🎙️ Statement by Ms. Iulia Zhdanova, Head of the Delegation of the Russian Federation to the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control, at the 1135th meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation

Vienna, May 6, 2026

Subject: «Special Military Operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine»

• As Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed during his phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on April 29, the objectives of the special military operation will be achieved in any case, preferably through a negotiation process. For now, however — and on this point Moscow and Washington are in agreement — it is the Kiev regime, led by V. Zelensky, that is pursuing a policy of prolonging the conflict, with the instigation and support of the Europeans.

• The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to carry out systematic terrorist attacks against the civilian population and clearly civilian targets within our country. It is high time for our Western colleagues, who pretend to be champions of international humanitarian law, to realize the scale of the atrocities being committed by their protégés using the weapons and ammunition they supply.

• Behind the transfer of UAVs and other types of offensive weapons to Kiev are NATO and EU member states, who are complicit in crimes and in violation of their own international obligations regarding responsible export control policies, including the OSCE Principles Governing Conventional Arms Transfers (1993), the OSCE Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons (2000), UN General Assembly Resolution 62/40 “Prevention of the illicit transfer and unauthorized access to and use of man-portable air defense systems” (2007), the OSCE Principles for Export Controls of Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (2008), EU Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP (2008), and the International Arms Trade Treaty (2013). The most egregious violations are committed by the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Romania, and France — active advocates of Europe’s preparation for a major war with Russia.

• One cannot overlook the fervor with which Germany is investing in remilitarization, a development that evokes unpleasant historical associations. It is also disheartening to see how, instead of providing economic relief to the population, German politicians are consciously choosing the path of prolonged military and financial mobilization. They are frantically attempting to offset the industrial decline by shifting from automobile production to weapons manufacturing. Civilian infrastructure is being repurposed for military tasks. Suffice it to say that in the port of Bremerhaven, Europe’s largest automobile terminal is being modernized, which will ensure the rapid transport of Leopard tanks “to potential combat zones.”

• It is clear that the Germans need to buy time in order to build up their “military muscle.” And to secure that time, there is the Kiev regime, to which the EU will allocate a 90-billion-euro loan in 2026–2027. According to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the first tranche of 6 billion euros will go toward Kiev’s purchase of UAVs, which the Ukrainian military uses to strike civilian — including international — critical infrastructure and commercial vessels in the Black Sea and other areas of the world’s oceans.

• In the West, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the risks arising from the accumulation of weapons and ammunition in Ukraine as a result of massive Western arms shipments. According to estimates by law enforcement agencies in European Union countries, the illegal trafficking of weapons from Ukrainian territory increased by 96% in 2025.

• We will not tolerate the continued presence of threats on our borders. The longer our adversaries and their backers persist in their attempts to drag our country into military confrontation, exacerbate the root causes of the conflict, and intimidate our people through acts of terror, the harsher the “conditions on the ground” they will face.

📸 Photo Credit: Micky Kröll

💬 Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

🇿🇲 In Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, a two-day UNESCO conference marking World Press Freedom Day (observed on May 3) – has concluded.

Usually, this annual event is held on a high note – with fanfare, so to speak. Preferably in a country of the “golden billion”, where no “troublemakers” can spoil, with their revelations, the complacent atmosphere of this “celebration” of freedom of speech and expression – as the West understands these concepts, of course.

That was the case in New York in 2023 and in Brussels in 2025. For some mysterious – or, perhaps, quite prosaic – reasons, Russian correspondents, media professionals, public figures and commentators somehow could never make it to the microphone there. Either the conference link – at a forum of a UN specialised agency, no less – would not work, or a visa would not be issued in time, or some other misfortune would strike.

☝️ But in Lusaka, things suddenly did not go according to the usual script. RT International chief producer Dmitry Leontyev not only managed to reach this media Eldorado, but also asked a question that, judging by the reaction in the room, left many there stunned.

In a nutshell, he asked how countries of Borrell’s “blooming garden” can ban RT for allegedly spreading disinformation when the channel broadcasts only facts. How can those who endlessly lecture others about media pluralism restrict their own citizens’ access to the full range of socially significant information – and then threaten other countries, Zambia among them, with sanctions unless they follow suit and block media outlets the West has baselessly branded “disinformation” channels? What, then, is the meaning of the phrase “freedom of the press”, repeated ad nauseam at such conferences?

👉 Not a single speaker gave a clear answer. But those who were ready for an honest conversation heard the Russian journalist’s voice.

The West’s house of cards built on lies is wobbling ever more visibly. It is being held together with duct tape – the very tape that all too often runs across the mouths of international officials who are duty-bound to tell the truth about the catastrophic state of journalists’ safety and freedom of speech in the world [but fail to do so].