🎙 Excerpts from the interview with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for Izvestia MIC:

🔹 Today, we see the regionalisation of global development. Every region and every country would like to be able to rely on its neighbours, to see what they can do together, among themselves, without depending on the logistics, financial and other instruments which the #West still controls.

🔹 We are paying more attention to our common Eurasian continent, where we have CSTO, #EAEU, and SCO. These organisations are establishing partner relations with other organisations in that part of the world, like #ASEAN, the Arab League, and the GCC. At the same time, we are developing ties with the African Union. <...> We are doing the same in Latin America. We have many partners there.

🔹 We have already dispelled all the far-fetched aspirations that Russia can be isolated by holding the Games of the Future and the World Youth Festival.

Read in full👉 https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1941530/

#Opinion by Russian MFA Spox Maria Zakharova

💬 President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach made a telltale admission to pranksters.

This is what he said:

“Now those who support [the Russian Government] cannot take part [in the Olympic Games]. We have a special review panel at the level of the IOC which is working with an independent company, and they are monitoring the internet, media and public declarations. So, if an athlete said something somewhere, he won’t be able to take part in the Games. We also offered the Ukrainian side, and not only offered but asked them to provide us with their knowledge about behaviour of such athletes or officials. And they cannot take part [in the Games].”

Thomas Bach entered into a political, administrative and apparently criminal conspiracy with one particular side to remove strong sports rivals at international competitions.

His relations with the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine and its officials and his admission about the request to watch Russian athletes must be subjected to thorough investigation.

Such behind-the-scenes agreements based on the good old German tradition of snitching are giving a new look at the scandal fuelled by the same Germans – German “investigators” of the doping scandal which unfairly kicked many Russian athletes off the sports track.

☝️ I hope international sports journalists will not ignore this egregious situation. It seems to me it is a Watergate for the IOC as a whole and personally for Bach.

🔗 https://t.me/MFARussia/19737

⚡️ The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation strongly condemns the attempts of external interference in the preparation and organization of presidential elections in the Russian Federation, which had begun even before the elections were officially scheduled.

The interference attempts, mostly coordinated by Washington, were made in several directions, including:

adoption in October 2023 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of the resolution questioning not only the presidential elections, but also the Constitution of the Russian Federation with amendments approved during the national vote on 1 July 2020,

public statements by senior Western politicians, including the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, regarding the non-recognition of the results of the election of the president of the Russian Federation, which were made prior to the start of voting,

statements by Western politicians and foreign media based on the data obtained mainly from foreign agents included in a relevant register by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, on more than 1.5 thousand alleged election violations, of which upon scrutiny only two percent were confirmed, and which could not have any bearing on results of the elections,

attempts at creating an illegal digital platform for holding fake "alternative" elections of the president of the Russia Federation from abroad,

violation of the legislative ban on election campaigning on voting days, namely through a protest action at noon on 17 March 2024 that was orchestrated from abroad,

spreading calls for illegal actions at polling stations from abroad, including via social networks, which provoked gross violations of the legislation in a number of Russian regions, such as setting on fire ballot boxes or spilling coloring substances on voting ballots thus spoiling them,

creation by authority officials in unfriendly States of artificial obstacles to the voting of citizens of the Russian Federation abroad,

attempts to put external pressure on the election officials, including the intimidation of the electoral commission members by adding them to the unlawful sanctions lists of a number of countries,

organizing and carrying out more than 12 million cyber-attacks against the Russian Federation Central Election Commission official website, including DDoS attacks,

hampering the arrival in Russia of invited foreign (international) observers.

The Kiev regime, incited by its NATO sponsors, also took actions to disrupt the elections of the president of the Russian Federation. Ukraine's armed formations shelled polling stations in the Russian Federation border regions, actively used unmanned aerial vehicles carrying explosives that were targeted against civilian infrastructure in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation during the election period, and carried out attempts of an armed breakthrough to the territory of the Kursk and Belgorod regions, which were steadfastly rebuffed. As a result of these criminal actions, civilians, including children, were killed.

The day after the results of the election of the president of the Russian Federation President's elections were counted a bloody terrorist act was committed by foreign nationals at the Crocus City Concert Hall (Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region), which resulted in the death of more than one hundred and forty people.

Thus, it can be stated that the generally recognized principles and norms of the international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948, the Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of States and the Protection of Their Independence and Sovereignty 21 December 1965 were grossly violated.

The senators of the Russian Federation welcome the position of the international majority that refused to support the statement, initiated by the United States of America and its satellites condemning the organization of the elections of the President of the Russian Federation.

The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation calls on the United Nations, international parliamentary organizations and parliaments of foreign States to condemn the actions of the collective West that are coordinated by Washington, interfere in the preparation and organization of the elections of the president of the Russian Federation, obstruct the free expression of the will of Russian citizens, and encourage terrorism and extremism in order to destabilize the situation in Russia during the election campaign.

🔗 https://telegra.ph/Appeal-of-the-Federation-Council-of-the-Federal-Assembly-of-the-Russian-Federation-to-the-United-Nations-international-parliamen-04-03

#Antifake

❌FAKE: Russian intelligence is injuring Western diplomats with a secret acoustic weapon that causes "Havana Syndrome". This fake was disseminated by Western media.

✅FACTS: It would be nice to say that the news about the "secret acoustic weapon" is just an April Fool's joke, but unfortunately too many conspiracy theorists believe it. So many, in fact, that both Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (https://vk.cc/cvV4Tp) and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had to make statements (https://vk.cc/cvV4IQ) saying that the U.S. intelligence community had not drawn any conclusions about Russia's involvement in cases of "Havana Syndrome".

The symptoms of "Havana Syndrome" have been repeatedly analyzed by medical commissions. The main conclusion reached by experts (https://vk.cc/cvV4Uj) is that "the syndrome is caused by a unique combination of characteristics that cannot be explained by known environmental or medical conditions and may be caused by external irritants".

In March 2023, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a report (https://vk.cc/cvV4ZZ) stating that it was "highly unlikely" that Havana Syndrome was caused by the influence of a foreign adversary.

Simply put, the reason (https://vk.cc/cvV50r) for the poor health of diplomats may be factors of their immediate work - frequent climate change, constant stress and individual characteristics of a person.

However, medical findings have never been an obstacle for those who want to demonize Russia. Information about the "evil Russians" began to spread through the American channel CBS, which cited as evidence e-mails from some high-ranking representatives of the Russian Security Council. The CBS "expert" is Christo Grozev, who is recognized as a foreign agent in Russia and was previously exposed for his links to British intelligence.

🔗 https://vk.cc/cvV549

🎙 Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko's interview with RT (April 4, 2024)

Key talking points:

• The establishment of NATO resulted from the panic that gripped Western elites due to the growing authority, power and attractiveness of the Soviet Union, a country that bore all the burdens of World War II almost single-handedly, ensuring the Victory [over Nazi Germany].

• NATO is still a tool of American hegemony, a tool of subjecting Europe to American military and political interests. <...> The Americans insist that their European allies increase their military spending using the threat of pulling out of NATO to force Europeans to pay more for security.

• Сonfrontation with Russia would be political suicide in the current situation. The Russian "threat" exists only in the minds of Americans and Western Europeans, specifically those who make confrontation with Russia the basis of their foreign policy.

• The paradox that this manufactured trend of demonising Russia is necessary for the survival of NATO. NATO cannot exist without an external adversary. <...> It's obvious that NATO's role would have been reduced to zero in that case, with all the ensuing consequences for the Euro-American alliance.

• Both Sweden and Finland are rapidly increasing their military expenditures, purchasing American weaponry. <...> [It does not serve the] interests of peace and security in [Europe]. It serves American interests, and that's what matters most.

• In 1999 [NATO] bombed [Yugoslavia] for 78 days. They caused a tragedy in Iraq and the tragedy in Libya. They almost destroyed Syria and many others, like Afghanistan. That's their history. The Alliance is a source of confrontation, hostility and division.

🔗 https://www.facebook.com/share/v/XJL8cru8jE9VrTWJ/?mibextid=WC7FNe

⚡️ #EAEU mutual direct investments increased 2.2 times in 9 months of 2023

📈As per the Eurasian Economic Commission's statistics, mutual direct investments in the Eurasian Economic Union countries amounted to 169% of the annual volume of 2022 in 9 months of 2023. The inflow of mutual investments increased 2.2 times compared to the same period in 2022.

🔗 https://eec.eaeunion.org/en/news/vzaimnye-pryamye-investitsii-v-eaes-vyrosli-v-2-2-raza-za-9-mesyatsev-2023-goda/

🎙Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov at the 3rd ambassadorial roundtable discussion of settlement in #Ukraine (Moscow, 4 April 2024):

🔹Ukraine has become an outright terrorist state that has been terrorizing the people of Donbass for ten years;
🔹It is obvious Ukraine was involved in the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall;
🔹West covers up Ukraine’s human rights abuses amid conflict;
🔹West is pushing Ukraine towards the catastrophic brink.

🔗 https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1942532/?lang=en

О проведении 11-го заседания Совместной рабочей группы Россия-АСЕАН по противодействию терроризму и транснациональной преступности

🔗 https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1942615/

3 апреля в формате видео-конференции под российско-лаосским сопредседательством состоялось 11-е заседание Совместной рабочей группы Россия-АСЕАН по противодействию терроризму и транснациональной преступности. Первая после пятилетней паузы встреча Группы является важным подтверждением востребованности данного формата, который приобретает особое значение в нынешних условиях многократного усиления угроз международной системе безопасности.

В духе опубликованного ранее совместного заявления глав внешнеполитических ведомств государств-членов АСЕАН партнеры России выступили с решительным осуждением кровавого террористического акта 22 марта в «Крокус Сити Холле», выразив свою солидарность российской стороне. Участники встречи подтвердили готовность к совместной бескомпромиссной борьбе с глобальным международным терроризмом, работе по искоренению причин терроризма, пресечению его материальной и иной поддержки, а также привлечению к ответственности всех причастных к этому лиц.

В ходе мероприятия состоялся обмен мнениями по оценке региональных и глобальных угроз антитеррористической безопасности, подтвержден общий настрой на наращивание подлинно конструктивного взаимодействия между Россией и АСЕАН. Намечены планы дальнейшей практической работы на данном направлении для сохранения доказавших свою эффективность асеаноцентричных механизмов безопасности.

В предварительном плане стороны договорились о проведении очередного заседания Группы в Малайзии в 2025 г.

🗓 On April 3, the 11th Meeting of the ASEAN-Russia Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime was held online under the Co-Chairmanship of the Lao PDR 🇱🇦 and Russia 🇷🇺.

🔹️This mechanism provides the opportunity for ASEAN and Russia to discuss ways and means of combatting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, which is of particular importance in the current conditions when international security faces multiple threats.

❗️ ASEAN partners strongly condemned the bloody terrorist attack on March 22 at Crocus City Hall, expressing their solidarity with the Russian side.

🔹️ The meeting participants confirmed their readiness to work together to eradicate the root causes of terrorism and suppress its financing.

🤝 Experts from ASEAN and Russia exchanged views on regional and global threats to anti-terrorism security and confirmed readiness to build up relevant ASEAN-Russia cooperation as well as outlined further practical steps in this field.

🔹️ASEAN and Russia agreed to hold the next meeting of the Joint Working Group in Malaysia 🇲🇾 in 2025.

#RussiaASEAN #ASEANRussia

Ambassador's Comment

I read another publication by Jonathan Eyal entitled “On Nato’s 75th anniversary, members deliberate how to deter Russia” in today’s Straits Times, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the founding of NATO.

Our point of view on this event is generally known. Therefore, we will be brief.

75 years is a respectable age. But NATO definitely has nothing to be proud of. Over the 75 years of the existence of the alliance, seemingly destined to become a guarantor of peace and security, there has not been a single peaceful day, not a single calm year, not a single constructive decade...

So, in our opinion, there is nothing to be proud of or boast about. And today is no exception. At a ministerial meeting in Brussels, the old worn-out record about Russia’s threat was played, this time from the territory of Ukraine. It is not surprising that it is not easy to secure funding for another anti-Russian venture of NATO. Hence the quarrel between members of the alliance about the distribution of the financial burden, hence the lack of concrete results at the meeting in Brussels.

All this is easily explained. Outdated confrontational concepts divorced from life have no future, and even members of the alliance feel this. Therefore, there is no need to be offended by the Russian side, which openly points out to NATO the true, untenable essence of their views. The purpose of our statements is to prevent the irreparable.

📆 On April 6, 1654, exactly 370 years ago, Russia's Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich Romanov aka Alexey I, granted his royal charter to Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host Bogdan Khmelnitsky. The document secured Russia’s reunification with Left-Bank Ukraine (then – part of Little Russia aka Malorossiya).

In the late 16th and the first half of the 17th century, pressure on the Orthodox population increased from the Polish-Lithuanian gentry in the lands of Ancient Rus controlled by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

After the Union of Brest was adopted in 1596, a majority of Orthodox priests became completely subordinate to the Pope. Those who remained faithful to Orthodoxy became outcasts and were deprived of hierarchical leadership, since Metropolitan of Kiev Mikhail Rogoza also joined the Greek Catholics. The gentry pursued aggressive Polonisation and Latinisation policy, and those who had the courage to resist were deprived of titles and lands and suffered persecution.

All attempts by the Zaporozhian Cossacks to come to an agreement with the Polish king failed as the Polish nobility did not plan to tolerate a free Orthodox community in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Under the threat of losing religious and national identity, a liberation movement of the Orthodox population of the Dnieper region began to form, with prerequisites created for supporters who sought to overthrow the gentry and reunify with Russia.

In 1648, the Cossacks stepped up their liberation struggle led by Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky, who repeatedly asked Tsar Alexey I for help, urging him to take the Hetmanate under “his royal hand.”

On January 8, 1654, Pereyaslav Rada officially declared the acceptance of the Zaporozhian Cossacks into the Russian state. On April 5, Tsar Alexey I signed the royal charter, where the Russian monarch’s title “Tsar of all Russia Great and Little” was used for the first time.

👉 Read more about the Pereyaslav Agreement

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the ambassadorial roundtable discussion to settle the situation around Ukraine (Moscow, April 4, 2024)

Key talking points:

• April 14 marks the 10th anniversary of the Nazis that came to power in Ukraine declaring an “anti-terrorist operation” against the people of Donbass. They designated them as terrorists who must be destroyed.

• Throughout these years, we knew and said publicly that the accusations of terrorism against Donbass were baseless. Now it was confirmed by the UN International Court of Justice in its decision dated January 31, 2024, regarding the claim filed by Kiev and its masters against the Russian Federation.

• The International Court of Justice has effectively confirmed that Kiev's aggressive actions against Donetsk and Lugansk were initially based on lies.

• Today, Ukraine, if we return to its arguments about terrorism as justification for its actions, has clearly become a terrorist state. Over the past 10 years it has been terrorising citizens in its own country and beyond.

• The Foreign Ministry has recently issued official demands to the Ukrainian authorities, urging them to promptly cease any support for terrorist activities, extradite those responsible, and provide compensation for damages incurred.

• Alongside the appeal made through the Foreign Ministry, the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office has dispatched relevant documents to the US and several other Western countries, documents based on appeals from citizens and parliamentarians and detailing the actions we expect from them in connection with the newly discovered evidence exposing the support for the Ukrainian regime’s terrorist activities and preparations from its patrons.

• We all know that Kiev is not independent, but is following instructions from its bosses and handlers implementing their anti-Russia project.

• We honestly told the Westerners that they were pushing Ukraine towards a disaster. No one wanted to listen.

Read in full