Kommentar fra Russlands Ambassadør i Norge Teymuraz Ramishvili sendt til nordiske statlige kringkastingsselskaper i mars 2023 i forkant av russisk-fiendtlige innspill i april i år og oppfølgende saker:

Siden jeg representerer Russland i Norge, vil jeg gjerne fokusere meg på temaer og saker som har betydning fremfor alt for våre lands bilaterale forhold, men som jeg synes, overlapper med situasjonen i andre vestlige land.

Norske myndigheter, først og fremst spesiale tjenester, anklager Russland regelmessig for noen «påvirkningsoperasjoner», «spionasje», «hacker-angrep» og «hybride trusler». Alle disse anklagene formidles på en «highly likely» måte. Det gis selvfølgelig ingen bevis.

Imidlertid ville jeg minne om at den eneste personen som ble dømt for «spionasje» i de siste 30 årene i våre bilaterale forhold, var det en norsk statsborger som ble tatt på fersken i Moskva.
Samtidig prøver norske spesiale tjenester å presentere helt uskyldige russere som spioner, når de kommer til Norge som turister eller til og med som en del av offisielle delegasjoner invitert av norske myndigheter.

Som det viser seg senere oppstår disse situasjonene i stor grad på grunn av russofobisk paranoia som dyrkes av norske spesiale tjenester. Til tross for entydige rettsavgjørelser om at russerne var uskyldige, var det ingen som kommet med unnskyldning til dem, for ikke å nevne erstatning for moralsk skade.

Hacker-angrep tilskrives den russiske siden. Vi har flere ganger foreslått til den norske side å samarbeide med Det russiske nasjonale koordineringssenter for datahendelser. Dette senteret blokkerer regelmessig ondsinnede nettsider i Russland etter anmodning fra vestlige kollegaer. Likevel ser norske myndigheter bort fra våre forslag.

En lignende situasjon er med forstyrrelser av GPS-signaler. Det russiske militæret har bedt flere ganger om å formidle objektive elektroniske overvåkingsdata til dem for å gjennomføre etterforskning, men Norge har aldri gjort det.

Forskningsfartøyenes arbeid er etterspurt og føres fullstendig i samsvar med folkeretten. Dette arbeidet samordnes gjennom diplomatiske kanaler, innenfor bilaterale samarbeidsorganer, blant annet i Den blandete norsk-russiske fiskerikommisjon som ofte roses av norske myndigheter. Mydnighetene påpeker selv at interesser av begge land sammenfaller når det gjelder bærekraftig fiskeri i nord. En slik virksomhet forutsetter ingen overraskelser.

Sjøfolks kunnskap om navigasjon i nord er også av begge lands sikkerhetsinteresser. I samsvar med det norske regelverket ble det utstedt norske farledsbevis til russiske sjøfolk, noe som ga rett til å navigere fartøy i norsk kystfarvann. Forsøkene på å blåse opp russofobi på grunn av sjøfolks opprinnelse «lukter» av etnisk diskriminering.

Det som gjelder diplomatenes arbeid. Norske medier forvrenger dessverre bildet om hvordan diplomatiske stasjoner fungerer, det skjer også etter innspill fra norske spesiale tjenester og politikere.

Diplomatiske forbindelser har alltid vært en viktig faktor for å redusere spenning og bygge konstruktive forhold mellom land. I vanskelige tider er betydningen av diplomatiske kanaler enda større. Man skal ikke glemme om de viktige praktiske funksjonene til konsulært arbeid. Stigmatisering av dette arbeidet er ikke bare skadelig, men også farlig. Jeg tror at våre kollegaer fra Det norske utenriksdepartementet og Den norske ambassaden i Moskva skjønner det også.

Det er skuffende at vi registrerer ganske utildekkede forsøk av norske spesiale tjenester å legge press på diplomater fra Ambassaden og Forsvarsattachéens stab de siste årene.

Russia Concludes Its Chairmanship of the Arctic Council

Russia handed over its chairmanship of the Arctic Council to Norway during the international organization’s 13th session, which took place on 11 May in Salekhard. The chairmanship of the Arctic Council passed to Russia on 20 May 2021 at a ministerial session in Reykjavik.

“The Arctic is a strategic region. This territory is of global importance for our country and for intensifying international cooperation. Russia has met all its obligations within the framework of the Arctic Council in full. [The country’s] primary attention was focused on four key priorities: ‘The People of the Arctic, Including Indigenous Peoples’, ‘Environmental Protection, Including Climate Change Issues’, ‘Socioeconomic Development’, and ‘Strengthening Arctic Cooperation’. Over a two-year period, our country held roughly 90 different events, including forums, conferences, roundtables, championships, festivals, and sports competitions. The chairmanship events were held in 24 cities and towns of Russia, including all nine regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. I am certain that all the events that took place and all the decisions that were made at them will support the development of the Russian Far North,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Plenipotentiary Representative of the Russian President in the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev said.
A cross-cutting priority of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council was to ensure responsible governance for the sustainable development of the Arctic. Based on its respect for international law, Russia contributed to the promotion of collective approaches for the development of the Arctic with a social, economic, and environmental balance. The events Russia organized were held as part of 11 thematic pillars that encompass all promising areas of the development of the northern latitudes. In particular, last year the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum featured a stand booth to the Arctic and Russia’s chairmanship for the first time, while the House of Indigenous Peoples at the Eastern Economic Forum was highly popular both among representatives of these ethnic groups and other guests of Vladivostok.

“During Russia’s chairmanship, issues concerning the sustainable development of the Arctic became an integral part of discussions at the key business platforms of our country. Now our main job is to preserve and enhance the valuable legacy of this chairmanship. We will continue to implement ambitious projects in the Arctic in accordance with our main priorities and will promote the results of this work on a regular basis as part of major international congress and exhibition events,” said Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to the Russian President and Executive Secretary of the Organizing Committee for Russia’s Chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023.
The thematic pillar ‘Development of Human Capital in the Arctic’ included events at which the participants discussed the organization of medical support for the inhabitants of the Far North, ESG trends, ways to establish a partnership between the state and business for the benefit of citizens, as well as training and scientific support.

A separate thematic pillar ‘Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic’ highlighted ways to ensure sustainable development and preserve the heritage of ethnic groups who traditionally reside in the northern territories. Russia’s chairmanship showcased such events as the Arctic Indigenous People’s Summit (21 November 2022, Moscow), the ‘Russian North’ Indigenous Youth Forum (22–25 November 2022, Salekhard), the International Seminar on the Preservation and Promotion of the Languages of the Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic (16–18 March 2022, St. Petersburg), and the International Traditional Reindeer Herding Championship (14–19 March 2023, Neryungri).

“In the Russian Arctic, world-class projects are being created to make a breakthrough in the technological, environmental, and energy markets.

They will not only fill the Russian treasury for decades to come, but will also claim significant shares of world markets in the most promising sectors of the economy. Cargo from the Arctic mega-projects will fill the Northern Sea Route, via which cargo traffic should grow six times by 2030. All the measures to develop the Arctic economy aim to improve the quality of life of all residents of this strategically important region for our country,” Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Alexei Chekunkov said.

The events of the pillar ‘Climate Change and Ecology of the Arctic’ were devoted to issues on the environmental agenda. The experts and specialists who took part in these events discussed the problems of handling waste and microplastics in the northern latitudes, lifting flooded radioactive and hazardous objects from the seas of the Arctic Ocean, melting permafrost, and the bioremediation of the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems of the Arctic coast. Participants in the large-scale Safe Arctic exercises in 2021 and 2023, for their part, worked on ways to prevent emergency situations in the Arctic.

During its chairmanship, Russia paid special attention to issues concerning the socioeconomic development of the territories of the Far North. During the conference ‘Investment and Trade in the Arctic’, which was held in September on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, experts considered prospects for cooperation between Russia and its foreign partners in the Arctic and opportunities for developing the Northern Sea Route, while building new logistics chains. In addition, the events held as part of this pillar included a discussion on the modernization of the telecommunications sector and digitalization in the Arctic, as well as the creation of a tourism industry in the North.

Cultural events were also a key part of the chairmanship programme. The following festivals were held over the last two years: Teriberka (16–17 July 2022, Murmansk Region), Bering Strait (2–7 August 2022, Anadyr), The Power of Colour (6–7 May 2023, Kirovsk), as well as the Gastronomic Festival of Northern Cuisine (10–11 December 2021, Moscow).

“In March 2022, the Arctic states of the West initiated a politicized and counterproductive ‘temporary freeze’ on the Council’s full-scale activities. Amidst these conditions, Russia continued to responsibly perform its functions as chairman and consistently implement the activities of the programme of Russia’s chairmanship (except for official meetings) and repurposed the chairmanship mechanism during the period of this forced ‘freezing’ to search for effective solutions to practical problems related to the development of our country’s northern regions, which are enshrined in the Fundamentals of the Russian Federation’s State Policy in the Arctic for the Period until 2035 and the Development Strategy for the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and Ensuring National Security for the Period until 2035,” said Nikolay Korchunov, Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials and Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Starting from May 2021, during Russia’s chairmanship, discussions were initiated for the first time via the Arctic Council about the protection of the intellectual property rights of Indigenous Peoples amidst globalization, the social responsibility of entrepreneurs, as well as public-private partnerships for the sustainable development of northern ethnic groups. Russia proposed numerous projects and initiatives, in particular, related to the digitalization of the cultural and linguistic heritage of Indigenous Peoples, the development of creative industries and traditional Arctic medicine, the creation of an international Arctic scientific station that runs on carbon-free energy, ensuring biosecurity in the region, and the creation of a unified digital museum platform.

Improving the efficiency of research activities and developing scientific cooperation was also one of Russia’s main goals as chairman of the Arctic Council.

In particular, based on an initiative from Moscow State Institute of International Relations, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed an agreement on the formation of the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Legal Research in the Arctic in 2022. The creation of this structure is a step towards forming an all-Russian consortium of Arctic Universities that is open to international partnerships. In addition, during the Northern Sustainable Development Forum, an agreement was signed on the establishment of the Russian-Asian Consortium for Arctic Research, as more than ten organizations became members of this organization.

The plan for Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council was calculated until August 2023 from the very beginning, so Russia will hold a number of events that aim to promote socioeconomic development, preserve the ecology of the northern latitudes, and conduct scientific studies of the Arctic. Some 20 events will take place in the coming months, including: the International Conference on Biodiversity in the Arctic and the International Forum on Specially Protected Natural Areas in the Arctic during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2023, the ‘Arctic. Breaking the Ice’ Second Russian Forum and Festival of Volunteers, the Teriberka Arctic Festival, the Bering Strait Festival, and the International Maritime Arctic Educational and Scientific Expeditions ‘Training-through-Research’ on Research Vessels. The chairmanship events are managed by the Roscongress Foundation.

Поздравляем норвежцев с национальным праздником - Днём Конституции!

Vi gratulerer nordmenn med deres Nasjonaldag - Grunnlovsdagen!

🇷🇺🇺🇳 Permament Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN:

🎙Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing on deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine and their consequences (18 May 2023)

Read in full

💬 Western states insist that they do not take part in the conflict, but rather “help Ukraine defend itself”. But in reality, it is the exact opposite. The West is fighting a proxy-war on Russia in Ukraine.

<...>

Deliveries of ever more powerful weapons systems to Kiev, combined with data sharing and the training of Ukrainian soldiers on their territories make these states not only parties to the armed conflict with Russia under the 1907 Hague Conventions on the rights and obligations of neutral powers in naval and land warfare, but also accomplices to the war crimes of the Ukrainian armed forces and nationalist battalions.

<...>

❗️ The goals of the collective West are obvious to all, Western politicians do not conceal them. And this is not the principles of morality and highest humanistic values, far from that. By using Ukraine as a testing site, they want to drag out this conflict, “until the last Ukrainian”, hoping to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia. This is based on an obvious desire to impose their will and their so-called rules on everyone.

<...>

Attacks of the Kiev regime against civilian infrastructure and peaceful population of the Donbas happen daily.

<...>

☝️ The West knew exactly who they were bringing to power after the coup d'état in 2014 and who they had carefully nurtured before that in the interests of transforming Ukraine into an "anti-Russia”. <...> Western countries not only failed to prevent it, but as their leaders admit today, they sabotaged the implementation of the Minsk Agreements in order to keep using the Kiev authorities in their own interests.

🌐 On May 18, 1899, the Hague hosted a first ever international peace and disarmament conference. The initiative and idea for the event was that of the then Russian Empire.

The meeting resulted in the signing of 3 conventions:

• Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes
• Convention with respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land
• Convention for the Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of the Principles of the Geneva Convention of August 22, 1864.

However, Russia's idea on the true reduction of armaments and constraining military budgets failed to be enshrined in the form written guarantees. Issues of vital importance for the whole of Europe were reflected in the conference proceedings only in the form of declarations and “desiderata.” A mere 15 years later, #WWI would begin to re-carve the political map of Europe beyond recognition.

❗️And yet, the conference was not held in vain. It became an important step towards containing a global arms race and laid down the foundation, formed the bedrock of international law.

❗️ On renewing the Black Sea Initiative

Read in full

• In connection with expiration of the 60-day deadline for renewing the Black Sea Initiative to export Ukrainian grain on May 18 and in response to requests primarily from our Turkish partners as a party to the agreement, we confirmed the renewal of the agreement for another two months through July 17 without any changes.

• Our principled assessments of the implementation of the interrelated Istanbul agreements have remain unchanged, and so far only the Black Sea Initiative has been implemented with the exception of ammonia exports.

• There’s no measurable progress under the Russia-UN Memorandum.

• There are obvious issues with the declared humanitarian component of the deal where Ukrainian grain is being exported through this sea corridor mostly to high and above-average income countries, including “well-stocked” European markets.

• Countries that need it most have received hardly anything, 722,000 tonnes (or 2.5 percent) of the total amount of 30 million tonnes that had been moved from Ukrainian ports over nine months.

• The export of Russian products, even donations of fertilisers to the neediest countries, continues to be blocked by various aspects of the illegal and unilateral sanctions.

• There is no progress either in resuming ammonia shipments mentioned in both Istanbul documents.

• Given the circumstances, we are compelled to issue a reminder that there are five systemically important issues that must be resolved as part of implementing the Russia-UN Memorandum and which have seen no progress whatsoever so far:
- reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT system
- supplying spare parts
- unblocking transport logistics and insurance
- reestablishing the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline
- unfreezing the Russian companies’ assets

• There can be no talk of expanding the Black Sea Initiative in principle without these requirements first being met. The agreement will be terminated after July 17.

REPORT: The Human Rights Situation in Ukraine
by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/humanitarian_cooperation/1448658/?lang=en

🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Moscow, May 17, 2023)

🔹 FM Sergey #Lavrov’s schedule
🔹 #UkraineCrisis
🔹 #Gagauzia #Moldova
🔹 #Azerbaijan #Armenia
🔹 Armed attack on humanitarian relief convoy in #Myanmar
🔹 #RussiaFinland
🔹 #UNESCO
🔹 Report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the events in #Mali
🔹 Ongoing discrimination against Russian athletes
🔹 Desecration of monuments to Soviet soldiers in #Bulgaria

And much more...

📚 Read in full

Talking points:

#Ukraine

The West has made its role in the conflict abundantly clear: Ukraine serves merely as a tool and Ukrainians as pawns it is ready to sacrifice in its standoff with Russia. The West has sacrificed literally everything on the altar of its morbid geopolitical ambitions. They are “exceptional”. Only they can govern everyone. Nobody has the right to take independent decisions, be it domestic affairs or foreign policy. The previous times of colonialism and imperialism have not receded into the past but rather are being converted to a modern format.

#UNESCO

In its commitment to confrontation, the collective West continues intentionally undermining mechanisms underpinning interstate relations and ignoring the diplomatic norms by using all kinds of dirty tricks. Paris followed in the footsteps of Washington by adopting bad visa practices. As a country hosting the UNESCO Headquarters, France failed to issue visas on time to several Russian representatives, preventing them from attending the 216th Session of the UNESCO Executive Board. Visa-related incidents of this kind with their obvious political bias are becoming a regular occurrence. By doing this, Paris has intentionally failed to honour its obligations as a host country.

Комментарий Посольства информагентству "НТБ" о заходе в Осло американского авианосца

На севере нет ни одного вопроса, который требует военного решения, ни одной темы, которая требует внешнего вмешательства.

При том, что в Осло признают, что Россия не представляет прямой военной угрозы для Норвегии, подобные демонстрации силы выглядят нелогичными и вредными.

Ambassadens kommentar til NTB angående anløp av amerikansk hangarskip til Oslo

Det finnes ingen spørsmål i nord som krever en militær løsning, heller ikke temaer der det trenges innblanding utenfra.

Tatt i betraktning at det innrømmes i Oslo at Russland utgjør ingen direkte militær trussel for Norge, ser ut slike maktdemonstrasjoner som ulogiske og skadelige.

🎙 Excerpts from President Vladimir Putin's remarks at the meeting of the Council for Interethnic Relations:

💬 We are aware of the aggressive external pressure being put on Russia and our society. We have to deal with nearly all instruments in the enemies’ arsenals, including economic, military, political and information tools, as well as formidable anti-Russia propaganda.

The attacks on our history, culture and spiritual values never ease up, just as the attempts to undermine the unity and fraternal relations among our peoples.

Our adversaries have decided that Russia’s multi-ethnicity is a tender spot, and they are making every effort to divide us.

<...>

❗️ The people behind these kinds of concepts are accustomed to following Western ideological blueprints steeped in racist neo-colonial approaches and assertions of some kind of exceptionalism of some nations and inferiority of the others and the habitual division of nations into the first, second and third grades.

<...>

Our state was built around values of multiethnic harmony. This is the bedrock foundation underlying our consolidation, which is only getting stronger in the face of external aggressions and threats. Our adversaries, that I mentioned earlier, people with neo-colonial mindsets – halfwits, in fact – are unable to realise that diversity makes us stronger.

☝️ The stronger the sanctions, the nastier the slander, the higher this manifestation of general consolidation.

Read in full

#Announcement

🎙 Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova will hold a briefing on current foreign policy issues at approximately 11 am MSK (2 pm GMT) on May 24.

☝️ In light of measures taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and WHO recommendations on holding public events via teleconferencing, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson will answer media questions received by the call centre. Accredited journalists will be sent detailed information concerning the technical aspects of submitting questions.

❗️ Accreditation is open until 10 am on May 23.

🇨🇦🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇹🇯🇵🇬🇧🇺🇸 The summit of the so-called Group of Seven aka the #G7 ended in Hiroshima, Japan. Its main result is a set of statements saturated with questionable passages of an anti-Russia and anti-China nature.

Thus, the G7 summit has once again produced politicised decisions aimed at drawing diving lines in international relations.

The Group of Seven used to be an association whose members coordinated their positions on various issues on the global agenda. However, it has now irreversibly deteriorated, becoming an “incubator” which, under Anglo-Saxon leadership, hatches destructive initiatives and subverts global stability. The initiatives are subsequently imposed on pro-US minions made up of NATO, the EU and other satellites of Washington.

The implausibility of G7 nations’ claims to be the global guarantor of financial and economic stability became conclusively evident to everyone during the 2008-2009 crisis. The international events of the past few years indicate that G7 is unable to offer anything productive in either politics or diplomacy.

❗️ Panic over the objective process of the emergence of multipolarity and the destruction of the US-centred hegemony that used to allow the West to plunder the world, makes the Group’s members put every effort into fanning Russophobic and Sinophobic hysteria.

<...>

Against such an unattractive backdrop, the G7 countries are not shy about flirting with non-Western states so as to bring them to their side and not allow them to develop ties with Russia and China. At the same time, it is obvious that the G7 is the main factor in exacerbating global problems. It cannot reflect the interests of other centres of development, especially those of the Asia-Pacific region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

☝️ We believe that our assessments of the G7 and its destructive actions are shared by the majority of the world community.

Read in full