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

🎙 Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on occasion of the 75th anniversary of NATO

💬 Maria Zakharova: Seventy-five years ago, on April 4, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., which marked the birth of the most aggressive military alliance of our time. <...>

The way the politicians of that time saw it, NATO was designed to become the key tool for establishing and maintaining the global hegemony of Washington and its allies, which it has remained to this day. <...>

According to its first Secretary General, Lord Ismay, the purpose of NATO was to “keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down,” and it has remained unchanged to this day.

For the US, NATO has remained a key tool to keep its European allies under control and a resource base for the US defence complex. <...>

After the Cold War ended <...> Washington and its allies engaged in armed “peacekeeping” in the Balkans, which ended in a treacherous aggression against Yugoslavia, and “fighting terrorism” in Afghanistan. NATO allies joined the US-led coalition in Iraq and carried out a “humanitarian” intervention in Libya.

❗️These interventions invariably led to entire countries being ruined and broken up.

For the third year in a row now, Washington and its satellites have been flooding Ukraine with mercenaries and weapons in order to inflict, as they say, a strategic defeat on Russia and to deplete our resources. They are using every means and methods available to the collective West and its Kiev puppets, up to and including the terrorist attacks, to get there. The alliance’s reckless schemes have failed, which fact pushes it towards moves that could entail tragic ramifications for the European and even global security.

The West has already had the chance to see that Russia is prepared for any scenario.

☝️ Our security is reliably protected and our defence capabilities are strong.

Read in full: http://tiny.cc/t7vnxz

🇷🇺 State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom:

The Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Power Plant has faced an unprecedented series of drone attacks posing a direct threat to the plant’s safety.

The Rosatom State Corporation urges the leadership of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Union countries to promptly address the escalating situation at the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

On April 7, 2024, the Ukrainian Armed Forces initiated an unprecedented series of attacks on the Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Power Plant.

At 11.38 am, a drone struck the vicinity of the canteen, injuring three people.

Thirty minutes later, another drone targeted the cargo port area. Subsequently, a strike at the sixth power unit of the power plant impacted its dome.

No critical damage or casualties occurred; the radiation levels at the plant and its surroundings remain unchanged and do not surpass natural background levels.

Prior to this incident, the Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted an assault on the plant’s premises on April 5. Incursions by Ukrainian Armed Forces drones were detected in the vicinity of the cargo port and the nitrogen-oxygen station.

The Rosatom State Corporation strongly condemns the unprecedented assault on the nuclear power plant facilities and its infrastructure. It urges the leadership of the IAEA, specifically Director General Rafael Grossi, and the leaders of the EU nations to promptly address the immediate threat to the safety of the Zaporozhskaya NPP. Furthermore, it calls for a categorical condemnation of the escalation of tensions surrounding the plant.

🇷🇺🇨🇳 On April 8-9, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay an official visit to China, where he will hold talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

🤝 The Foreign Ministers will discuss a wide range of issues related to bilateral cooperation, as well as interaction at the international arena with a focus on joint efforts at the #UN, #BRICS, the #SCO, the #G20, #APEC and other multilateral mechanisms and forums.

The Sides will have a thorough exchange of views on a number of pressing matters and regional issues, including the Ukrainian crisis and the situation in the Asia-Pacific region.

🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a working meeting in Beijing.

📸 Photo by Russian MFA Spox Maria Zakharova

#RussiaChina

💬 Russia’s MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

🗓 April 7 marked the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide of the Tutsi people in Rwanda. The mass murders lasted for 100 days, and the number of victims is estimated to be just over one million people. On December 23, 2003, the UN General Assembly designated April 7 as the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

It is customary to refer to the conflict between the Tutsi and the Hutu as an interethnic conflict. However, the artificial division of a once-unified people was orchestrated by Western European colonisers, specifically Germany and later Belgium, just as they did in many other regions of the world. They strove to retain their control over Rwanda by exacerbating internal divisions. Initially, Belgium backed the Tutsi monarchy, but later made concessions to the Hutus, who constituted a majority. Consequently, the people of Rwanda became completely polarised along ethnic lines, with ethnically affiliated political parties emerging, all with Belgium’s support.

In the late 1980s, disputes between the Tutsi and the Hutu became more pronounced due to economic problems. President Juvénal Habyarimana was assassinated on April 6, 1994, and his death served as a prelude to a full-scale genocide of all Tutsis in the country. Moderate Hutu politicians, as well as journalists, were among the first victims.

In the span of three months, from April until July 1994, about 1.1 million people, or up to 20 percent of Rwanda’s population, were brutally exterminated. Brussels and Paris do not like to acknowledge the strong political ties of the Hutu government with the leadership of Belgium and France. Media outlets, controlled by the Hutu government, including the Free Radio and Television of the Thousand Hills (which broadcast racist propaganda typical of the colonial West), played a detrimental role in inciting racial hatred. After several weeks of silence, the UN finally reviewed the situation in Rwanda, and long and complicated bureaucratic proceedings began, with Paris cynically claiming the right to unilaterally submit an initiative on deploying a peacekeeping contingent there.

The genocide in Rwanda stands as a stark reminder that foreign interference in the affairs of any state can rekindle simmering interethnic tensions, escalating them to unimaginable levels and on an unprecedented scale. This conflict and its tragic aftermath were the result of decisions made by inexperienced politicians and fuelled by Western colonial ambitions, which were exacerbated by the geopolitical rivalry between major Western European powers seeking to maintain their influence in Africa.

In the 21st century, the Élysée Palace officially admitted that France could have stopped the genocide together with its allies, but lacked the will to do so. Most historians, including those in the Council of Europe, agree that Paris bears a substantial share of political responsibility for the genocide. Declassified telegrams from Bernard Émié, an adviser to the French foreign minister, show that he had warned against drastic actions in Rwanda and urged the government not to arrest criminals and to use indirect channels to avoid exposure. Prior to these publications, the Fifth Republic vehemently denied its ties with the Hutu. However, now that the truth has come to light, it is no longer possible to deny these reports.

☝️ The lesson from this terrible tragedy is that we need to learn from history in order to avoid repeating past mistakes. The collective West has not changed its philosophy of segregation and the specific tools it uses to implement it.

⚡️This year marks the 75th anniversary of NATO and 25 years since NATO aggression against Yugoslavia.

In 1999, NATO launched an aggression against Yugoslavia which lasted from March through June.

💥The barbaric bombings of civilian infrastructure by the US, French, German, British air forces alone took the lives of over 3.5 thousand persons (including women and children), left ~10 thousand people wounded.

📖 The book by the Chairman of the Foundation for the Study of Democracy Maxim Grigoriev 'War Crimes of NATO in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia' contains testimonies of victims and eyewitnesses of NATO war crimes and terrorist acts against civilians, including:

▪️ Shelling of residential areas and killing civilians;
▪️ Shelling of hospitals and ambulances;
▪️ Bombing of industrial facilities to cause environmental damage;
▪️ Destruction of civilian objects;
▪️ Use of cluster and depleted uranium munitions by NATO.

👉 Read the book in full: https://democracyfund.ru/userfiles/file/Breng.pdf

⚡️ Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on US statements regarding the space agenda

💬 On April 5, US Assistant Secretary of Defence for Space Policy John Plumb addressed the Defense Writers Group on the Russian-Chinese draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects (PPWT). It will be recalled that Russia and China submitted the draft treaty to the Conference on Disarmament in February 2008. Mr Plumb dismissed this initiative as a mere “political ploy,” claiming that adherence to the deal would not be verifiable.

☝️ The US is an ardent opponent of the Russian initiatives on the prevention of an arms race in space (PARS). Its strong opposition to the above Russian-Chinese draft treaty has long been an integral part of US foreign policy. In this context, Mr Plumb’s statements are hardly surprising.

Generally, comments on PARS by US representatives, as well as Washington’s ongoing activities at the UN Security Council with regard to nuclear weapons in space, are elements of its long-standing policy to subvert multilateral efforts to maintain international peace and strengthen global security through upgrading the existing and developing new legally binding arms control instruments. Instead, the US has been promoting a set of norms of “responsible” behaviour within the framework of their concept of a “rules-based world order,” which is untenable both in technical and international legal terms.

🇷🇺 The Russian Federation is prepared for an equitable dialogue with all states, aimed at keeping outer space free of weapons of any type as one of the conditions for ensuring international peace and security. As is to be regretted, far from all countries are committed to a responsible discussion on this matter.

🇷🇺🇨🇳 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Wang Yi (Beijing, April 9, 2024)

💬 We see that thanks to the efforts of our Leaders, #RussiaChina relations relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction have reached, without any exaggeration, an unprecedented level. With President Vladimir Putin’s re-election, the continuity of the line for their comprehensive strengthening has received additional guarantees.

We noticed the high assessment that you personally gave to ties between Russia and China at a news conference in March of this year. We fully share this assessment.

Our strategic partnership is founded upon the principles of respectful, equitable, and trust-based dialogue, along with mutual support on issues related to the core interests of both countries.

As repeatedly stated by our Leaders, our cooperation has outmatched the military-political alliance of the Cold War era and is not aimed against any third country. The proximity and, in most cases, convergence of Russia and China’s foreign policy approaches to solving the key problems of the modern age are laying the foundation for enhancing strategic coordination on the global scale. Cooperation in international affairs enables us to address common tasks more efficiently both at home and abroad.

🤝 As you said, Mr Minister, we are currently focused on shaping a more just multipolar international order and on promoting inclusive and constructive cooperation formats, such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Also, we are working to consolidate the nations of the Global South to ensure greater fairness and equality in global affairs.

Read in full 👉 https://t.ly/1-iPv

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions during a joint news conference with PRC Foreign Minister Wang Yi following talks

📍 Beijing, April 9, 2024

💬 Yesterday and today, we held detailed and specific talks on a broad range of issues of interest to both sides.

• We focused on the schedule of top-level contacts, because the leaders’ diplomacy is, without any exaggeration, the central element of #RussiaChina comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction.

• We also discussed foreign ministry contacts. We have just signed in your presence yet another plan of consultations between our foreign ministries for 2024.

☝️ The issues we are addressing in the economy, trade, investment, and innovative technology are directly related to the effort to establish a fair multipolar world order free from diktat, hegemony, and neo-colonial and colonial practices, which are being used to the utmost extent by the United States and the rest of the collective West that has bowed without question to Washington’s will.

• China and Russia will continue to defend the need to rectify this situation in international economic relations and to be committed to democratising these relations and returning to the principles that were proclaimed a while ago and consist in the requirement to respect the market processes, fair competition, inviolability of property, presumption of innocence, and much more,

• Focused on aligning our strategies on the global stage. This coordination relies on largely overlapping interests and approaches to key international challenges.

🇷🇺🇨🇳 The talks took place in an atmosphere of friendship, traditional for Russian-Chinese relations, and once again demonstrated the commonality of our countries' views on major global developments and our desire to strengthen bilateral ties in the interest of peace and stability in the region and on the entire planet.

Read in full: http://tiny.cc/kqapxz

🇷🇺🇨🇳 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during a meeting with President of China Xi Jinping

📍 Beijing, April 9, 2024

💬 Sergey Lavrov: Thank you for taking the time to receive our delegation. This is yet another confirmation of how much personal attention you pay to the development of cooperation with the Russian Federation.

It is my pleasure and honour to pass best regards from President of Russia Vladimir Putin. He highly appreciated your greetings on the outcome of the presidential election in March.

<...>

President Vladimir Putin’s re-election guarantees the succession in our relations and our commitment to further progress across all areas.

🤝 Notably, it is thanks to the leaders’ diplomacy that Russia-China links have demonstrated stability and ability to adapt to any, even most challenging, conditions. Our bilateral relations are rooted in mutual support when it comes to the matters concerning the fundamental interests of the two countries.

<...>

As the People’s Republic of China is marking its 75th anniversary, we would like to express our highest praise and admiration at the success achieved under your leadership over the years and mainly over the past decade. We are sincerely delighted at these achievements as they belong to our friends.

<...>

In 1949, the Soviet Union was the first state to recognise the new China. We have become allies since then. These 75 years have shown the importance, for us and the entire world, of mutual trust, neighbourliness, friendship, equality and mutually beneficial partnership-something that, as you and President Vladimir Putin stressed, outperforms the blocs dating back to the Cold War era and does not target any third party.

I hope we will properly celebrate the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. We are ready to work on new strategic objectives set by our leaders.

Read in full: http://tiny.cc/11bpxz

⚡️ Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on yet another attack on Russian journalists by the Armed Forces of Ukraine

💬 On April 10, Ukrainian armed units shelled the film crew of Vesti Lugansk (a regional affiliate of VGTRK). They were making a TV report in the area of the city of Kremennaya in the Lugansk People’s Republic. As a result of precision fire from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime, film crew camera operator Denis Shum was wounded in a leg, while correspondent Artyom Yundas got a concussion. Moreover, the Armed Forces of Ukraine continued attacking the wounded journalists by drones.

At present, Denis Shum and Artyom Yundas are receiving required medical assistance.

👉 We qualify this incident as yet another crime by the Zelensky regime. It continues looking at domestic journalists and military correspondents as priority targets for fire and is even openly bragging about it. Ukrainian militants attack civilians – unarmed correspondents, photographers and camera operators.

Representatives of the Russian media are being hunted down with all possible means of destruction in violation of all international humanitarian norms. They are using terrorist methods of removal to implement their criminal plans with tacit approval of Ukraine’s Western curators and biased human rights structures.

▪️ Let’s recall that in the past two years, the Kiev regime cruelly murdered the following journalists: Darya Dugina (Platonova), Oleg Klokov, Vladlen Tatarsky (Maxim Fomin), Rostislav Zhuravlev and Boris Maksudov.

❗️We demand that relevant international structures resolutely denounce such actions and adopt proper response measures to the ongoing series of terrorist attacks by the Kiev clique and its agents against representatives of the domestic media.

🔗 https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1943580/