#Opinion by Maria #Zakharova

💬 Zelensky announced a plan of a new counteroffensive.

The Russian Ministry of Defence recalled the results of the previous plans and counteroffensives. I won’t repeat this.

I will comment on the political background of this statement.

Zelensky’s public burps like this happen for three reasons.

First, he wants to show his Western sponsors his resolve to continue the bloodshed and his urgent need to receive new financial injections and arms supplies.

Second, he needs to regularly remind the world about himself, about Zelensky: don’t forget that I still exist.

Third, the main goal is to play up to the White House in the election race – to demonstrate the viability of Biden’s project named “Ukrainian democracy.”

What will all this lead to? Zelensky will finally exterminate the Ukrainians.

https://t.me/MariaVladimirovnaZakharova/7833

❌ MYTH: NATO was seeking a partnership with Russia, and Russia rejected it.

✅ FACT: The case was exactly the opposite.

☝️ For many years Russia has been seeking to build an equal partnership with the North Atlantic Alliance. In 2002, the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) was established, which was expected to become a versatile platform for discussing any disagreements.

There were mutually beneficial programmes, including the training mission for Afghan security forces, the Cooperative Airspace Initiative, the joint counterterrorism plan and joint peacekeeping operations. However, its own confrontational agenda towards Russia prevailed.

❗️The commitment expressed at the 2010 NRC summit in Lisbon towards establishing a "strategic partnership" between Russia and NATO was never fulfilled. While declaring the principles of openness, the West has never dared to completely dismantle the deterrence mechanisms remaining from the Cold War.

☝️ The NATO Council’s decision in April 2014 to cease practical cooperation and political engagement effectively halted any positive dialogue in Russia-NATO relations.

#DebunkingMyths

🇷🇺🇧🇾 President Vladimir Putin met in the Kremlin with President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko who arrived in Moscow on a working visit (April 11, 2024)

💬 We have never rejected a peaceful settlement of disputes. Moreover, this is what we were inclined to do. It was not Russia that started this war in 2014. Everything began with a coup d’etat in Ukraine. <…>

Now, as you know, the idea of holding some kind of conference in Switzerland is being promoted. We are not invited there. Moreover, they think that we have nothing to do there, and at the same time they say that nothing can be solved without us. Since we are not going there (it has now turned into a kind of nonsense), they say that we refuse to negotiate. We were not invited, but they say that we refuse.

It would be funny if it were not so sad. Once again, I would like to emphasise that we are in favour of talks. But not in the format of being imposed any schemes that have nothing to do with reality. <…>

we have recently seen a series of strikes on our energy facilities, and we had to respond. I would like to emphasise that in winter time, guided by humanitarian considerations, we did not launch any strikes on energy facilities. I mean, they wanted to have our social institutions, hospitals and so on left without power supply. But after a series of strikes on our energy facilities, we had to respond. <…> Above all, we proceed from the fact that in this way we directly impact the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. <…>

The opposite side – has driven itself into a corner, to a certain extent, by refusing to negotiate, expecting to defeat Russia on the battlefield, to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. Now, having understood that this is impossible and having refused to negotiate, they have found themselves in a predicament.

Our goal is not putting everyone in a tough spot. Just the opposite: we are ready for constructive efforts. But clearly, nothing detached from reality can be imposed on us.

📄 Read in full

🎙 Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question about the Swiss government’s decision to host a high-level conference on Ukraine

❓Question: On April 10, the Swiss government announced its decision to hold a high-level Ukraine peace conference in June. Will Russia participate in it?

💬 Maria Zakharova: We have repeatedly expressed our extremely negative attitude to this “conference.” Russia will not take part in it, even if we receive an invitation, which we haven’t so far.

Switzerland is trying to peddle the compromised Zelensky formula under the guise of good offices and keep the failed Copenhagen process going, in a new package this time.

☝️ Any events that ignore Russia’s position and are based on the ultimatum-like Zelensky formula’s provisions are detached from reality and have no future.

The intention voiced by the organisers of the “conference” to take common components out from other countries’ initiatives is nothing but a trick. It is well known that the Zelensky formula does not imply compromises or alternative solutions and completely ignores the proposals put forward by China and Brazil, as well as African and Arab states.

We have no confidence in Switzerland, either. It stands on the positions of Ukraine, supports the Kiev regime, imposes anti-Russian sanctions, and adopts strategies that exclude Russia from the system of supposedly existing European security. By definition and given the circumstances, Switzerland cannot act as a neutral host, let alone a mediator.

The West needs the Global South countries to take part in the “conference” only to give weight to a certain “collective ultimatum” that they are going to present to Russia.

👉 We hope our partners in Asia, Africa and Latin America will be vigilant and will not let themselves be drawn into yet another anti-Russian reckless scheme.