✍️ Russia's President Vladimir Putin sent a message of gratitude to President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, thanking him for the warm welcome and hospitality.

✉️ I would like to express my cordial appreciation for the warm reception and hospitality accorded to me and the Russian delegation during our state visit to the People's Republic of China. This visit left me with genuinely lively and unforgettable impressions.

I am certain that our substantive talks will promote further relations of all-round partnership and strategic interaction between Moscow and Beijing.

I will be glad to continue our constructive and comradely dialogue and close joint work on current issues on the bilateral, regional and international agendas. Please remember that you are always a welcome and dear guest on the Russian soil.

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you, my dear friend, good health, wellbeing and success in your state activities.

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister - Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu (Astana, May 20, 2024)

💬 Thank you for this opportunity to hold bilateral contacts on the sidelines of the upcoming SCO Foreign Ministers Meeting. These contacts make it possible to coordinate our positions and to see how agreements reached by President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev are being implemented, and to find out what else we should do in order to obtain the most effective results that would meet the interests of both countries.

The Ppresidents maintain regular contact, and they have met two times already. They will hold at least as many contacts in the next few months during #CSTO, #SCO and other events.

Our Prime Ministers are set to meet in late May. National foreign ministries have also established close contacts, and a schedule of mutual consultations is available. This amounts to effective and useful interaction. We hope that heads of foreign policy planning departments and information and press departments will hold consultations in the near future.

🤝 We have a rich agenda that recently included cooperation to cope with emergencies caused by floods. We provide mutual support to one another.

Other achievements include the important launch of activities of a joint working group to build Russian-Kazakhstani schools in both countries. Our Presidents discussed this issue during their telephone conversation on May 18.

We continue to improve the contractual and legal framework. About ten interdepartmental documents are currently being drawn up.

📄 Today, we will sign a protocol to an intergovernmental agreement that will make it possible to open a Russian consulate general in Aktau.

Life goes on. It is important that, as I hope, our work is making the life of our citizens on either sides of the border more eventful, interesting and comfortable.

#RussiaKazakhstan

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during a meeting with President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (Astana, May 20, 2024)

💬 Thank you for setting aside the time for this meeting and the opportunity to meet with you. On May 18, you had a telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin. He conveys his warmest regards and best wishes on the occasion of your birthday. You maintain close communication.

You have already met in person twice this year (in addition to telephone conversations). Meetings are scheduled to be held as part of #SCO and #CSTO in Kazakhstan. We are also preparing for #BRICS summit in Kazan in October and hope that Astana will accept our invitation to participate in the events for the partner countries.

Our respective Prime Ministers maintain regular contacts and will soon meet in Ashgabat at #CIS Council of Heads of Government. Today, I have held talks with Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu, both one-on-one and as part of broader talks with the delegations’ participation. Our Foreign Ministries are consistently working to implement the agreements reached between you and President Putin, including the Joint Statement adopted in 2023 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Treaty of Neighbourliness and Alliance in the 21st century.

🤝 We have a Joint Action Plan for 2024-2026, which fills our relations substantively. We noted the leaders’ commitment to implementing other projects that will make the lives of our people more comfortable and our interactions easier. This is an important area as well.

We appreciate our economic and financial relations and look forward to the entire range of our ties that cover almost all areas of human activity continuing to expand steadily.

🗓 On May 20, 1942, the Red Army concluded the Kerch operation, the largest landing op on the Eastern Front.

In late December 1941, the Soviet forces liberated Kerch and Feodosia. The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command also planned to aid Sevastopol, surrounded by German and Romanian troops.

Successful ops on the Transcaucasian Front and the Black Sea Navy's efforts in Crimea forced the German command to urgently transfer troops from near Sevastopol to meet the advancing Red Army.

⚔️ Soviet soldiers and sailors’ heroism and selflessness allowed to thwart the Nazis’ plans to immediately capture Taman and advance to the Caucasus.

The Kerch landing operation showcased that the Red Army's ability to successfully carry out offensive operations in difficult conditions. The experience of the operation was generalised, analysed, and used in subsequent battles of the Great Patriotic War.

🌟 On May 12, 1944, during the Crimean offensive operation, the Red Army completely liberated Crimea from the Nazi invaders.

#Victory79

Maria Zakharova on the latest London High Court ruling in the Assange case:

It is difficult to qualify the ongoing persecution of Julian Assange as a decision in his favour.

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during a meeting with Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China Wang Yi (Astana, May 20, 2024)

💬 We are convening shortly after President of Russia Vladimir Putin’s visit to China. This marked his first foreign visit following his re-election to the presidency. The visit underscored the unique character of our strategic interaction and comprehensive partnership. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our Chinese friends and hosts for their warmth, hospitality, and the remarkable organisation of our work throughout the trip.

The Joint Statement issued by the Leaders, outlining the deepening of bilateral relations that coincides with the 75th Anniversary of our diplomatic ties, reverberated globally, including within the UN. It set forth new objectives, aiming to elevate our relations to an even more profound and multifaceted level.

🤝 Our schedule of contacts is packed. We eagerly anticipate your presence, esteemed Mr. Minister, dear friend, at the upcoming meeting of #BRICS Foreign Ministers in June in Nizhny Novgorod. Our Leaders will meet during the #SCO summit in July in Astana. Plans are underway for marking the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and the People’s Republic of China.

Today presents a good opportunity to explore how we can seamlessly capitalise on the pace set to our relations by our discussions in Beijing and Harbin, without any interruptions or hesitations. We will issue the necessary instructions to our teams accordingly.

#RussiaChina

🎙 Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the US “subcritical” experiment at the Nevada National Security Site

☢️ On May 16, the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) reported that it had carried out a “subcritical” experiment at a specialised underground laboratory on the nuclear test site in Nevada on May 14.

According to the NNSA report, the purpose of this experiment was to ensure the proper maintenance of the US nuclear arsenal. The experiment did not involve a self-sustaining chain reaction and was not a full-scale nuclear test.

According to the information provided by the NNSA, this type of experiment aligns with the Russian interpretation of a “subcritical” test and does not violate the provisions of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) or the US moratorium on nuclear testing.

☝️ The Russian Federation calls on Washington to uphold its nuclear test ban commitments, renounce its destructive policy towards the CTBT, and take immediate steps to ratify the Treaty.

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

🎙Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at the UN Security Council briefing on Western arms deliveries to Ukraine (May 20, 2024)

💬 For several weeks now, those in the West who stand for continuation of Kiev’s hostilities against Russia, have been rejoicing at the allocation of the long-awaited large military aid package from the United States to the Zelensky regime.

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The capitalization of Western military corporations has been growing at an unprecedented rate since the beginning of the conflict. The undoubted leader here is Germany's Rheinmetall, controlled by the American investment company BlackRock.

Not so long ago, Western Russophobes welcomed the transfer of long-range ATACMS missiles by the Americans, which Russian air defense systems shoot down by the dozen today.

NATO countries systematically violate their international legal obligations under the treaties to which they are parties.

☝️ The truth is that since 2014, Washington and its allies have had Ukraine as a lab guinea pig. They have set a task of growing it into something that would annoy Russia and hinder the development.

The key part of the transformation was pumping weapons into Ukraine under the guise of the Minsk Agreements and brainwashing it in a Russophobic, nationalistic and neo-Nazi spirit.

<...>

However, a genuine settlement of the Ukrainian crisis through political and diplomatic means is still possible.

❗️ It requires the West to stop arming the Banderovite regime in Kiev. Thus Ukraine should return to its neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status, get demilitarized and deNazified. And the rights of its Russian-speaking citizens and national minorities be fully upheld.

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Disappointing to see false allegations of antisemitism in Russia and bizarre historic parallels by Michael Gove.

Those who have been to our country know how wrong and offensive these claims are. The Chief Rabbi of Russia recently noted both the ‘zero tolerance’ towards antisemitism, and the authorities’ efforts to ensure that the Jewish community in Russia feels safe.

The Anti-Defamation League confirmed a decrease in antisemitism since its 2019 survey (and the overall level is lower than in many European countries). A similar assessment was also given by the OSCE in recent years.

The Cabinet Secretary’s comments betray both ignorance and a lazy habit of using Russia as a bugbear. If he wants to reverse his party’s waning electoral fortunes, he should look elsewhere.

🇷🇺🇵🇰 On May 21, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Deputy Prime Minister - Foreign Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Ishaq Dar in Astana, on the sidelines of the SCO Foreign Ministers Council Meeting.

During their conversation, the Ministers noted the positive development of #RussiaPakistan relations, as well as the high level of bilateral interaction at international platforms, including the UN and the SCO.

This collaboration is based on shared or similar approaches to various regional and international issues.

We appreciate the bilateral relations between Russia and Pakistan which develop quite actively. Our leaders met in Beijing in October 2023. Also in June 2023, your Chair of the Senate Sadiq Sanjrani visited Moscow.

Our ministry-to-ministry consultations are regular. Last year, we conducted four consultations. This is very useful. We want to continue this practice.

— FM Sergey Lavrov

🗓 On May 20-21, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took part in the Foreign Ministers Council meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member-countries.

The participants focused on the organisation’s activities in the context of preparations for the meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council meeting in Astana on July 3-4. They also discussed draft documents to be presented for the leaders’ consideration.

The participants will reflect their coordinated approaches to the SCO’s further development and current global and regional issues in the Astana Declaration.

The admission of Belarus will be an important step towards strengthening the #SCO. The Ministers endorsed the relevant draft decisions of the Heads of State Council.

They also coordinated proposals of the SCO Foreign Ministers Council on comprehensive improvement of the organisation’s activities in the context of current geopolitical realities.

They adopted draft leadership statements and conceptual documents as a foundation for promoting cooperation in energy, transport, logistics and environmental protection.

During a detailed exchange of views on key regional and international issues, the Ministers discussed the situation in the Gaza Strip and the Middle East as a whole, and, in part, settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

They paid special attention to the SCO’s efforts to facilitate stabilization in Afghanistan, considering the importance of this factor for the security of the SCO space.

🤝 FM Lavrov also had a number of bilateral meetings.

🎙 Deputy FM Sergey Ryabkov’s interview with PIR Center for Policy Studies (May 22, 2024)

Key points:

💬 The interest towards #BRICS has been steadily growing against the backdrop of large-scale geopolitical challenges and dramatic changes taking place in the world today.

• BRICS is seen as one of the pillars of a new, more equitable world order, which is designed to give all countries equal opportunities, to free the states of the Global South and Global East from the role of obedient suppliers of cheap labor and raw materials that the West imposes on them, and to consolidate the right of all nations for preserving their identity, self-determination, independent domestic and foreign policy, and protection of traditional values.

Russia and other BRICS countries fully share this stance and are in favor of an honest partnership that denies any exceptionalism.

• BRICS is an innovative format of interstate cooperation, bringing together different cultures and civilizations, countries with different economic and political systems <...>. Our common goal is a firm commitment to pursuing an independent domestic and foreign policy, defending sovereignty and our national interests.

• As part of Russia’s BRICS Chairmanship in 2024, we intend to continue developing strategic partnership on the basis of consensus and continuity, and work to enhance its role in world affairs. It's also reflected by the motto of the Russian BRICS Year “Strengthening Multilateralism for Equitable Global Development and Security”.

• The BRICS Summit in October 2024, will be the culmination of the Russian year in BRICS. We intend to continue the tradition of organizing on the sidelines meetings with developing countries. That cooperation within the BRICS framework and its mechanisms of interaction with like-minded nations will enable the voice of the Global South to sound louder and clearer in the international arena, as well as to defend our national interests and the right to choose our own path of development.

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#BRICS2024

⚡️Today the European Union, firmly on the road to self-destruction, has without exaggeration opened a new page in the history of both international monetary and financial relations and its own integration.

The EU has consciously taken the unprecedented step of stealing the sovereign assets of a foreign country. This is a clear example of what "European values" and the West-imposed "rules-based order" are all about. In this particular case, these “rules” have been extended to include a certain "legal basis" invented in the European Quarter for the fraudulent manipulation of the proceeds from the illegally frozen assets of the Bank of Russia.

In effect, the EU has demonstrated to the entire international community that it now feels entitled to steal the financial reserves entrusted to it, to refuse to honour its own commitments to protect private property and capital investment, and to disregard international legal immunities. Theft has thus officially become an instrument of Brussels' foreign policy.

❗️The consequences of this precedent will certainly be unpredictable, including for the eurozone, the economies of the member states and the investment environment. Still, the only predictable thing is that sooner or later the EU will have to return the stolen funds to our country.