⚡️ Comment by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the Kiev regime’s attempts to disrupt celebrations of the 10th Anniversary of Republic Day in the DPR and LPR (May 11, 2024).

💬 May 11 marked 10 years since the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) held a historic referendum on their future. The majority of voters in the then Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine chose self-determination, unwilling to accept the nationalist policy of the Kiev regime that had come to power through an unconstitutional armed coup d’etat. Sovereignty was approved by 96.2 percent of referendum participants in the LPR and 89.7 percent in the DPR. As a result, May 11 became Republic Day for the DPR, and May 12 for the LPR.

These referendums have always evoked impotent consternation and rage in Ukraine, whose current rulers fear the voice of the people like the plague. Therefore, the Ukrainian Banderites, aided by the United States and the US-led Western coalition, had cynically timed a series of barbaric terrorist attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure to coincide with the anniversary celebrations in the Russian Donbass republics.

• Late at night on May 10, the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired rockets at Rovenki in the LPR. According to preliminary data, the Ukrainians used a number of recently delivered US ATACMS long-range missiles that hit an oil storage facility, causing a large-scale fire. The strike damaged nearby residential houses and injured a child, among others.

• On May 11, the anniversary of the DPR, the Ukrainian neo-Nazis fired rockets from US-supplied HIMARS launchers at the city of Donetsk. A direct hit at the Paradise restaurant in the Kirov District killed three and wounded eight people, including a 12-year-old girl.

• There were also strikes in other parts of the city, with missiles exploding near the recently opened perinatal centre and a café with a parking lot where participants in the motor rally in honour of Republic Day had arranged to meet. Thankfully, none of them were harmed.

The Investigative Committee of Russia has launched an investigation into these crimes. All those implicated in and responsible for these and other terrorist attacks in Russia will face inevitable punishment.

We admire the courage and fortitude of the people of Russia's Donetsk and Lugansk republics, whose spirit could not be broken by the Ukrainian Nazis currently entrenched in Kiev.

Today, the DPR and the LPR are inalienable parts of the Russian Federation, our common homeland.

A large-scale effort to restore the war-torn economy is underway in the republics, with support from the entire nation. Much-needed programmes are being implemented to strengthen the economy and the social sphere, and improve living standards.
❗️ We are confident that the Zelensky regime will achieve nothing, no matter what it attempts in its impotent rage to prevent us from restoring historical justice. Together, we will bring back the long-awaited peace and solve the most challenging problems. Victory will be ours!

🎙️ Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answer to a question during his remarks at the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (Moscow, May 13, 2024)

❓ Question: Is the conference on Ukrainian issue convened by the West in Switzerland this June a potential threat to Russia’s foreign policy interests? What are our plans of opposing and counteracting the destructive plots of the Kiev regime and its foreign supervisors?

💬 Sergey Lavrov: The “conference” has long been discussed by all those, who is trying to defeat Russia on the battlefield, without rejecting diplomatic methods, as they say. However, their diplomatic methods (the conference in Switzerland is not an exception but just a continuation of the process in Copenhagen format) boil down to formulating an ultimatum to Russia. <…>

The other day [Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Head] Ignazio Cassis said again that it was senseless to discuss anything without Russia. Why to convene it then? <...>

There were a lot of initiatives: offered by China, South Africa, Brazil and the League of the Arab States (who came to us soon after the beginning of the special military operation). The Chinese one was most comprehensive, aimed at first considering the root causes and working on their removal. The other had an emphasis on humanitarian aspects (exchange of POWs, bodies, access for humanitarian organisations). Yet High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that they were getting ready for a conference in Geneva on the Zelensky formula and all other initiative vanished. He decided for everyone else again. <...>

❗️ Our readiness for talks is reaffirmed at the top level personally by President of Russia Vladimir Putin each time he deals with the Ukraine issue.

<...>

Our cause is just. If they want it on the battlefield then it will be so. Look how they are lamenting over a steady and extensive advance of our Armed Forces.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Details from the Kremlin on Putin's upcoming visit to China:

▪️ The leaders of Russia and China will discuss in detail the entire range of issues of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation.

▪️ Putin and Xi will thoroughly exchange views on the most pressing international and regional issues.

▪️ Following the talks, a joint statement by the heads of state is planned to be signed, as well as a number of bilateral documents.

▪️ Putin and Xi will take part in a gala evening to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of the Years of Russian-Chinese Culture.

▪️ The program includes a meeting between Putin and Premier of China’s State Council Li Qiang.

▪️ Putin will also visit Harbin, where he will take part in the opening ceremony of the eighth Russian-Chinese EXPO and the fourth Russian-Chinese Forum on Interregional Cooperation.

⚡️Let's see how easily EU officials take back what they say.
 
EU Commission Chief Spokesman Eric Mamer, 13 May 2024:

“The European Union is an organisation with philosophy about peace“. “It is Russia that wants to finalize this on the battlefield“.

 
Just to recall what has been said by High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell:

“This war will be won on the battlefield“.
9 April 2022
 
“Normally wars have been won or lost on the battlefields“.
22 April 2022
 
“Because you have to win the war and to win the peace, at the same time“.
8 February 2024
 
“We have to understand that we are in a war situation“. “In three months things will be decided in the battlefield”.
18 February 2024

❗️The EU is nothing more than an organisation with a philosophy of war.

✍️ President of Russia Vladimir Putin's interview to Xinhua News Agency ahead of his state visit to the People’s Republic of China (May 15, 2024)

Key talking points:

🇷🇺🇨🇳 #RussiaChina partnership has always relied on the principles of equality and trust, mutual respect for the sovereignty and consideration of each other's interests. A special and prominent role in the development of our relations has belonged to wise and shrewd politicians and state leaders, such as Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China.

• This unprecedented level of strategic partnership between our countries determined my choice of China as the first state to be visited after the official inauguration as the President of the Russian Federation.

• October 1 marks the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The country is approaching this significant historical date with outstanding achievements, which we welcome as old, reliable and time-tested friends. The USSR was the first to recognize the PRC on the second day of its existence.

• Russia-China ties as they are today, are free from the influence of either ideology or political trends. Their multidimensional development is an informed strategic choice based on the wide convergence of core national interests, profound mutual trust, strong public support and sincere friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

📈 Trade and economic relations between our countries are developing at a fast pace, showing strong immunity to external challenges and crises. Over the past five years, we have doubled the Russia-China turnover: it reached $227.8 billion last year, against $111 billion in 2019.

• President of China Xi Jinping and I decided to declare 2024 and 2025 cross years of culture between Russia and China, so as to implement this large‑scale project in conjunction with the celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries.

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🎙 FM Sergey Lavrov’s message to the participants in the 8th Young Diplomats Forum of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Countries (May 15, 2024)

💬 Your events have invariably focused on a meaningful agenda, while offering a packed programme and attracting prominent delegates representing the diplomatic corps, as well as the academia and the expert community. Since 2016, more than 250 young foreign ministry employees from over 40 countries have taken part in these meetings.

The ceremony to grant delegates membership in the International Association of Young Diplomats will be one of the Forum’s highlights. Its secretariat has recently opened at MGIMO University. <...>

The Foreign Ministry has been fully supportive in promoting various international youth cooperation initiatives.

🇷🇺 Russia is the largest Eurasian power, with its state forming an entire civilisation that has a long-standing track record in promoting honest and mutually respectful ties with Muslim countries. Our firm commitment to the unique cultural and civilisational identities of nations around the world, their right to preserve their traditions and history and their ability to determine their own destinies form a solid unifying foundation for our relations. We have consistently advocated for the establishment of a just, democratic multipolar world order based on the principles set forth in the UN Charter.

We have made steady progress in developing our cooperation with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in all its aspects. There are now new opportunities for working together, including on the youth track.

🤝 Moving forward, we reaffirm our commitment to working with the OIC to promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue and to defend the spiritual and moral values that are shared by all world religions. We will also continue to fight Islamophobia, anti-Christian sentiments, Russophobia and other forms of intolerance based on racial, ethnic or cultural grounds.

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