Russian MFA 🇷🇺

2022-11-26 15:09:44 Briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

Moscow, November 24, 2022

FM Sergey Lavrov’s schedule
Ukrainian crisis
On Russian delegation’s participation in the G20 Summit in Bali
Russian literature events
Cultural events in several Asian and African countries
Russia-UNESCO
100th birth anniversary of Mayanist scholar Yury Knorozov
Forum of EAEU Young Civil Servants
Normandie-Niemen Squadron 80th Anniversary

And more...

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2022-11-26 09:40:13 #OTD 210 years ago, on November 26, 1812, the last major battle of the Patriotic War of 1812 between the Russian army and the retreating army of Napoleon began on the Berezina River (the right tributary of the Dnieper). The Russian commanders’ plan was to cut off the enemy’s retreat.

The plan included launching a simultaneous and decisive offensive with all forces deployed on the flanks of the main Russian army in order to defeat the troops guarding Napoleon’s rear and cut off his retreat to the west. At the same time, the main Russian army group led by Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov was to pursue the Grande Armée of the Emperor of France Napoleon from the east.

By the end of the three-day battle, Napoleon realised that his artillery and supply train were beyond saving. Less than half of the 85,000-90,000 men were eventually transported to the right bank of the Berezina. Russian troops surrounded the French General Louis Partouneaux’s division (some 4,000 men) in the vicinity of Borisov and forced them to surrender. In total, according to historians, the losses of the French army reached ~50,000 men, including those who drowned in the river, died in the stampede at the crossings, froze to death and were taken prisoner.

The Battle of Berezina broke the Emperor of France. Less than two weeks after the battle ended, Napoleon abandoned his guard and fled to Paris. Only a few dozen thousands of the 500,000 strong army that invaded Russia in June 1812 managed to leave our country six months later.

It was after Berezina that the French realised the scale of their defeat in Russia. The elimination of what Napoleon once called his “grand” army shocked the people of France so deeply that the expression “C'est la Bérézina” (this is Berezina) became idiomatic in the French language to denoting a complete failure, collapse, or catastrophe. No less important were the impressions of the survivors, that radically changed how other Europeans perceived that war. Open / Comment

2022-11-25 13:50:54 On November 24, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Zambia Stanley Kasongo Kakubo, at the initiative of the Zambian side.

During their detailed conversation, the heads of foreign policy agencies discussed a number of key issues of the bilateral agenda aimed at ensuring the future sustainable development of the entire range of the traditionally friendly #RussiaZambia interstate relations, including expanding trade, and economic and investment ties.

The sides reaffirmed the readiness of Moscow and Lusaka to expand cooperation at the UN and other multilateral venues as regards regional and global issues by invariably complying with the principles of international law and the UN Charter.

#RussiaAfrica Open / Comment

2022-11-25 00:30:01 #Opinion by Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

What kind of Nazis are they?! (rephrased from the Western media mantra There are no Nazis in Ukraine)

Canada legalised physician-assisted suicides in 2016. The number of people who wish to be euthanised has been growing annually. In all probability, Canada will reach 50,000 such deaths a year – an achievement worthy of a country that took care, gave refuge to the surviving Nazi scum.

I will remind you that the Third Reich with its Aktion T4 programme (Tiergartenstraße-4) was the first state to introduce euthanasia on a mass scale. Apart from racial prejudice, the Nazis proceeded from economic considerations. It was expensive to pay for people requiring treatment. This was a tax burden. According to a document found in the Hartheim Euthanasia Centre in Nazi Germany, 70,273 people were killed under the Tiergartenstraße-4 programme by September 1, 1941. An unknown Nazi clerk noted with chilling pragmatism: “Considering that these patients could live for another 10 years, this is a saving of 885,439,800 Reichsmarks in total.”

Is the motivation of neoliberal Ottawa different from that of the Reich? Judge for yourselves.

According to a recent study by Daily Mail, an increasing number of people resort to euthanasia not because they are suffering from an incurable disease but because they are simply homeless (whose upkeep is a burden for the state) or people with diabetes. Last year, physicians approved a suicide of a young man with diabetes simply because he asked them. Later on, the commission dismissed their decision as unfounded.

Considering that the suicide rate is growing, journalists already believe that Canada is the easiest place in the world for parting with life with the help of doctors. This is how the Spectator puts it in its article “Why is Canada euthanising the poor?”: “Since last year, Canadian law, in all its majesty, has allowed both the rich as well as the poor to kill themselves if they are too poor to continue living with dignity. In fact, the ever-generous Canadian state will even pay for their deaths. What it will not do is spend money to allow them to live instead of killing themselves.”

The abhorrent Nazi interpretation of eugenics was reincarnated in neoliberalism and received an official seal of approval in Canadian law. This is what all the progressives are appealing for today.

I’d like to recall a sentence from the Hippocratic Oath: “Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course. Open / Comment

2022-11-24 20:50:00 On November 24, 1943, Leningrad pupils were awarded medals “For the Defence of Leningrad.” In all, about 15,000 teenagers received these medals. They worked and fought in the besieged city alongside adults.

After classes, pupils had to work at plants, extinguish incendiary bombs and work as paramedics in hospitals. They also tended many gardens in the city, which saved its residents from hunger in 1942-1944. Up to 3,000 senior students and young employees of plants and factories worked as health brigade members in the Red Cross.

Most of the pupils awarded with the medal “For the Defence of Leningrad” attended the 47th school. On November 24, 1943, these medals were conferred on 45 pioneers and Komsomol members who mostly distinguished themselves by working in state farms and subsidiary households. Open / Comment

2022-11-24 17:07:27 FM Sergey Lavrov’s video message to the participants in the 4th BRICS+ International Municipal Forum

Moscow, November 24, 2022

It is good to see that not only BRICS delegations but also representatives of our partners in Asia, Africa, Central and South America are taking part in the forum. We welcome their genuine interest in developing multi-dimensional cooperation with our group.

And it is not surprising. After all, the forum is based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and fair treatment.

#BRICS encapsulates synergy of cultures and civilisations representing different regions of the planet. This international framework is an example of multilateral diplomacy that matches the realities of the 21st century.

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2022-11-24 15:40:00 Ambassador Gennady Gatilov’s statement during the Special Session of the UN HRC on the situation of human rights in Iran:

We note the counterproductivity of the current special session. Such initiatives have nothing to do with concern for human rights. Their goal is to stigmatize and pressure the “undesirable” states under human rights pretexts.

The fact that Iran provides detailed information on measures to promote and protect human rights and on the implementation of international obligations in this area is persistently ignored.

However, this is of little concern to the initiators of this special session. Their main goal is to adopt another politicized resolution for the sake of rocking the domestic political situation in Iran.

We urge the States to stop interfering in Iran's domestic affairs and destabilizing the situation in the country. We recommend the authors of the initiative to focus on resolving their own human rights problems, of which there is a great number.

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2022-11-24 14:44:35 On November 23, FM Sergey Lavrov took part in a Joint Meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation’s Foreign Ministers Council, Defence Ministers Council and the Committee of Secretaries of the Security Council. The meeting was held in Yerevan under Armenia’s chairmanship.

The participants discussed:
• topical issues of the international and regional agenda,
• the military-political situation in the Organisation’s zone of responsibility,
• various aspects of foreign policy coordination, joint efforts to counter modern challenges and threats, including biological security issues,
• measures to strengthen defence ties within the CSTO.

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2022-11-24 13:04:54 Following the #CSTO summit, President of Russia Vladimir Putin had a separate meeting with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

President Putin: First, I would like to thank you for your invitation, and to congratulate you on a successful CSTO chairmanship, nearly its successful completion. Indeed, Armenia was actively engaged in this work at a very high level.

You also spoke about our bilateral relations that are certainly allied and have roots that go deep into ancient times.

As for today, indeed, our trade increased by 12 percent last year and by 67 percent in the first nine months of this year. Yes, this is partly due to the situation today, but it will certainly be a good contribution to the future, we have no doubt about that.

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#RussiaArmenia Open / Comment

2022-11-24 12:29:30 #LIVE: Briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria #Zakharova on topical foreign policy issues

https://www.ruptly.tv/en/events/202211241200-live12629-russian-mfa-spokesperson-zakharova-holds-weekly-briefing

https://mid.ru/en/press_service/video Open / Comment