballots in all freedom. Our diplomats are doing everything they can towards this.

#Ukraine

• Zelensky’s criminal regime continues to conduct inhuman terrorist attacks with the use of Western weapons. It recently waged increasingly more barbaric attacks on Russian cities during weekends or holidays. The Banderites target exclusively civilian objects such as outdoor markets, stores, pharmacies and medical and social facilities.

• On February 1, 2024, the leaders of EU countries grudgingly agreed to allocate 50 billion euros to Ukraine in 2024-2027. <...> Most of these funds will be spent on weapons. Regrettably, there is no doubt that these weapons will be used by the Ukrainian military to attack residential districts and kill innocent civilians.

#InMemoriam

Ahead of the #DiplomatsDay (celebrated on February 10), we cherish the memory of Alexander Gorchakov, an outstanding Russian diplomat and statesman who served as the last Chancellor of the Russian Empire.

🗓 When he was appointed head of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Empire in 1856, Gorchakov devoted his efforts to changing the conditions of the Treaty of Paris, which sealed the outcome of the Crimean War. His goal was to revoke the neutral status of the Black Sea and to regain control of Bessarabia.

✍️ On August 21, 1856, Gorchakov dispatched a directive outlining new foreign policy objectives to all Russian embassies. It contained a phrase that resonated throughout Europe: “Some say that Russia is angry. No, Russia is not angry, Russia is concentrating.” This phrase conveyed Russia’s decision to refrain from becoming actively involved in European affairs to restore order at home. Another element of the new policy was that Russia would no longer sacrifice its interests to please anyone.

Gorchakov’s diplomatic skills prevented Austria from joining the Franco-Prussian war, which ensured Prussia’s victory over France. This allowed Russia to stop implementing the Paris Treaty articles that limited its sovereignty in the Black Sea and to encourage other countries to recognise this new state of affairs at the international conference in London in 1871.

👉 Thanks to Gorchakov’s efforts, the international situation underwent a transformation, enabling Russia to launch reforms that resulted in a huge economic leap in the last 30 years of the XIX century.

Gorchakov’s principle of prioritising national interests in foreign policy remains relevant in Russian diplomacy. Alexander Gorchakov is respected as a bright example of competence, dedication and service to the Fatherland.

☝️ An outstanding statesman & a brilliant politician, Alexander Gorchakov believed that diplomacy must not divide nations but bring them closer together and promote their interaction based on common interests.

О наращивании норвежско-американского военного сотрудничества

Из брифинга официального представителя МИД России М.В.Захаровой, Москва, 7 февраля 2024 года

Обращают на себя внимание все более значительные усилия Осло по наращиванию военного взаимодействия с Вашингтоном, в том числе вблизи границ с Россией. В этом ряду – подписание 2 февраля с.г. Норвегией и США договорённости о внесении изменений в норвежско-американское Дополнительное соглашение об оборонном сотрудничестве 2021 г.

Новый документ предусматривает существенное увеличение числа военных объектов в Норвегии, которые с широкими правами бессрочно передаются в распоряжение американских вооружённых сил. Мне кажется, такими темпами этим странам, в принципе, будет запрещено проводить какие-либо расследования без одобрения Вашингтона. Эти силы могут быть беспрепятственно задействованы США в том числе для дислоцирования средств, передового складирования вооружений, проведения учений. Ряд объектов расположен в непосредственной близости от российской границы.

Упомянутая договорённость, как и само соглашение 2021 г., противоречит провозглашённой правительством Норвегии в ноте Советскому Союзу от 1 февраля 1949 г. и впоследствии неоднократно им подтверждавшейся политике непредоставления иностранным вооружённым силам баз на норвежской территории в мирное время, закрепляет постоянное военное присутствие США в Норвегии.

Документ идёт в русле деструктивной линии Осло на активизацию в стране военных приготовлений под эгидой НАТО. Ещё одним шагом в этом направлении станет проведение в северной части Норвегии, а также Финляндии и Швеции 3-14 марта 2024 г. межвидовых учений «Нордик Респонс 2024» с участием более 20 тыс. военнослужащих из 14 государств.

Очередные милитаристские действия норвежских властей чреваты дополнительной эскалацией напряжённости в Евроарктическом регионе. Они, кроме того, наносят ущерб безопасности самой Норвегии, фактически добровольно отказывающейся от собственной независимости и суверенитета.

Российская Федерация не оставит без ответа наращивание военного потенциала НАТО у своих границ и будет предпринимать адекватные оборонительные меры для купирования угроз национальной безопасности.

О будущем Арктического совета: из ответов на вопросы журналистов на брифинге официального представителя МИД России М.В.Захаровой, Москва, 7 февраля 2024 года

Вопрос: Россия не исключает выхода из Арктического совета, если его деятельность не будет соответствовать интересам Москвы, такое заявление со стороны МИД России было сделано буквально на днях. На Ваш взгляд, какие возможны альтернативы Арктическому совету, с какими странами Совета сохраняется сотрудничество и в каких направлениях?

Ответ: Арктический совет создавался с целью обеспечения устойчивого развития прежде всего силами самих арктических государств. Говорить о каких-либо альтернативных возможностях замены/подмены этой организации, по крайней мере, на этом этапе, не приходится, поскольку Арктический совет, хотя и работает на самых малых оборотах, но, тем не менее, продолжает функционировать, являясь многосторонним инструментом поддержания тех направлений сотрудничества, которые были утверждены на министерской сессии Арктического совета в Рейкьявике в мае 2021 г., а также на последней встрече в Салехарде в мае прошлого года.

Есть глобальная проблема. Если Совет будет эволюционировать в недружественный России институт, то мы рассмотрим целесообразность своего участия в нем. Варианты могут быть разными. Мы за подход, изначально лежащий в основе создания и развития этой организации.

Today is Diplomatic Workers' Day aka Diplomats' Day in 🇷🇺 #Russia!

The date of the holiday goes back to the earliest documented mention (February 10, 1549) of the Ambassadorial Prikaz - the first state body in our country’s history that oversaw foreign affairs.

#DWR2024 #DiplomatsDay

🗓 17 years ago, on February 10, 2007, Russia's President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech at the Munich Security Conference, addressing points that continue to hold relevance today.

Let us recall the key highlights from the President’s historic speech:

💬 I believe that the unipolar model is not only unacceptable but also impossible in today’s world. <...> What is even more important is that the model itself is flawed.

What is happening in today’s world is an attempt to introduce exactly this concept into international affairs, the concept of a unipolar world.

• Certain legal norms are becoming increasingly similar to one state’s legal system. One state, and, of course, first and foremost the US, has overstepped its national borders in every way. This is evident in the economic, political, cultural and educational policies it imposes on other nations.

☝️ I believe that we've reached a point where we need to carefully consider the entire architecture of global security.

• The role of multilateral diplomacy is significantly increasing. The need for principles such as openness, transparency and predictability in politics is undisputed.

• The stones and concrete blocks of the Berlin Wall have long been distributed as souvenirs. But we shouldn't forget that the fall of the Berlin Wall was possible thanks to a historic choice – one that was also made by the people of Russia – a choice in favour of democracy, freedom, openness and a sincere partnership with all members of the big European family.

Today, they're trying to impose new dividing lines and walls on us. These lines may be virtual but they're still dividing and cutting through our continent. Is it possible that we'll once again need many years and decades, as well as several generations of politicians, to dismantle these new walls?

🇷🇺 Russia is a country with a history that spans more than a thousand years and has practically always exercised the privilege of conducting an independent foreign policy. We're not going to change this tradition today.

🎙 President Vladimir Putin answered questions from journalist Pavel Zarubin (February 14, 2024)

Key talking points:

❗️ We have been constantly deceived about NATO’s non-expansion to the east. NATO proceeded to expand five times, completely deceiving us.

🔹 We did not initiate this war; rather, we are striving to end it. During the first phase, we tried to achieve this through peaceful means, specifically, through the Minsk agreements. However, it became apparent that we had been given the runaround once again. Both the former German Chancellor and the former President of France admitted and publicly stated that they had never intended to honour the agreements.

🔹 German Foreign Minister and people like her, are, of course, hostile towards Russia. In my opinion, she is also hostile towards her own country because it is hard to imagine such a high-ranking politician treating the economic interests of her country and people with such disdain.

🔹 Exceptionalism of certain nations, as compared to others, is found in many countries these days. This is how Nazism started. Now that this has become so widespread, it would be appropriate to conduct this anti-fascist and anti-Nazi propaganda and work at the same global level.

🔹 I believe that there is absolutely no point in NATO. Its only purpose is to serve as a tool of US foreign policy. If the United States considers this tool no longer necessary, that is their decision.

Read in full

🎙Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the presentation of the collection of documents titled Crimea in Russia’s Development: History, Politics, Diplomacy. Documents from the Foreign Ministry Archives, Moscow (February 15, 2024)

💬 This publication has been released for the tenth Anniversary of Crimea’s reunification with Russia, which we will celebrate next month.

<...>

In his famous Crimean Speech of March 18, 2014, President Vladimir Putin said: “We could not leave this plea unheeded; we could not abandon Crimea and its residents in distress. This would have been betrayal on our part.”

The way the dramatic events have been unfolding in Ukraine demonstrates that reunification with Russia was the only right and possible option for the people of Crimea. Taking this step was consistent with the historical logic of events and the fundamental interests of the people living on this Russian peninsula.

This is the message conveyed by the collection we are presenting today. In particular, it offers unique and convincing documentary evidence demonstrating the unbreakable bond linking Crimea’s destiny to Russia.

📜 The documents in this book include treaties, declarations, diplomatic messages, letters and telegrams. <...> This covers a historical era of over 200 years, marked by momentous accomplishments, including:

• the steady expansion of Russian influence over the peninsula,
• Crimea’s accession to the Russian Empire,
• the construction of new cities there,
• the emergence of the Black Sea fleet,
• the heroic defence of Sevastopol,
• the establishment of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

🇷🇺 Today, Russia is making great efforts to revive the love for Russian history and preserve the truth about its great past. This collection contains original documents from the Foreign Ministry Archives and seeks to make a constructive and useful contribution to these important efforts.

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🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Moscow, February 14, 2024)

🔹 FM Sergey Lavrov’s schedule
🔹 MFA’s preparations for holding the Presidential election abroad
🔹 Ukrainian crisis
🔹 Moldova
🔹 Attacks on Russian Orthodox Church congregations in Denmark
🔹 Promoting A.Hitler’s legacy in Germany
🔹 Recognising the genocide of the Soviet peoples during the Great Patriotic War
🔹 The collective West’s neo-colonial policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina
🔹 Lack of reaction from the OSCE to discrimination against Russian and the Russian-speaking population in the Baltic States

📰 Read in full
📺 Watch

***

#Ukraine

The West continues to overlook the terrorist actions of the Kiev junta, turning a blind eye to all their criminal activities and the threats to commit them. Ukrainian Minister for Digital Transformation, Mikhail Fyodorov, attracted attention by making a brigandish statement that resembled the rhetoric of Al-Qaeda and ISIS (organisations that are banned and globally recognised as terrorist). He went as far as promising major explosions throughout Russia.

There should be no illusions that the Kiev regime will escape accountability for such statements and malevolent actions.

#BosniaAndHerzegovina

They [illegal actions by the Western parties’ multilateral efforts] are guided by a Less Dayton – More Brussels motto, and acting in gross violation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitutional provisions, which guarantee equality for the three state-forming peoples and the country’s two entities. They are pressuring the country into accepting a Western neo-liberal pseudo-civilian social model while failing to take into account the historical, political, cultural, religious and administrative factors that have defined the way the state in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been developing.

❗️ They are open about imposing their priorities on sovereign Bosnia and Herzegovina, leaving it no option other than to follow the EU and NATO in their policies while sacrificing ties with third parties.