⚡️ Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the statements by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk

💬 We have took note of the press release of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published on May 7 with the assessments of its head Volker Türk regarding the situation of journalists in Russia. The High Commissioner’s activity has long lacked objectivity and impartiality required by UN General Assembly Resolution 48/141, however this time the degree of his statements’ political bias is really outrageous and inappropriately arrogant.

In defiance of his mandate Volker Türk allowed himself utterly politicized, biased and lopsided interpretations of the situation in the media pluralism and free access to information in our country, and did not shy away from gross distortions, misrepresentations and unsubstantiated accusations. In his ill-concealed desire to follow in the wake of the Collective West’s anti-Russian rhetoric that international official broke out with a libel that has nothing to do with the real situation.

And at that the High Commissioner has never showed such zeal in dealing with mass evidence of oppressions against Russian and Russian-language media in the West, reprisals against undesirable reporters in the Baltic countries and Moldova, cruel crimes and terrorist acts by Kiev regime against Russian journalists, public figures and publicists.

We have yet to see a substantive response to any of our numerous appeals to Volker Türk regarding these gross violations, which just fuel our suspicions about the bias of his conduct and complete loss of basic ideas of good faith in implementing his mandate as the above UN General Assembly resolution requires.

❗️ We reject point blank the High Commissioner’s statements both in form and in substance. We insist on his strict compliance with all the requirements for an international official of such level, primarily in terms of impartiality and objectivity. We are calling on him to appropriately respond to all crimes and violations with respect to media and journalists regularly reported to him, including by the Russian side.

🎙️ 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 the 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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💬 Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

❗️ We strongly condemn this attack and wish a speedy recovery to the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico.

🇷🇺🇸🇰 We know him as a friend of Russia, who, in this dramatic and historic time, a turning point in the history of humanity, is not afraid to express his point of view, which often differs from the mainstream narrative of the "collective West”.

🎙️ Excerpts from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement at the press briefing following his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping:

📍 May 16, 2024, Beijing

🇷🇺🇨🇳 The current official visit takes place during the 75th anniversary year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our states. Our country was the first to recognize the People's Republic of China on October 2, 1949, the very next day after its proclamation. We provided extensive assistance in the early stages of development of its political system, state institutions and economy. Over the decades, our cooperation has only grown and advanced.

🤝 Our negotiations once again demonstrated that the approaches of Russia and China to many international and regional problems are either similar or coincide, and they also showed the great importance that both Moscow and Beijing place on the development and strengthening of the comprehensive Russian-Chinese partnership and strategic interaction. This partnership, undoubtedly, serves as a model for how relations between neighboring states should be built.

🌐 Both countries pursue independent and autonomous foreign policies. We work together in solidarity to create a more just and democratic multipolar world order, which should rely on the central role of the United Nations and its Security Council, international law, cultural and civilizational diversity, and a well-balanced consideration of the interests of all members of the global community.

❗️ Our countries advocate for the improvement of global economic governance, the reform and depoliticization of multilateral institutions such as the World Trade Organ-ization, the G20 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, bringing them in line with modern realities.

📖 FULL STATEMENT

🚀 16 мая в Женеве открылась выставка «Космос: дань уважения Гагарину», посвящённая 90-летнему юбилею великого советского космонавта.

👩🏻‍🎨 Семь русских художниц из числа наших соотечественников, проживающих в Германии, представили более 50 картин, вдохновлённых подвигом Юрия Алексеевича. Их творческой задачей стала попытка запечатлеть трансформацию человеческого сознания, вызванную первым полётом человека в космос, и отразить огромное влияние этого исторического события для всего человечества.

🖼️ Все желающие могут полюбоваться «космическими» картинами до 13 июня в частной галерее «TCarminе», открытой в сентябре 2022 г. швейцарским адвокатом Филиппом де Бокаром в память о своей супруге, российской художнице и искусствоведе из Санкт-Петербурга Татьяне Кармин.

⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

💬 We are closely monitoring the latest updates regarding the passengers of the third helicopter, which was carrying high-ranking Iranian officials, including President Ebrahim Raisi.

We hope they are alive, and that their lives and health are not in danger.

Russia is ready to offer the necessary assistance in the search for the missing helicopter and in investigating the causes of the accident.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s condolences to the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran

💬 We are deeply saddened by the news of the tragic death in the helicopter crash of President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and those who accompanied them.

▪️ We will always remember these outstanding political figures as genuine patriots of the Islamic Republic, who firmly upheld the interests of their country and gave their lives in selfless service to their Motherland. President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were known in Russia as real and reliable friends of our country. Their role in strengthening beneficial Russian-Iranian cooperation and trust-based partnership is invaluable.

🕯 We offer all those near and dear to the victims and the entire friendly people of Iran our sincere condolences. Our thoughts and hearts are with you in this hour of grief.

SERGEY LAVROV

🇷🇺🇮🇷 Ambassador Gennady Gatilov in his letter to H.E. Mr. Ali Bahreini, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN Office in Geneva:
 

▪️ Please accept my deepest condolences on the tragic loss of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran in a helicopter crash in Eastern Azerbaijan province.

▪️ These public officials were highly regarded in Russia for their substantial contributions to our bilateral relations and their shared commitment to fostering a just world based on mutual respect among nations. Upon receiving the terrible news, President Putin immediately ordered to assemble special rescue teams to assist in locating the crash site under deteriorating weather conditions. This action underscores our readiness to provide the best possible assistance to our Iranian friends during this time of crisis.

▪️ I kindly ask you to convey my sympathies to the families and colleagues of the victims, as well as to the people of Iran.

🇬🇧🇺🇦 Britain has allowed neo-Nazis and an actual WWII Nazi insignia inside its Parliament without a fight.

🤔 Surely, this must have been Sir Winston Churchill’s worst nightmare…

🎙 Russia's MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on the UNGA’s resolution on the Srebrenica genocide

💬 On May 23, the UNGA voted for a resolution establishing July 11 as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH). The document was adopted by a vote of 84 in favour to 19 against (Russia included), with 68 abstentions, while 21 countries did not vote.

This document is yet another irresponsible attempt by the West to rewrite history and seal the interpretation of the ethnic conflict in former Yugoslavia and related events that suits their geopolitical interests.

☝️ It is a resolution of a pronounced politicised and anti-Serb nature. <...> Worse still, the sponsors and supporters of this document in the UNGA had the audacity to declare ‘promoting interethnic reconciliation and unity of the three state-forming peoples of BiH (Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats)’ as its purpose.

We strongly believe that the move will have the reverse effect. The sponsors of the resolution and those who voted for it cannot be unaware of the difficult situation in BiH <...>. The document adopted by the General Assembly will only exacerbate the existing differences, increase the conflict potential in the Balkans, and jeopardise the Dayton Agreement which provides the basis for BiH’s statehood.

Sarajevo political representatives have been pushing for this resolution <...>, thereby grossly violating the Constitution of BiH and the Dayton Agreement, which requires a consensus decision of the Presidency of BiH. Their idea was strongly supported by representatives of NATO countries, which bear the main responsibility for the tragic events in Yugoslavia, including in Srebrenica.

We highlighted the threats to the Dayton Agreement, including those stemming from the adoption of the resolution on Srebrenica. <...> Western representatives would not to listen to us or to the Serbs.

❗️ They will be responsible for the disastrous consequences.

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🌍 Today (May 25) is African Liberation Day or #AfricaDay.

On this day in 1963, the first conference of African governments took place in Addis Ababa, paving the way to the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity, which later evolved into the African Union. This was how the first stage in the decolonisation process on the African continent reached its culminating point.

👉 Follow this link to read our feature article on Africa Day.

Long before the Europeans arrived in Africa, it was home to developed, self-sufficient and sustainable economies with their own homegrown governance models, as well as production and reproduction paradigms which were in sync with the continent’s environmental and climate imperatives.

It was during the Age of Discovery that Europeans started intensively exploiting Africa’s natural and human resources for enriching their countries, with the Portuguese and Spanish becoming the first nations to establish trade routes along Africa’s western coast.

⛓ ⛓ European powers relied on slave trade as their main method for generating maximum returns. The discovery of the New World brought about a boom for this kind of trade since European colonisers needed free labour to gain a foothold in the Americas. It started by sending slaves from Europe, but by the mid-16th century there were already slave ships heading to the New World across the Atlantic directly from Africa.

Apart from slave trade, Europeans exploited Africa’s rich natural resources. They exported its gold, ivory and other valuable goods.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, this policy of exploiting African resources by the European colonial powers, i.e., Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium, morphed into an all-out effort to subjugate the continent. This brought about and reinforced national liberation movements across the continent and resulted in African counties achieving their independence in the 1960s.

📃 The Soviet Union played a key role in pressuring the UN General Assembly to pass the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples proclaiming the need to end colonialism and discrimination in all its forms.

Our country has played an essential role in proactively assisting African nations in their struggle for independence and played an important role in helping establish these young nations. In fact, the USSR helped build 37 African economies by signing bilateral economic and technical cooperation agreements with them. Soviet military advisors and military experts worked in Angola, Ethiopia, Egypt, Mozambique and several other African countries at different times.

🇷🇺🤝🌍 Today, efforts to develop multi-pronged, comprehensive cooperation with African states constitutes a major foreign policy priority for Russia. Held in July 2023 in St Petersburg, the Second Russia-Africa Summit served as anew and major impetus for developing our relations with countries across this region in all their aspects.

❌ Not only are Western powers continuing to exploit the African nations by siphoning off their resources and helping their corporations earn hefty profits, but also seek to defend their own unsightly record there. In their effort to falsify history they have gone beyond their attempts to rewrite the fundamental causes, course and outcomes of World War II and went on to engage in a cynical, albeit tacit, campaign to sweep the colonial-era horrors under the carpet. The West is trying to pretend that it has nothing to do with the suffering many generations of Africans have had to endure, including racism, slave trade and punitive operations.

☝️ But Africa remembers it all.

#AfricaDay