*🎙️Embassy comment on attempts to whitewash NATO's role in the ongoing European security crisis*

▪︎We took note of the hypocritical attempt by the UK Ministry of Defence to portray NATO as a guardian of peace, security, and freedom, while casting Russia as the "aggressor".

▪︎This dubious claim is contradicted by basic post-Cold War facts. Primarily, the full-scale armed aggression by NATO against Yugoslavia in 1999, followed by the unlawful secession of part of its territory, in violation of the UN Charter and other fundamental norms of international law.

▪︎NATO's key member states were extensively engaged in aggressive campaigns against Iraq and Libya, employing the alliance's infrastructure and military capabilities to serve their aims. <...>

▪︎To this set of "achievements" should be added the infamous decisions of the 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest, alleging that Ukraine and Georgia would eventually become members of NATO. <...>

▪︎The alliance's activities neither contain a positive agenda nor contribute to maintaining peace and security. A telling example is the abandonment of promises made to the leadership of the former USSR to create a space of common and indivisible security in Europe. Instead, the West chose a strategy of expanding its sphere of exclusive influence under NATO’s military-political umbrella. <...>

▪︎The leadership of the alliance and its key member states played a decisive role in igniting and sustaining the Ukrainian conflict, aimed solely at containing and inflicting a "strategic defeat" upon Russia. The unconstitutional coup d’etat in 2014 which brought into power Ukrainian nationalists with their Nazi cult of Bandera and Shukhevich; the burning of the Trade union house in Odessa; the eight-year military siege of Donbass and the blockade of Russian Crimea; the suppression of the Russian language and Orthodoxy; <...>

▪︎and, as of today, overt terrorist raids and shelling of peaceful Russian cities with NATO-supplied weapons, such as the strike on Sevastopol on Sunday – all these are links in a chain extending to Washington DC, London and Brussels.

☝️Attempts by the UK Ministry of Defence to cloak NATO's aggressive posture with "sheep’s clothing" of its own making are unconvincing. Russia has never threatened nor threatens any NATO country. On the contrary, as Western decision-makers and NATO officials continually tell us, it is NATO that has for many years been preparing for conflict with Russia.

❗In view of these circumstances our country will persevere in its efforts to assure its essential security interests on its western borders.

➡️Read in full

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during a meeting with Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Igor Sergeyenko (Minsk, June 25, 2024)

💬 We appreciate the invitation to visit the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus as part of the Russian Foreign Ministry delegation’s official visit to the Republic of Belarus.

I would like to congratulate you in person on your election to this post in March. Without a doubt, you will focus your efforts not only on promoting the interests of the Republic of Belarus, but also the interests of the Union State. With 28 union programmes under its belt, the union’s integration processes have clearly picked up momentum over the past several years.

All of these programmes rely on solid legal framework. New goals have been set. Our countries have approved 31 priority areas for 2024-2026, which contain several hundred measures to be acted upon. Importantly, this work needs foreign policy support.

Yesterday, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Belarus Sergey Aleinik and I adopted a Joint Statement of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus on the key goals of the foreign policy dimension of the union integration of Russia and Belarus. We reviewed the status of the implementation of the action plan.

On a separate note, yesterday, we signed an expanded petition to the heads of several Eurasian organisations with a proposal to join in the development of a concept of continental security, which will be open to all Eurasian countries and have these countries themselves decide on ways to ensure reliable and indivisible security without the involvement of regional forces. All Euro-Atlantic security models failed miserably in matters of ensuring equality. As a matter of fact, all of them have been put at the service of the United States and its allies.

In preparation for the second High-Level International Conference “Eurasian Security: Reality and Prospects in a Transforming World” to be held this autumn, to which I was kindly invited (I will definitely go there), we will hold consultations with our Belarusian friends and other invitees. We will do our best to bring onboard sub-regional entities such as #CSTO, #CIS, #SCO, #ASEAN, #GCC, and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia. The agenda is quite fulfilling.

🕯 I appreciate your offering condolences in connection with the heinous criminal terrorist attacks in Dagestan and Sevastopol. We made tough demarches to the United States, because there is no doubt that without at least their tacit approval, and in fact direct technological participation, the terrorist attacks in Sevastopol would not have been possible.

The reaction to these atrocities coming from Washington and the European Union reveals that they will stoop to anything, including outright terrorism, in their ephemeral attempts to inflict a “strategic defeat” on the Russian Federation in every sense of these words.

I have no doubt whatsoever that the people of Europe do not need this at all. They need to address their own issues. However, the US-led elites have united behind yet another idea (after Napoleon and Hitler) to enslave and subjugate our country.

🤝 Just like we joined hands with our Belarusian friends to respond to the invaders before, there is no doubt that the Russian army and the people, with the support of Belarus and our other allies, will achieve every goal that President Vladimir Putin has set as part of the special military operation.

⚡️ Foreign Ministry’s statement on retaliatory measures following EU restrictions against Russian media outlets

💬 In response to the May 17 decision of the EU Council, banning broadcasting by three Russian media outlets, including RIA Novosti, Izvestia MIC and Rossiyskaya Gazeta, effective from today, June 25, countermeasures are being introduced that limit access to broadcasting resources in the Russian Federation for media outlets of the EU member states and EU media operators that systemically spread false information about the special military operation.

The Russian Side has repeatedly warned at various levels that politically motivated persecution of Russian journalists and unjustified bans on Russian media outlets in the EU will not go unanswered.

This notwithstanding, Brussels and the capitals of the bloc’s countries preferred to further escalate the situation. By imposing another illegitimate ban, they forced Moscow to introduce symmetrical and proportional countermeasures. Responsibility for these developments rests solely with the EU leadership and the countries of this association that have supported this decision.

The Russian Side will revise its decision concerning the above-mentioned media operators, if restrictions against Russian media outlets are lifted.

👉 A list of media outlets of the EU member states and EU media operators, covered by retaliatory measures and restrictions limiting broadcasts and internet access on the territory of the Russian Federation.

🇷🇺🇧🇾 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during a meeting with President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko (Minsk, June 25, 2024)

💬 Thank you for your kind words about the foreign ministries of our countries. We do our best to achieve the strategic goals that you and President of Russia Vladimir Putin have set in foreign policy, and to organise our foreign political activities in a manner that provides diplomatic support for integration.

Yesterday, we signed the Joint Statement on the Main Foreign Policy Tasks of the Union Integration of Russia and Belarus. The statement directs us to always consider the interests of the Union State rather than the interests of Minsk or Moscow separately when strengthening our coordination.

All the agreements concerning the Shanghai Cooperation Organisations have been finalised. As the first act of the Summit in Astana, Belarus will be officially accepted as a full #SCO Member State. Minsk will participate in all events on par with the other members.

🌐 We can report on other matters as well. Yesterday, we held a detailed discussion about the #UN and the #OSCE. You are fortunate in that Belarus was never a member of the Council of Europe, so you did not have to withdraw.

Eurasian security are under discussion as well. Both you and Vladimir Putin have voiced your proposals.

<...>

👉 Mr Aleinik and I discussed how to promote the concept of Eurasian security and get more like-minded Parties involved. I believe this concept has good prospects.

Read in full

#RussiaBelarus #UnionState

⚡️ The Foreign Ministry’s statement on retaliatory measures in response to the 14th package of EU sanctions against Russia

🔻 The European Union continues its confrontational policy with regard to Russia. The EU is trying to bring pressure to bear on the Russian Federation by introducing unilateral restrictions. On June 24, the EU countries approved the 14th package of sanctions. These actions are illegitimate from the international legal point of view, because they are taken in circumvention of the UN Security Council. They also lack prospects and can only undermine the Global Majority’s trust in the EU.

In response to these unfriendly steps, Russia has significantly expanded the list of representatives of European institutions and EU member states, who are banned from entering the Russian Federation under Federal Law On the Procedure for Leaving the Russian Federation and Entering the Russian Federation No 114-FZ dated August 15, 1996:

• representatives of the military and law enforcement agencies and EU countries’ government and commercial organisations, as well as citizens of EU member states responsible for rendering military assistance to the Kiev regime;

• employees of European institutions and EU countries’ government bodies implicated in persecuting Russian officials for alleged “illegal arrests and kidnappings from Ukrainian territories,” involved in organising a “special tribunal” for Russian leaders, officials who advocate confiscating Russian state assets or using revenues from them in the interests of the Kiev regime, officials responsible for introducing sanctions against Russia and trying to undermine its relations with other countries;

• civil activists and representatives of the scientific community notorious for their rhetoric.

The Russian stop-list also includes representatives of the Council of Europe, members of the legislative assemblies of the EU countries and their national delegations to PACE, who systematically coin aggressive statements targeting the Russian Federation.

☝️ Russia reaffirms that any unfriendly steps from the Western countries will not be left without a retaliation.

🇷🇺🇹🇷📞 President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin spoke over the phone with President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

During telephone conversation President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attack in Daghestan. He expressed solidarity with the Russian people, conveyed sincere condolences to the victims’ families and wished a speedy recovery to all the injured.

Vladimir Putin thanked his counterpart for his condolences and support. The Leaders agreed to continue close coordination in the fight against terrorism.

They also agreed to maintain further personal contacts, including at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (#SCO) Summit in Astana on July 3–4.

#RussiaTürkiye

*🎙️Комментарий Посольства относительно развития ситуации вокруг Дж.Ассанжа*

▪︎Рассматриваем состоявшееся 24 июня в Лондоне освобождение Дж.Ассанжа из-под стражи как устранение одной из несправедливостей, объектом которых стал основатель «Викиликс». Надеемся, что это позволит журналисту восстановить серьезно пошатнувшееся в британской тюрьме здоровье и вернуться к полноценной жизни.

▪︎Вместе с тем очевидно, что вчерашнее событие – результат договоренностей Дж.Ассанжа и американской стороны, и еще предстоит увидеть, выполнит ли Вашингтон свою часть сделки. В любом случае заслуг британского правосудия в этом нет. Здешние власти сначала постановили лишить журналиста свободы и экстрадировать, а потом упустили возможность принять принципиальное решение об отказе от этой несправедливой и нелегитимной линии.

▪︎Все эти годы они действовали в интересах США и делали за них «грязную работу» по изоляции Дж.Ассанжа в рамках коллективного преследования, которое попирало основополагающие принципы свободы слова и прав человека. Теперь попросту отреагировали на отмашку из-за океана.

☝️На совести британского правительства и судебной системы навсегда останутся пять с лишним лет, которые основатель «Викиликс» провел в тяжелейших условиях одиночного заключения тюрьмы строгого режима, скорее предусмотренных для террористов, и те последствия, которые это имело для него лично и его семьи, а также для мировой журналистики и независимых СМИ в целом.

The Mirror should perform a minimal check of its sources before going to print.

@_MariaZakharova is a fake (fan) account and, consequently, the whole article is bogus

@DailyMirror

🇷🇺🇺🇿📞 In a telephone conversation with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed deep condolences over the deaths of civilians and law enforcement officers in the terrorist attacks in Daghestan.

The Presidents discussed continued expansion of mutually beneficial Russia-Uzbekistan cooperation in the context of implementing the agreements reached following the President of Russia’s recent state visit to Tashkent.

#RussiaUzbekistan