Russian MFA Spox Maria Zakharova:

The latest from the loonie multiverse / alternate reality: the US Embassy in Russia dug up a State Department video from two years ago, presenting it as new while most likely writing off budget funds for it.

In this video, Julie (Julianne) Smith, the US Ambassador to NATO, recounts “why NATO & Russia relations have soured.” From the creators of "NATO wanted to be friends" 🤦‍♀️

Facts are as follows 👇

The Ambassador started with trump cards: “After the Berlin Wall fell, NATO tried to extend a hand, and reach out and work with Russia.“

In real life, it was NATO that cynically disregarded the promises made in 1990 by West German Chancellor Genscher and US Secretary of State Baker not to expand the Alliance’s defence zone towards Russia, famously known as “not an inch eastward.” We have discussed this issue extensively.

Perhaps it was the desire to be buddies (NOT) 🤔 that drove the North Atlantic alliance to fiercely expand eastwards, increasing its presence and bringing its military infrastructure closer to our borders. Ultimately, there were five (!) waves of expansion, with the sixth unfolding before our very eyes.

The true nature of NATO was revealed in 1999. Just two weeks after the first wave of expansion, NATO launched an attack on Yugoslavia, blatantly violating fundamental principles of international law enshrined in the UN Charter. For 78 days, the USA & its allies ruthlessly bombed cities, including Belgrade, targeting civilian infrastructure and causing the deaths of women, children and the elderly. It was during this time that the West destroyed the foundation of European security. Do you not recall those events, Julie?

The accusation vs Russia for “what it did in Georgia in 2008” is the epitome of cynicism. Are they suggesting that it wasn’t the reckless actions of tie-chewing Saakashvili, goaded by Western powers, who launched a vicious attack, killing civilians and Russian peacekeepers? An independent commission helmed by Heidi Tagliavini of Switzerland reached an unequivocal conclusion — the Saakashvili regime committed an unprovoked act of aggression. Every student knows that. Oh and btw, US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice visited Tbilisi just before, in July of that year...

Also omitted: 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, where the Alliance announced its doors open for Ukraine & Georgia.

Julie also blurted out something about “Russia’s aggression in Ukraine in 2014.” Just recently we had the 10-year anniversary of the anti-constitutional coup in Kiev. We would advise US diplomats to jog their memory: timeline (video) & synopsis of the role played by the West. They might consider consulting the departing Victoria “F*ck the EU” Nuland on the details.

The Ambassador mentioned the lack of Russia's Mission to NATO, neglecting the fact that the work of our mission was suspended in 2021 AFTER the Alliance recalled the accreditation of 8 staff members with 0 reasoning, and prohibited Russian diplomats from visiting NATO HQ, limiting any contacts. Read 👉 MFA statement.

By the way, going back to the notion of “making friends,” President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Tucker Carlson that the issue of Russia’s accession to NATO was raised during talks with the US president. Back then we were told it was impossible at the time. Now we know why 👇

NATO leaders and member countries no longer conceal their true intentions. They openly declare that inflicting “a strategic defeat” on Russia is their primary objective. They provide the Kiev regime with intelligence & lethal weapons, effectively participating in the conflict in Ukraine that they themselves instigated.

We suggest the State Department add a laugh track voiceover to their recycled fairy tales of a video, especially in parts where NATO “extended a hand but the relationship soured.” Otherwise, too boring to watch.

On the other hand, we eagerly anticipate when C-Street produces videos about their aggression in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Afghanistan.

🎙Интервью Посла по особым поручениям МИД России Г.И.Аскальдовича МИА «Россия сегодня» (7 марта 2024 года)

❓Смогут ли проживающие за рубежом и не состоящие на консульском учёте россияне проголосовать на предстоящих выборах Президента Российской Федерации?

Г.И.Аскальдович:
💬 В соответствии с законом находящиеся за границей российские граждане, постоянно проживающие или пребывающие в загранкомандировках, а также в поездках по частным делам, могут принять участие в голосовании на предстоящих выборах Президента Российской Федерации. Постановка на консульский учёт для участия в голосовании не обязательна. <...>

❓Будут ли организованы избирательные участки по выборам Президента Российской Федерации на палестинских территориях и в других регионах, охваченных конфликтами?

Г.И.Аскальдович:
💬 При организации выборов мы учитывали внутриполитическую ситуацию, сложившуюся в отдельных странах, включая вооруженные конфликты и внутреннее гражданское противостояние. По этой причине на палестинских территориях избирательные участки не созданы и выборы там проводиться не будут.

В связи с палестино-израильским конфликтом сокращено количество избирательных участков в Израиле. В этот раз их будет только три в отличие от десяти на выборах 2018 года. В то же время после долгого перерыва мы организовали избирательный участок в Ливии, где уже прошло досрочное голосование. <...>

❓Как Вы оцениваете первые итоги проведения досрочного голосования за рубежом?

Г.И.Аскальдович:
💬 Досрочное голосование за рубежом проходит в достаточно спокойном ключе и, к счастью, без эксцессов. Такой формой голосования у нас на этот раз охвачено 51 государство. <...>

❓Применим ли формат дистанционного электронного голосования в странах, где нет российских дипломатических представительств?

Г.И.Аскальдович:
💬 Мы приветствуем современную форму голосования, которой является дистанционное электронное голосование (ДЭГ), однако на этот раз за границей эта форма волеизъявления применяться не будет. Основное препятствие – угроза в сфере кибербезопасности со стороны желающих вмешаться в наши выборы.

Читайте полностью:

🔗 https://ria.ru/20240307/askaldovich-1931755294.html

🔗https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1937404/

🎙Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria #Zakharova on Russia’s contribution to the UN World Food Programme Fund and global food security effort (excerpts from her briefing of 6 March 2024):

💬We have taken note of the increasing calls from the global minority states to prevent the expansion of agricultural cooperation and trade with our country. We regard this as another manifestation of this hybrid warfare, which now includes the trade war unleashed against Russia. Western representatives in fact have the audacity to talk about this bluntly. We hear it. We are also seeing attempts by local authorities in the West to avoid responsibility for the global food security crisis.

📈Despite the rampant #sanctions harassment by the Western countries, Russia is continuing to steadily build up agricultural production. Since 2020, our country has become a net exporter of food. According to preliminary data, Russian agricultural exports reached about $44 billion last year. We export food to more than 160 countries, primarily the developing and poorest countries, where the population is suffering from the ill-considered and illegal restrictive measures imposed by the United States, the EU and their satellites against Russian agricultural producers and the agriculture sector.

📦The Russian Federation is not only a reliable supplier of farm products to world markets, but also an active participant in multilateral humanitarian programmes. We also use channels through international organisations, including the UN World Food Programme. In 2023, we transferred $50 million to the WFP to provide assistance to people in Africa and Asia, including Yemen, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and others who need help.

In addition to food supplies, we have also funded WFP projects at the intersection of humanitarian aid and development assistance for years. WFP school meal programmes have become a tool to fight hunger, ensure healthy diets, and improve the general level of education and, consequently, make young people more competitive in the labour market. In addition, these projects contribute to alleviating poverty, reducing child morbidity and mortality, and reducing child labour. In this format, we are successfully working with the WFP in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka, Laos and Cambodia.

We are working both to expand our cooperation with the UN World Food Programme (#WFP) and to improve its quality. In recent years, we have helped to strengthen the WFP's transportation capabilities by supplying Russian KamAZ lorries as a donation in kind. Additionally, we have implemented innovative funding models. For example, the WFP project in Mozambique was based on Moscow writing off part of Maputo's public debt to Russia. Our intention is to continue collaborating with the WFP in the future.

Negative trends in global food security have been recorded for several years. According to UN statistics, the number of undernourished people in the world ranged between 691 and 783 million in 2022. Significant contributing factors include the Covid-19 pandemic, uncontrolled money printing ($38 billion), and a hasty transition to a green economy in response to adverse climate change.

In the context of the special military operation in #Ukraine, the #West is attempting to play the food card as a ploy to exploit the needs of vulnerable countries in the Global South, while doing nothing to alleviate their situation. They accuse Russia of weaponising hunger, which is highly immoral of them. At the same time, they remain silent about the detrimental effects of their own illegitimate unilateral sanctions. It is due to them that financial and logistics chains were disrupted and the insurance system started malfunctioning.

The West claims that its restrictions do not apply to Russian fertilisers and agricultural products, but in reality, they are withholding legally binding exemptions. On the contrary, they continue to impose new sanction packages (the EU has approved 13 packages of this sort since February 2022).

To date, about 18,000 items of sanctions have been imposed against Russia. Currently, the US Congress is discussing a bill with a telling name: the No Russia Agriculture Act. If enacted, it will contribute to the exclusion of Russian products from international markets.

Despite the Western restrictions, we are fulfilling our commitments regarding food and fertiliser supplies in a responsible and conscientious manner.

❓As for fertilisers, there has been no response from the US, the UK, the EU, and NATO to the Ukrainian authorities' act of sabotaging a Russian ammonia pipeline. How will this affect food security? They remain silent. It is, after all, related to fertilisers.

Russia also provides purely humanitarian shipments. At the Russia-Africa Summit in 2023, where the majority of attendees were African country representatives, President Vladimir Putin received applause when he announced that we would supply food as humanitarian assistance to several African countries.

In February 2024, the final shipment of the promised 200,000 tonnes of free wheat reached six African countries: Somalia, the Central African Republic, Burkina-Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, and Eritrea. The selection of aid recipients was based on the UN's ranking of the poorest countries.

Additionally, we are working with the WFP to implement Russia's September 2022 initiative for the free transfer of Russian mineral fertilisers that were seized in EU ports. These fertilisers are intended for the poorest African countries. In March and May 2023, two shipments of fertilisers arrived in Malawi (23,000 tonnes) and Kenya (34,000 tonnes), respectively. Early in 2024, fertilisers were delivered to Zimbabwe (23,000 tonnes) and Nigeria (34,000 tonnes). We hope that the Asian Majesty, carrying 55,000 tonnes of potassium fertiliser, which has been illegally seized in the port of Riga for over two years in violation of international law and obligations, will finally depart for Sri Lanka without further delays. Additionally, there are 96,000 tonnes of products stored at European ports, which will be distributed to other needy countries as part of the Russia-UN joint effort.

👉Next time you hear someone from the West discussing food security, ask them why these Western countries (including Latvia, which is a NATO and EU country under the direct control of the US and the UK) are withholding goods that are necessary to ensure #foodsecurity. They will likely stay silent, but we can respond for them. We will explain that they have little regard for international food security and use it as a tool in their geopolitical struggle.

🔗 https://vk.cc/cvlY6J

🥞 The #Maslenitsa week has started in Russia!

☀️ A week filled with warmth, joy, and stacks of delicious pancakes (#blini), bidding farewell to winter & welcoming spring.

❓What is the authentic recipe for Russian blini, typically cooked in a traditional Russian oven? And when it comes to enjoying pancakes, is it better to savor them with caviar or honey?

🎥Find out in an episode of the series 'Taste of Russia': https://rtd.rt.com/series/taste-of-russia-series/blini-bonanza-making-real-russian/

❓How is Maslenitsa celebrated in Russia? Read here: https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/330022-celebrate-maslenitsa-guide

⚡️ State Duma Statement to the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany regarding the participation of the Federal Republic of Germany in the Kiev regime’s crimes against civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure on the territory of the Russian Federation

📃 The deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation consider it fundamentally important, timely and necessary to address German parliamentarians – members of the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany – regarding the publication of information on the German military command’s discussion of the supply of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine and their use by Ukrainian armed formations to strike critical civilian infrastructure on the territory of Russia, including the Crimean bridge over the Kerch Strait.

The released audio recording makes it explicitly clear that the air force officers were assigned this task by one of the country’s top military and political leaders, probably Minister of Defense B. Pistorius. Thus, the course of encouraging the Kiev regime to expand the territory of the military conflict and to continue terrorizing civilians, enforced from Washington, finds support in Berlin as well.

<...>

❗️ In accordance with the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany dated September 12, 1990 <...>, the deputies of the State Duma call on the Bundestag to prevent actions that draw Germany into an armed conflict on the side of the fascist-terrorist Ukrainian regime.

The State Duma is convinced that the successful long-term experience of the Soviet-German and Russian-German settlements, the common sense of the German people and the parliamentarians who express their will, will prevent the disastrous direct armed confrontation between Germany and Russia and bring closer the beginning of a mutually beneficial political dialog for the sake of peace and well-being in Europe.

Read in full: https://cutt.ly/ew0lELKX

Interview to Dmitry Kiselev

Russian President Vladimir Putin answered questions from Dmitry Kiselev.

💬President Vladimir #Putin: We will not allow anybody to tamper with Russian #elections.

🔗Read in full his most recent interview: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73648

⚡️ Foreign Ministry statement on the second anniversary of returning the Zaporozhskaya NPP to Russian jurisdiction

💬 In March 2022, the Russian Armed Forces took the Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Power Plant under their protection during the special military operation. In late September 2022, the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions held referendums and joined the Russian Federation as new entities. On October 5, 2022, the President of the Russian Federation signed Executive Order No. 711 On Specific Legal Provisions Governing Nuclear Energy Use in the Zaporozhye Region, which cemented the Zaporozhskaya NPP’s status as a facility placed within Russia’s jurisdiction. This led to the establishment of the Zaporozhskaya NPP Operating Company to provide for the plant’s operation.

Immediately upon the plant’s reintegration into the Russian nuclear family, Kiev started threatening its safe and effective operation not only by staging relentless provocations against it and Energodar, its satellite city, but also by terrorising the plant’s staff and their families.

Given the station’s proximity to the line of contact, Russia invited experts from the IAEA Secretariat to the plant, and the first group arrived at the Zaporozhskaya NPP on September 1, 2022. Their core mission is to prevent security threats created by the Kiev regime.

Russia expresses its special gratitude to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi who, at our invitation, has visited Russia 12 times since March 2022, including four visits to the Zaporozhskaya NPP.

Russia makes every possible effort to improve the reliability of security at the plant and to reinforce its nuclear and physical safety as per the national law and its commitments under corresponding international legal instruments to which Russia is a party.

☝️On a special note, Russia emphasises that it views any resolutions and statements by officials and international organisations calling for the Zaporozhskaya NPP to be returned Ukraine, or placed under international control, as an infringement on Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In the current context, we remain committed to improving the protection and safety of the Zaporozhskaya NPP and Energodar to prevent Kiev and its curators, i.e., the collective West, from compromising them.

http://tiny.cc/7tfjxz

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks at the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund Moscow, March 13, 2024)

💬 I would like to thank all the Fund’s staff members and senior executives for their contribution to developing public diplomacy in keeping with the single foreign policy line as approved by President Vladimir Putin.

☝️ Efforts in this dimension of diplomacy have never been as relevant as they are today.

You know this and I do not need to elaborate on this point: the collective West has completely dismantled the European security framework and is obsessed with the idea of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia. Suffice to quote statements by President of France Emmanuel Macron on sending NATO troops to Ukraine along with a host of other verbal gems coming from senior European government officials. This aggressive position towards our country is part of Western policy and its efforts to hinder the objective advancement towards a more democratic system of international relations. They understand all too well that it is Western dominance in global affairs and the end of their hegemony that are at stake in Ukraine. You may remember that President Vladimir Putin spoke at length on this topic during his recent interview with Tucker Carlson, and he went on to highlight this matter when he sat down for an interview with Dmitry Kiselev today.

We can all see that the global balance of power is shifting in favour of the Global Majority. This is literally happening on our watch. New centres of growth are emerging across the Global South and East. These centres include both sovereign states and regional organisations.

They reject the colonial legacy and are committed to achieving real independence by asserting their national interests and starting to prioritise their history and historical identities, while also calling for international affairs to be governed in accord with a holistic and interconnected vision of the principles set forth in the UN Charter.

In this context, I keep referring to the sovereign equality of states. The Charter designates it as a fundamental principle of the United Nations, but since its establishment, and even before that, the West has never followed this tenet no matter what international issue it had to deal with. It would be of crucial importance if we had actually succeeded in fulfilling all the principles stipulated by this international legal instrument.

During the Games of the Future in Kazan and the World Youth Festival in Sochi, which were unique and world-spanning international events, the Global Majority demonstrated its commitment to promoting its own interests and the fact that it no longer had any appetite for silently and obediently following the Western hegemons.

The West adopted an inadequate and hysterical position towards Russia in the spirit of colonial-era practices, primarily regarding the special military operation, but this only accelerated the emergence of a multipolar world.

👉 Among the harbingers of this phenomenon is the fact that many countries have been switching to their national currencies in mutual trade, considering that the collective West in its current agony may well use its illegal sanctions truncheon against any country at any given moment.

This served as an incentive for creating inter-banking mechanisms outside the Western perimeter and the building of new international transport corridors, as well as efforts to establish alternative production and value chains and many other initiatives to enable every country with a sense of self-respect to stay on the path towards sustained economic development.

🌐 In the sphere of international affairs, we have been paying special attention to forging closer ties and cooperating with countries suffering from Western sanctions wars. This is quite a serious alliance of like-minded states, and I am certain that it will have an opportunity to weigh in on all these matters.

Multilateral diplomacy is experiencing dramatic shifts.

Regional organisations are growing in importance. Simultaneously, #BRICS, where Russia holds the presidency this year, is gaining in prestige and influence.

After the accession of Egypt, Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia, BRICS is a platform for dialogue and collaboration between the leading players in the Global Majority as well as a supporting pillar of the polycentric world order.

Amid the absolute degradation of the OSCE it is ever important, at the regional level, to create a new, equal and indivisible security architecture in Eurasia, , one that can complement and promote the process of forming the Greater Eurasian Partnership, which has been repeatedly mentioned by President of Russia Vladimir Putin and which is taking shape through the efforts of the EAEU, the SCO, ASEAN , and the CIS.

It is clear that promoting the process of forming the Greater Eurasian Partnership will also create a firm economic foundation for stronger security on our huge Eurasian continent. President Vladimir Putin mentioned this in his Address to the Federal Assembly. We initiated the practical work to build the foundations of this system in October 2023, when Russia took part in an international conference in Minsk, convened by the Belarusian CSTO chairmanship, dedicated to the processes of forming and planning a Eurasian security system. An interesting discussion took place. The work continues at various venues, including the CSTO, but not just the CSTO. We are planning to invite other multilateral regional associations to join these efforts.

Along with the strengthening of regional processes in Eurasia, we are seeing identical trends on the African continent, with its numerous sub-regional organisations in addition to the African Union. CELAC in Latin America and the Caribbean is bolstered by sub-regional associations such as ALBA, MERCOSUR, UNASUR, the Central American Integration System, where Russia has been granted observer status, and the Caribbean Community.

There are also integration processes involving the Global Majority at the global level, which are proceeding in parallel with these noticeably more pro-active regional integration processes. The participating countries are increasingly eager to independently sort out the prospects for their economic development and are unwilling to remain dependent on those who have proved their absolute intractability as supervisors and operators of the international monetary system. BRICS is a truly global association. It can stimulate an effective effort to create an equitable and just mechanism (or even mechanisms) for regulating international relations.

These are our assessments of the current situation, which are consistent with the President’s Address to the Federal Assembly, Russia’s foreign policy concept approved in 2023, as well as the major conceptual interviews that President Vladimir Putin has given over the past few weeks.

We appreciate the efforts of the Alexander Gorchakov Fund and hope that its current activities and plans for the future will contribute to the promotion of our foreign policy concept and foreign policy interests. We appreciate the work you are doing to expand ties with your partners from public non-governmental organisations in the Global South and East. We will do our best to facilitate your work, including by providing financial support. I know that you keep up this work and that many of those present are directly involved in it and are making a substantial contribution to the Fund’s effectiveness. I do appreciate that.

The proposed priorities for next year (Leonid Drachevsky will speak about them) are consistent with the objectives President Vladimir Putin set forth in the documents and remarks I have mentioned. I would just like to highlight a few of them that the ministry, as a founder, sees as the most important at this stage: progress towards a multipolar world order, a polycentric international system, building Eurasian security architecture.

The Euro-Atlantic concept has failed, as we can all see, and a new international cooperation infrastructure needs to be formed which will be invulnerable to sanctions. In this regard, I would also include the task of combating modern neocolonial practices, which was the subject of an inter-party international conference recently convened by United Russia in Moscow.

http://tiny.cc/zegjxz