🔴 #LIVE: Briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria #Zakharova on topical foreign policy issues

🔗 https://www.ruptly.tv/en/events/202306281200-live14805-russian-mfa-spokesperson-zakharova-holds-weekly-briefing

🔗 https://mid.ru/en/press_service/video

🔴 #LIVE: Briefing by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on topical foreign policy issues, including humanitarian aspects of the situation around Ukraine.

🔗 https://mid.ru/en/press_service/video

🔗 https://www.ruptly.tv/en/events/202306300800-live14839-lavrov-holds-briefing-on-ukraine-and-other-international-topics

🌐 June 30 marks the annual celebration of the International Day of Parliamentarism. Established by the UN General Assembly in 2018, this day emphasises the importance of the age-old parliamentary traditions and the parliamentary community’s leading role in the XXI century.

The initiative for the #InternationalDayOfParliamentarism came from the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly and Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko. The proposal was supported by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

This date of this holiday commemorates June 30, 1889, when Paris hosted the IPU’s first international conference. Today, with its 179 member states, the IPU is the world’s largest and oldest union of parliamentarians.

Given its universal nature, the IPU aspires to being the parliamentary dimension of the United Nations, with its assemblies seeking to address an agenda consonant with that of the UN.

☝️ So far Russia has hosted two IPU assemblies. The first — the 100th anniversary conference in Moscow in September 1998 and the second, 137th IPU session, was held in St Petersburg in October 2017, setting a record in the number of participating parliaments (160), delegates (2,690), parliamentarians (856) and speakers of parliament (87).

🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Moscow, June 28, 2023)

🔹 FM Sergey Lavrov’s schedule
🔹 Ukrainian crisis
🔹 EU's financial instrument for Ukraine
🔹 Ukrainian law on national minorities
🔹 Situation in Moldova
🔹 Lithuania’s repressive moves
🔹 Russia-Japan
🔹 Discrimination against Russian athletes
🔹 Struggle against Neocolonialism
🔹 Russia-Africa
🔹 Nagorno-Karabakh settlement
🔹 Direct scheduled air transport to Cuba

And more...

📚 Read in full

#Ukraine

The West has now focused on persuading countries of the Global South to take part in the so-called Peace Summit. Organised without Russia, it purports to find a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict. The sole purpose of this gathering is to promote Vladimir Zelensky’s so-called peace formula, which is a total fraud. It is a list of ultimatums for Russia.

Attempts to determine the outcome of the Ukraine conflict without Russia’s involvement are doomed to failure.

#France #Neocolonialism

French President Emmanuel Macron labelled Russia “the sole colonial power of the 21st century” waging an imperialist war and being a destabilising influence in Africa.

Perorations of this kind are inappropriate considering France’s dubious role in Africa. The international community remembers the dirty pages of Paris’s colonial history; France is still striving to exploit Africa’s resources, masking its neo-colonial methods and schemes with false rhetoric and pretended concern for the Africans’ welfare.

#Moldova

The West, through the Kiev regime, is dragging Moldova into the Ukrainian conflict and what’s more, is regarding it as a possible second Ukraine. The Moldovan authorities are getting closer to becoming direct accomplices of the criminal Kiev authorities, while making their own population hostages.

We have repeatedly pointed out to Chisinau that assistance from the collective West, including in the military sphere, serves its own interests exclusively.

🎙 From the interview of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with the Great Game programme on Channel One (June 28, 2023)

💬 Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, John Kirby, has said that the United States does not interfere in Russia’s domestic affairs.

Knowing the track record of the United States as far as regime change is concerned, this statement has a hollow ring compared to other countries and territories about which the United States did not make any statements along these lines. There were American foundations and NGOs working in Russia just a few years ago. What did they do here? They went to great lengths to court and train the opposition. I do not think that we need to go into details on this subject. There is obvious double-dealing here.

<...>

Many things only happened as a result of the coup d’etat in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin said on many occasions that we had no intention of supporting the Crimean movement towards reunification with Russia under legitimate and legitimately elected presidents [in Ukraine].

After the coup was staged, the opposition leaders, nurtured by the Americans, went back on the agreement they signed with President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych to settle the crisis peacefully and to hold an early election. The first thing they did on the day of the coup was to announce their plans to terminate the status of the Russian language. Dmitry Yarosh demanded that Russians be expelled from Crimea. The so-called “friendship trains” with thugs were sent to the peninsula to storm the Supreme Council of Crimea. It was a powerful signal, including for our society, which has always had special feelings for the other Slavic nations.

☝️ Putting the blame on Russia and accusing it of an “unprovoked” aggression are an attempt to absolve themselves of responsibility, to lay the blame at somebody else’s door. This is obvious to everybody, just like the unscrupulous methods used by Western propaganda.

🎙 From the interview of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with the Great Game programme on Channel One (June 28, 2023)

💬 Europe identifies with racism, Russophobia, and Nazism because it claims that the Kiev regime promotes European values. Since this is the case, we are left with no other choice than to prevent a revival of Nazism right on our borders.

💬 We have said on multiple occasions that Russia has never refused to negotiate. This is what President Vladimir Putin said one year ago. However, those who refuse to negotiate, and I am referring to Ukraine and the entire West, must understand that the longer they drag their feet on the peace settlement issue, the harder it will be to reach an agreement.

💬 [The countries of the collective West] have on many occasions proven their inability to negotiate. Everything will depend solely on the United States’ selfish goals at a particular junction of its relations with a particular country.

💬 What successes of American interventionism and interventionist policy back to Vietnam are there in the past few decades? They have so far been unable to accomplish anything. But they keep operating under the banner that they are a major powerhouse.

💬 It’s good that [the Americans] don’t want a nuclear war. No one wants it. The system of agreements, which was destroyed by the United States, was there to mitigate the risks of a nuclear war and render them negligible.

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Key talking points

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s briefing on a wide range of international issues, including humanitarian aspects in the context of developments in Ukraine (Moscow, June 30, 2023)

Key topics:

🔹 Global transition to a multipolar world order
🔹 Western attempts to maintain its dominance
🔹 Humanitarian situation in Ukraine
🔹 Peace talks on the Ukrainian crisis
🔹 Kiev regime’s crimes against children
🔹 Black Sea Grain Initiative
🔹 US biolabs in Ukraine
🔹 Zaporozhye NPP
🔹 Russia's military cooperation with Africa
🔹 #RussiaAfrica Summit

And more...

📚 Read in full

💬 FM Sergey Lavrov: The current events reflect the fundamental transition from centuries-old Western dominance to a more democratic multipolar world with better justice for all.

The West is doing everything it can to resist this trend by devising containment strategies and seeking to suppress its competitors, i.e., anyone acting independently in international affairs guided by their own national interests instead of following the so-called rules imposed by the United States and its allies.

The global majority refuses to live by the Western rules and stands for universal international norms with the UN Charter as their primary source of reference. Our objective consists of fulfilling all the principles contained in the Charter without exception and in full, rather than selectively, and considering their intertwined nature.

☝️ The overwhelming majority of nations share this view.

🎙 Excerpts from FM Sergey Lavrov's briefing on topical foreign policy issues (Moscow, June 30, 2023)

<...>

❓ Question: Recently, there was a parliamentary investigation in Russia into the US biological laboratory activities in Ukraine. Senators and deputies will hold the first meeting of the parliamentary commission to investigate the Ukrainian government’s activities. What’s your take on the importance of this investigation, and what efforts are Russian diplomats taking now and will take next to make sure the results of these investigations reach the rest of the world?

💬 Sergey Lavrov: The first initiative you mentioned – the investigation into the Pentagon’s biological programmes in Ukraine ­– was widely covered and attracted public attention. We presented this report at the UN and held a special Security Council meeting with China’s support. Other UNSC members from developing regions showed serious concern and mentioned it, to varying degrees, in their statements. This issue is not closed yet.

The Russian Defence Ministry continues to provide the international community with materials that raise serious questions and lead us to believe that the Pentagon has been developing what is commonly referred to as biological weapons in laboratories in Ukraine.

With regard to the second recently announced parliamentary study, it will be led by Deputy Federation Council Speaker Anna Kuznetsova. Of course, we are worried about the children in conflict zones.

I can confirm that all the children currently residing in Russian territory are known, and no one is hiding their names or whereabouts. If these children have parents or close family, they have every right to take them home. This has been done many times: scores of children have returned to their relatives when they turned up.

❗️ Since the Europeans are dealing with the children who are being allegedly forcibly held in Russia, they would benefit from seeing what is happening to Ukrainian children in Europe.

Read in full

#Announcement

🎙 Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova will hold a briefing on current foreign policy issues at approximately 10.30 am MSK (07.30 am GMT) on July 6.

❗️ Accreditation is open until 12 pm on July 5.

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with «Rádio e Televisão de Portugal»

📍 Moscow, June 30, 2023

Key talking points:

Ukrainian crisis

They [the West] are using Ukraine as an expendable material, drugging Ukrainian soldiers for them not to feel any pain and driving them to the front lines like cattle. President Putin said a few days ago that the entire economic, war and information machine of the West is working against us. Media lies are off the charts.

Russia-NATO

We have heard lots of lies and false promises from the West. I’m not saying this to keep searching for arguments to back our past or current policies, but to re-confirm the fact that we have learned our lesson. We are no longer looking to the past, but to the future. The past has taught us a good lesson.

Multipolar world

The multipolar world is taking shape objectively, because new centres of economic growth, financial power and political influence have emerged. China, India and Brazil are cases in point. Let's not forget the Gulf countries, Türkiye, Indonesia and the ASEAN countries.

UN

All that is needed is to abide by the UN Charter and to return to the commitments that were solemnly proclaimed, signed and ratified. Primarily, the issue is about the principle of the sovereign equality of states. Humanity’s problems since the creation of the UN are rooted in the fact that the West outright refused to respect the sovereign equality of all other countries. It continues to think and act in colonial ways and to live at the expense of others.

Russia-Africa

Unlike some other countries dominated by those who we in Russia call “people who lost track of their origins,” African countries are well aware of the history of their states and their struggle against colonialism. They appreciate our country’s help.

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🌾 The approaching date of expiry (July 17) of the Black Sea Initiative on Ukrainian food exports, which cannot be extended without the consent of all the parties involved – Russia, Türkiye, and Ukraine – has caused another surge of propaganda activity on the part of Western countries, Kiev, and the UN Secretariat.

In this connection, it is necessary to reiterate the facts on the true state of affairs 👇

👉 Aimed at providing relief to destitute countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the Black Sea Initiative has degenerated into a purely commercial export of Ukrainian food to the well-fed countries. Of the 32.6 million tonnes of grain exported from the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny since August 1, 2022, the greater part – 26.2 million tonnes, or 81 percent – was sent to countries with a high or higher-than-average level of incomes. The poorest countries received a mere 862,068 tonnes, or 2.6 percent.

👉 Against this background, the situation with normalising Russian food and fertiliser supplies to the world markets, as envisaged by the Russia-UN Memorandum, continued to decline. There are five systemic goals, which, if achieved, would have made it possible to remove these obstacles. They are as follows: reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, resuming the supplies of spare parts for agricultural machinery, reviving the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, making arrangements for transport logistics and insurance, and unfreezing financial assets. It looks like the first three have been removed from the agenda altogether, and there is no progress in view on the last two.

Under these circumstances, it is obvious that there are no grounds for extending the Black Sea Initiative, which expires on July 17.

Read in full

🔴 #LIVE: Briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria #Zakharova on topical foreign policy issues

🔗 https://twitter.com/mfa_russia/status/1676871920925515780

🔗 https://www.ruptly.tv/en/events/202307060730-live14875-russian-mfa-spokesperson-zakharova-holds-weekly-briefing

🔗 https://mid.ru/en/press_service/video

❗️Dear visitors!
📝The Russian Consulate General in Kirkenes holds consular session in Alta on July, 15, 2023.

📨To participate you need to send an e-mail to  kknrn9900@gmail.com (with your name, telephone number and type of visa). You should also attach scan copies of the necessary documents.
  📋 Please, check new insurance rules https://kirkenes.mid.ru/.../news/important_visa_information/
⏰ You can send your application till July, 7 (5 p.m.)

⚡️ Special Declaration of the Ministerial Meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement on Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Paris in 2024.

The Ministerial Meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement:

• Recalls the previous resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”, including the most recent one – 76/13, dated 2 December 2021 which was co-sponsored by 173 UN Member States, including almost all Member States of the Non-Aligned Movement,

• Recalls further the International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport adopted by UNESCO General Conference in 2015, where it is stated that every human being has a fundamental right to physical education, physical activity and sport without discrimination on the basis of ethnicity,

• Recognizes the valuable contribution of sport in promoting education, sustainable development, peace, cooperation, solidarity, fairness, social inclusion and health, and noting that sports can contribute to an atmosphere of tolerance and understanding among peoples and nations,

• Acknowledges that the Olympic Games as a platform for unity and solidarity have always been a strong messenger of peace and dialogue for the humanity,

• Stresses that sports should not be politicized and sports organizations within the Olympic Movement shall apply neutrality as reflected in the Olympic Charter,

❗️ Emphasizes that the participation of athletes from all 206 National Olympic Committees in Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games would be a strong symbol of unity of humanity in all its rich diversity,

• Looks forward with great anticipation to politically neutral Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024.

🎙 Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a question from International Life magazine about Quran burnings in Europe

❓ Question: A provocative Quran-burning incident took place recently in Stockholm. This is not the first time this has happened in Europe. What can you say about it?

💬 Maria Zakharova: I have to state that cases of Quran burning intended specifically to offend the religious feelings of Muslims have been literally stamped out in European countries.

Most recently, a dirty provocation of this kind took place on June 28, the sacred Eid al-Adha holiday, in central Stockholm, where Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi immigrant, burned the sacred book in front of a mosque in a move, according to him, to “defend the freedom of speech” and to “support democracy.” Notably, this outrageous action took place with police consent and protection.

Such actions blatantly violate fundamental human rights and are a challenge to the Muslim world and all people who care.

We are surprised to see Stockholm stand by and watch, and demonstrate its unwillingness to comply with international obligations in the sphere of protecting religious rights and freedoms.

❗️ We strongly condemn this act of vandalism, which is a manifestation of blasphemous barbarism and xenophobia that has no justification. We urge the Swedish authorities to put an end to emboldening the growing interreligious enmity and hatred.

Выступление заместителя Министра иностранных дел Российской Федерации С.А.Рябкова на Конференции государств-участников Договора об обычных вооруженных силах в Европе, 29 июня 2023 года

https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1894602/

приостановила действие Договора, оставив, в то же время, открытой дверь для восстановления жизнеспособности европейского режима контроля над обычными вооружениями. Напомню, мы выдвинули конкретные предложения на этот счет и участвовали в консультациях по «плану параллельных действий» (пока их не прервали США в свойственной им безапелляционной манере). До марта 2015 года по просьбе других государств-участников мы не уходили из Совместной консультативной группы (СКГ), даже несмотря на то, что доподлинно знали, что делегации США, а через нее и другим делегациям стран НАТО было категорически запрещено вести серьезные обсуждения дальнейшей судьбы ДОВСЕ.

Повторю, у стран Запада было более чем достаточно времени, чтобы проявить здравый смысл, но они предпочли идти по пути конфронтации с Россией, что нашло, среди прочего, отражение в стратегической концепции Североатлантического альянса. В последние годы критическая масса вызовов и угроз, порождаемых деятельностью НАТО, стала зашкаливать. Альянс продолжал увеличивать военное присутствие вблизи российских границ, резко нарастил активность военно-воздушных и военно-морских сил в непосредственной близости от нашей территории. Повысилась интенсивность ведения воздушной разведки в акваториях Балтийского и Чёрного морей. C началом проведения Российской Федерацией специальной военной операции «коллективный Запад» вступил в открытое противостояние с нашей страной, поставляя киевскому режиму колоссальные объёмы обычных вооружений, передавая ему развединформацию, участвуя в планировании ударов по российской территории. Как все это соотносится с духом и буквой ДОВСЕ, с его целями?

Недавнее присоединение к НАТО Финляндии, не являющейся государством-участником ДОВСЕ, но при этом граничащей с входящей в район применения Договора частью территории Российской Федерации, перспектива размещения в Финляндии обычных вооруженных сил третьих государств, равно как и продолжающиеся процедуры приема в альянс Швеции, также не являющейся государством-участником ДОВСЕ, существенным образом нарушают стабильный баланс обычных вооруженных сил на севере Европы. Они стали «последней каплей», сделавшей неизбежным выход Российской Федерации из Договора.

В последние годы наши западные оппоненты много рассуждают о т.н. «основанном на правилах европейском порядке безопасности». Их действия в отношении ДОВСЕ наглядно демонстрируют, что на деле под «правилами» понимаются устанавливаемые ими самими «двойные стандарты». Приведу лишь несколько примеров.

- В каких-то случаях западные участники вставали в позу поборника договорных формулировок. Например, в 1991 г. в отношении вооружений морской пехоты и береговой обороны СССР они напоминали нам, что «все» обычные вооружения и техника на суше в пределах района применения ДОВСЕ должны подпадать под договорные ограничения. А вот применительно к определению группы государств-участников они предпочли игнорировать его важнейший элемент – критерий членства в военно-политических союзах («… группа государств-участников, … которые подписали или присоединились к Брюссельскому договору 1948 года или Вашингтонскому договору 1949 года…»), просто потому что такая позиция дает им возможность обходить «групповые» ограничения ДОВСЕ.

- В 1991 году западные участники ДОВСЕ инициировали исключение из района применения территории Прибалтийского военного округа, оформив этот шаг даже не решением СКГ, а заявлением ее Председателя. Когда же мы предложили им таким же порядком вернуть эту территорию в Договор (разумеется, с согласия государств Прибалтики), то возмущению не было предела – мол, как вы можете об этом даже думать, такое возможно только в рамках адаптированного ДОВСЕ.

- Притчей во языцех стали «стамбульские обязательства». Наши оппоненты делали всё, чтобы превратить их в безразмерные. Если поначалу речь шла о выводе российских обычных вооружений и техники (и мы этот пункт выполнили полностью), то под конец они настаивали то ли на подсчете, то ли на выселении в Россию наших военных пенсионеров, живших в поселке Гудаута.

Сами же при этом палец о палец не ударили для выполнения своего ключевого «стамбульского обязательства» – скорейшей ратификации Соглашения об адаптации.

- Приняв решение о приостановлении действия ДОВСЕ, Россия весьма щепетильно отнеслась к процедурной стороне дела и прошла все этапы, эквивалентные тем, которые требуются при выходе из Договора. Но западные участники всё равно были недовольны: дескать, ДОВСЕ не предусматривает возможности приостановления. И лишь представление российской стороной развернутой аргументации с опорой на принцип общего международного права in plus stat minus (т.е. «если разрешено большее, то и меньшее также считается разрешенным» /«when the greater is allowed, the lesser is considered to be allowed as well») прекратило эту бесплодную дискуссию. Сами же наши оппоненты считали себя вправе просто прекратить выполнение своих договорных обязательств, не утруждаясь никакими процедурами. Это касается и многолетнего непредоставления ежегодной информации об обычных вооруженных силах, и совсем недавнего случая, когда несколько стран НАТО не распространили в установленный срок требуемые Договором уведомления о корректировке максимальных уровней для наличия при размещении своих обычных вооружений и техники в регионе, где их до сих пор не было. Наверное, на фоне игнорирования «групповых» ограничений это нарушение может показаться не таким уж серьезным, но оно показательно с точки зрения реального отношения стран НАТО к Договору.

Повторю, это лишь некоторые примеры, другие не привожу из соображений экономии времени. Но и упомянутые убедительно демонстрируют, кто стоит за разрушением режима контроля над обычными вооружениями в Европе.

Теперь несколько слов о последствиях выхода России из ДОВСЕ. С практической стороны мало что изменится, поскольку действие Договора уже было нами приостановлено (и это приостановление сохранится вплоть до 7 ноября). С юридической же – теперь Россия будет свободна от всех связанных с ДОВСЕ обязательств не на временной, а на постоянной основе, то есть навсегда. Хотел бы также обратить внимание на то обстоятельство, что в связи с выходом России из Договора для нее с 7 ноября с.г. утрачивают силу два вытекающих из него юридически обязывающих документа. Это т.н. Будапештское соглашение от 3 ноября 1990 г. о максимальных уровнях для наличия обычных вооружений и техники шести государств-участников Варшавского Договора, а также т.н. Фланговый Документ от 31 мая 1996 г. Первое имело целью определение уровней обычных вооружений для каждого из участников тогдашнего Варшавского Договора и механизма их изменения, а второй – временное решение проблемы фланговых ограничений, возникшей в связи с прекращением существования СССР. В этом перечне нет т.н. Ташкентского соглашения от 15 мая 1992 г. о принципах и порядке выполнения ДОВСЕ – по той простой причине, что оно не вступило в силу, хотя Россия и другие его участники в целом стремились действовать в рамках его положений.

Окончательно закрывается и долгая история с оплатой государствами-участниками расходов, связанных с деятельностью СКГ. Если раньше кто-то теоретически мог рассчитывать на то, что в случае возобновления Россией действия ДОВСЕ она оплатит все счета, выставлявшиеся ей после 11 марта 2015 года, то теперь такая вероятность исключена даже в теории. Добавлю, что Россия готова оплатить свою часть расходов, связанных с проведением нынешней Конференции, но лишь в случае выставления отдельного счета, а не включения их в очередную квартальную сводку расходов СКГ.

И в заключение несколько слов о том, есть ли будущее у европейского контроля над обычными вооружениями. Понятно, что сейчас достижение каких-либо договорённостей в этой области нереально – как с учетом общей крайне высокой конфронтационности, так и потому что договороспособность «коллективного Запада» серьезно подорвана его действиями, о которых я упоминал выше. Говорить о новом издании контроля над обычными вооружениями станет возможным лишь по завершении нынешнего штормового периода европейской истории и в случае отказа Запада от враждебной антироссийской политики.

Если и когда настанет момент сесть за стол переговоров, мир будет совершенно иным, и потребуются принципиально новые подходы. Разумеется, будем при этом руководствоваться исключительно нашими национальными интересами.

Благодарю Вас, господин Председатель, и прошу приложить текст настоящего заявления к журналу дня Конференции.

Foreign Ministry statement on Russia sending notifications to states-parties to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE)

Federal Law No. 179-FZ On Denunciation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe by the Russian Federation, adopted on May 29, 2023, took effect on June 9.

Russia sent notifications as prescribed by this treaty, also known as the CFE, to the treaty’s depositary (the Netherlands) and other states-parties via their embassies in Moscow and through delegations in the Joint Consultative Group on the CFE in Vienna.

Russia notified the states-parties of its decision to withdraw from the CFE within 150 days of the notice, or at midnight on November 7, 2023.

The notices specify that the Russian Federation considers it necessary to completely withdraw from the CFE due to the exceptional circumstances associated with the treaty that jeopardise Russia’s supreme interests. Specifically, these circumstances include:

– New countries joining NATO without joining the CFE or transferring from the eastern group of the CFE signatories to the western group, and the deployment of older NATO members’ conventional arms on the territories of the new members, resulting in multiple bypassing or exceeding the group ceilings under the CFE.

– Non-compliance by the CFE states-parties that are also members of NATO with the political commitments to accelerating ratification of the Agreement on Adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, undertaken in Istanbul on November 19, 1999, and to lowering the levels envisaged by the agreement.

– Other actions by certain CFE states-parties that run counter to the goals of the treaty, in particular, actions concerning the transfer of conventional arms.

Due to Russia’s withdrawal from the CFE, two other associated legally binding documents will cease to be in force for the Russian Federation, of which all the states-parties have been notified. The documents include the Budapest Agreement on Maximum Levels of Holdings of Conventional Arms and Equipment for the Members of the Warsaw Treaty of November 3, 1990, and the Flank Document Agreement of May 31, 1996. The former was designed to determine the levels of conventional arms for each member of the then-effective Warsaw Pact and level change mechanisms while the latter prescribed a temporary solution to the issue of flank restrictions that resulted from the dissolution of the USSR.

Upon receiving Russia’s notice, the CFE depositary is to convene a conference of the states-parties to discuss issues connected with Russia’s withdrawal from the CFE, as specified in the treaty (or within 21 days). At the conference, Russia’s representative will present our firm stance based on the Federal Law On Denunciation of the CFE Treaty and will once again publicly convey Russia’s point of view to the NATO countries and the global community, which is that the collective West, with its destructive actions, has made it impossible for us to be part of the CFE.

As a reminder, the treaty was signed in 1990 between the members of the Warsaw Treaty and the NATO countries, to establish a balance of forces between the members of these military and political unions at lowered levels, and to restrict the deployment of their conventional weapons along the contact line. However, subsequent events – dissolution of the Warsaw Treaty and the Soviet Union, new conflicts on our territory and the consequential expansion of NATO to the east – prompted the adaptation of the CFE to the new circumstances. At Russia’s insistence, the Agreement on Adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe was signed on November 19, 1999, in Istanbul, to never commence due to the destructive position of the Western countries that declined its ratification and continued bypassing the restrictions under the initial CFE by expanding the alliance. In these conditions, Russia suspended the implementation of its CFE obligations in 2007 but left the door open for reviving conventional arms control in Europe.

The Western countries have had more than enough time to show common sense – and yet, they chose confrontation with Russia, which was reflected in NATO’s new strategic concept, among other things, not to mention the entirety of their hostile actions against our country, including the pumping of weapons and military equipment to the Kiev regime.

As emphasised in Russia’s notices, a safe and stable balance of conventional arms in the north of Europe has been seriously undermined by the recent accession to NATO of Finland, a non-CFE country that borders Russian territory which is regulated by the CFE, and the prospects of deploying conventional arms of third countries in Finland, along with the ongoing accession of Sweden, also not a CFE member. These steps were the last straw that prompted the Russian Federation to finally exit the treaty.

During the ratification of the Agreement on Adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe in 2004, the State Duma issued a statement to the effect that, in the event of exceptional circumstances that may threaten the highest interests of the Russian Federation, the state will take political, diplomatic and other measures to eliminate such circumstances as stipulated by the Federal Law On International Treaties of the Russian Federation that affect the CFE regime and the Adapted CFE Treaty.

It is clear that, in today’s conditions, the CFE has definitely become a vestige of the past. Our opponents should not have any illusions about Russia returning to the CFE compliance.

Obviously, it is time to take the steps recommended by our lawmakers, as evidenced by the unanimous vote in favour of the Federal Law On Denunciation of the CFE Treaty in both houses of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry will take the necessary actions to fully comply with the law.