Good afternoon,
Dear ladies and gentlemen,
Your Excellencies,
We communicate quite regularly in this format on a topic that is now being “pushed” to the forefront of world politics. However, it doesn’t work out very well. There are many other crises, such as the Ukrainian one, generated by the neocolonial policies of the United States and its satellites. Therefore, attention is “distracted” from Ukraine. I believe that our tradition of gathering in this format and discussing the current state of affairs on the Ukrainian problem deserves every possible continuation and support.
We attach special importance to this format, topic, discussions, your questions, and the opportunity to answer them, given that the Ukrainian crisis, by and large, is a test for the emerging multipolar world order, for the World majority, who are increasingly aware of the futility of relying solely on the mechanisms of international life created by the “collective West” and which they mercilessly They are exploited for the sole purpose of continuing the neocolonial “robbery” and living at someone else’s expense.
We see how the United States and other Western countries openly, without hesitation, tell or describe what they see in Ukraine. They see it as one of the instruments of Russia’s deterrence. Recently, former NATO Secretary General A. Fogh Rasmussen, who works as a consultant or adviser to the team of V.A. Zelensky, said that the West considers Ukraine as a “defensive rampart” in front of Russia. The mentality is that everything related to Ukraine must be used to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia. This was the case (I have already mentioned it) during the Napoleonic Wars, when the whole of Europe was united under the banners of Napoleon to attack our country. This was also the case during World War II, when A. Hitler subordinated almost all European countries to his goal of attacking the Soviet Union. You know how it ended. The mentality remained the same.
Today, the United States has united 54 countries into a “camp” pumping Ukraine with weapons and supplying various military specialists and experts to this country. They help to aim long-range weapons at targets. All this is done only so that Russia does not win. They say bluntly that if Russia wins and defends its interests in this war, then the Baltic States, Sweden, and Finland will be next. The President of the United States, J.Biden said that. The absurdity of such statements is clear to everyone, to anyone who understands the history and goals that we openly, without hiding, announced regarding the special military operation in Ukraine.
We are eliminating historical injustice and attempts not just to rewrite the history of the peoples of our country, but to forget it forever and turn the modern territories where Russians and other peoples of Russia have lived for centuries into a springboard that NATO, led by the United States, would use to threaten the security of the Russian Federation. I repeat, nothing changes. Napoleon, A. Hitler and now the United States have found a “form” of an attack on Russia.
In 1942, a Nazi criminal, later sentenced by the Nuremberg Tribunal, Reich Commissioner of the Third Reich E.Koch wrote the following: “Ukraine is only an object of exploitation for us, it must pay for the war, and the population should be used to a certain extent as a second-rate people in solving military tasks, even if it needs to be caught with a lasso.” Does it remind you of anything? It is with the help of a lasso that figuratively, and literally, Ukrainian men of any age are now being caught in order to send them as cannon fodder to the front for the sole purpose, designated by Reich Commissioner E. Koch – “the population should be used as second-rate people.”
At the last meeting, we already discussed that all this did not happen by accident, not in one day. This has been prepared for many years. By and large, since 2003, when the West, led by the United States, began to directly interfere in the political life of Ukraine. When presidential candidate Viktor F. Yanukovych, who advocated the development of relations with the Russian Federation, won the next election, the West forced the Constitutional Court of that country to make an unconstitutional decision to hold the third round. And during it, with the help of forgeries and underhand games, in which the West has become adept, he did everything so that the pro-Western candidate V.A. Yushchenko would eventually become president. It started a long time ago.
In 2013, the European Union categorically refused to find any compromise solutions in connection with Ukraine’s desire to sign an Association Agreement with the EU and take into account that Ukraine has obligations to the CIS, including in the context of a free trade area. It would seem that this is a natural, completely pragmatic thing. Ukraine wants free trade with Europe. It is necessary to bring this into line, because Russia did not have a free regime in trade with Europe. We had serious protection for many sectors of our economy. Westerners categorically refused to listen. Instead of humanly, in an adult, decent way (I would say so) looking for an agreement reflecting the interests of both the Ukrainian and Russian economic mechanisms of the EU, they “raised” the Maidan. After that, an unconstitutional coup took place. You know what happened next. People in the east of Ukraine (especially in Crimea) who did not accept it were called terrorists. A war has begun against his own people. The east of Ukraine, which refused to recognize the coup, was shelled with heavy weapons and used combat aircraft against cities. The episodes of that period, including the burning alive of almost 50 people in Odessa, in the House of Trade Unions, on May 2, 2014, are still horrifying. No one is going to investigate them.
Then Russia spoke out about the unacceptability of actions taken by the West, including in violation of The Minsk agreements, designed to stop this bloody war unleashed by the putschists against their own people. The Minsk agreements were approved by the UN Security Council and have been grossly violated every year since 2015, and in late 2021 – early 2022, the West began to supply Kiev with ammunition, anti-aircraft missile systems, and other heavy weapons, which were increasingly used against residents of Donbass. It was the last straw that overflowed the cup of patience.
For many years, Russia and President Vladimir Putin have warned against violating the promise of non-expansion of NATO to the East, warned that attempts to draw Ukraine into the alliance would end tragically, that it was necessary to develop common security guarantees that would take into account the interests of both Ukraine, Russia, and European countries, and would ensure the security of this country without its inclusion in the The North Atlantic Bloc.
Everything was ignored. Including when in December 2021 We have officially submitted the relevant draft treaties to the United States and NATO on paper. All of this was rejected. As I have already said, the pumping of weapons by the Kiev regime continued, which repeatedly intensified the shelling of Donbass in late January-early February 2022. The Minsk agreements. It was then that the final decision on a special military operation was made. It will be completed.
I am convinced that, working in Moscow, you are very carefully monitoring the assessments that the Russian leadership expresses in connection with what is happening in Ukraine and around it.
Many problems are caused by the actions of the Nazi regime, its henchmen and those who patronize it. There are enough confirmed facts that indicate the presence of not only mercenaries allegedly voluntarily fighting in Ukraine against the Russian army. Recently, dozens of French mercenaries were targeted in Ukraine. But there are also instructors officially serving in the armed forces of Western countries. It’s impossible to hide it. As well as the fact that for at least more than ten years, several floors of the Security Service of Ukraine have been entirely occupied by employees of the special services of the United States and Britain. These are well-known facts.
Another aspect that the West does not really want to notice is the “spread” of weapons supplied to Ukraine through various hot spots. It is used there, including by extremists and terrorists.
If we talk about how the “scale of priorities” of the West is being built, including from the point of view of its claims to maintain world leadership (as they call it: the United States is an indispensable power), as well as from the point of view of its attempts by hook or by crook to artificially maintain its dominant position in a world where the balance of power is already cardinal If it changes in favor of the countries of the Global South and East, in favor of (as we now say) the World majority, then there are good statistics on what priorities the West has. It is important to remember this in situations where the West is “courting” its partners on different continents, emphasizing that only it can really lead the country concerned on the main path of “happy prosperity”.
These are the statistics. Over these less than two years, the West has already allocated more than $ 200 billion to Ukraine for military purposes and to maintain the budget of this completely bankrupt country. For comparison. The European Union has provided less than 80 billion euros for socio-economic support to the states of the Global South and East, but for seven years. There is a difference. At the same time, there are 29.1 billion euros to Africa, 8.5 billion euros to the Asia-Pacific region, and 3.4 billion euros to Latin America. That is, we have provided for a little more than 10 billion euros per year for everyone. Compare that to $200 billion in less than two years.
The USA is the main donor, followed by Germany, Britain, Denmark, Poland, Norway, the Netherlands, and Sweden. In general, the figures that are being “buried” in Ukraine really speak volumes. It is immediately clear how important it is for the West to prevent the disruption of its Ukraine project. They already understand that the breakdown has begun. But, nevertheless, they can’t stop. Not only for reasons of prestige, which they believe they have put on the line and cannot lose. But also from the point of view of economic benefits.
On December 7, 2023, Secretary of State E. Blinken stated literally the following: “Support for Ukraine is a profitable investment in its own (i.e. American) economy, since 90% of the funds allocated to Kiev were spent inside the United States and went to the production of weapons. Thanks to this, new jobs have appeared in the country. Therefore, it is necessary to continue this course.” The position of the American military-industrial complex in Europe has sharply strengthened. More than 60% of the weapons purchased by the EU countries are American-made.
Washington is forcing the EU countries to give almost everything they have to Ukraine for nothing. The arsenals of the countries that have done so are replenished by supplying American weapons at full price.
If we take these actions from the point of view of international law and even from the point of view of EU law, interesting conclusions are obtained. There is an international arms Trade Treaty. There is a common position of the European Union, which establishes rules for controlling the export of military technologies and equipment. One of the key principles of both documents is to prevent the transfer of weapons and ammunition if there is reliable information that this military property will be used by the recipient to commit acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, serious violations of the Geneva Conventions, attacks on civilian targets and other war crimes.
There is plenty of evidence of such crimes on the part of the Nazi regime in Kiev: attacks on civilian targets, the deployment of military units, heavy weapons, air defense in residential areas, which is strictly prohibited. I am sure that you have seen the terrible footage of prisoners of war with their hands, feet and eyes tied behind their backs being shot in the head. These shots were not discovered by journalists, but they were filmed by the “beasts” themselves in Nazi uniforms with appropriate chevrons, calling themselves “servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” They shot the footage themselves and posted it online. No one in the West has even lifted a finger or even opened their mouth to even condemn this, let alone investigate. There are plenty of facts of violations of both the International Arms Trade Treaty and the positions of the European Union itself. Nevertheless, the countries of Europe, actively submitting primarily to the initiative actions of the Anglo-Saxons and the Balts and Poles supporting them, force everyone else to follow this criminal course.
The above-mentioned documents explicitly prohibit the issuance of licenses for the export of weapons if they contribute to the emergence or exacerbation of armed conflicts. For the EU countries, according to their own decisions, it is impossible to supply weapons to the zone where “hot” hostilities are taking place. These commitments were also made in the OSCE. The West ignores them, and by and large “spat” on them.
The mentioned facts of gross violations of all norms of international humanitarian law are well known to everyone. The recent missile strikes on December 30, 2023 by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Belgorod are frankly, intentionally, purposefully targeting residential areas. January 21 this year – at the farmers’ market and nearby shops in Donetsk. More than 50 people became victims of these two terrorist attacks alone, and more than 130 were injured.
On January 24 of this year, from Western weapons (President Vladimir Putin said that we are now finding out whose production these weapons were) An IL-76 carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war for exchange was shot down. 74 people were killed, including prisoners of war, the crew and Russian servicemen accompanying this flight. Do you remember how the Ukrainian leadership reacted to this news? First, “Hooray, patriots!” In the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and government structures, solemn records were posted online that Ukraine had once again defeated the Russian aggressors. And as soon as it became known that the plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian servicemen from captivity to return to their homeland, the tone immediately changed. Everyone began to say with one voice that this was a “Russian” provocation. V.A. Zelensky, who they call the president, demanded an international investigation. Where is it now? We are conducting our own investigation, but we do not close our actions from those who want to find out the truth. I repeat once again: V.A. Zelensky called for an international investigation. Where are his “masters”? Did they respond to this call in any way? No. Do you know why? Because they don’t like international investigations at all.
They don’t like them because of the terrorist attacks against the Nord Stream gas pipelines. It has been a year and a half since this terrorist attack took place. Everyone has understood everything for a long time: who blew it up and why. Europe, European companies are moaning that energy prices there are at least four times higher than in the United States. It is clear to everyone who benefited from this terrorist act. And American liquefied natural gas is widely “going” to the European continent, forcing European countries to pay much more than they paid for reliable and cleaner Russian pipe gas.
The “owners” of V.A.Zelensky do not want to investigate a number of other “high-profile” cases used to increase sanctions pressure on us under the slogan “high-profile”. I mean things that are not directly related to Ukraine. We still cannot receive a single response to more than sixty of our official appeals to London (in accordance with international conventions) with a request to show at least one fact that would prove that Moscow is involved in the poisoning of Russian citizens Skripals in Salisbury, as they stated.
We still cannot receive a “paper” from the German government with the analysis that was made to A.A.Navalny after it was suspected that he had been poisoned. We are not shown these tests. They say that if they show them to us, we will know what “knowledge in the field of chemical weapons” the Bundeswehr has. Can you imagine? In fact, this is an admission that the Germans are engaged in activities prohibited by the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction. The Germans passed this data (as they tell us) to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. We applied there. They told us that Germany, when it transmitted the data to the OPCW, forbade showing it to Russia. This is the attitude of the Western “masters” of the Kiev regime towards “international investigations”, to the facts and the truth, which they hide with all their might, fearing that it will come out.
I am not surprised that there is a deathly silence in response to V.A. Zelensky’s call to conduct an international investigation into the terrorist act against the Il-76 aircraft on January 24 this year.
Weapons are spreading all over the world. The Kiev regime is “famous” for doing business on anything, including death. Weapons supplied by the West to the Ukrainian regime were found not only in conflict zones in the Middle East, but illegal “shipments” were also recorded in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Weapons transferred to Ukraine have been identified in the Gaza Strip.
The West is creating many platforms in order to promote its line not on the Ukrainian crisis, but against Russia. He uses the good manners of many countries of the Global South, which sometimes find it inconvenient to refuse an invitation to a particular conference. One of these platforms created by the EU is the “Security and Defense Partnership Forum
“Schumann”, which was first held in Brussels in March 2023. The European Union intends to continue using this format for anti-Russian purposes, and to organize joint events under this “roof” with the participation of the states of the Global South and East. On February 2, this year, the EU Forum on Cooperation with the Indo-Pacific Region and the EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting will be held in Brussels.
I have no doubt that proposals to “sell weapons” will be actively present during these discussions. In this regard, I would like to remind you that in addition to the international documents I have quoted prohibiting the supply of weapons to conflict zones, crisis points where crimes against humanity and international humanitarian law are committed, there is also a purely commercial aspect. Weapons, when they are supplied legally, transparently, openly, on the basis of documents, have an end-user certificate. According to them, the recipient of the weapon does not have the right to resell it, redirect it anywhere without the consent of the supplier country. Over the past year and a half, several cases of this kind have been noted. We are entering into contacts with the relevant countries, which the West is persuading to “quickly transfer to Ukraine”, without telling Russia anything, as a supplier of a particular batch of weapons. We will continue to ensure that these international obligations, like any other, are respected.
In addition to the Shuman Security and Defense Partnership Forum I mentioned, there is also the EU Forum for Cooperation with the Indo-Pacific Region, as well as EU-ASEAN ministerial meetings. They will, of course, be used to “push through” the solutions that the West needs in order (as they believe) to prevent the defeat of Ukraine. In fact, they are necessary for the West to prolong the agony of the Nazi regime, which they themselves brought to power in Kiev, continue to support in violation of international law and against the interests of the Ukrainian people.
The main format promoted by the West, which is “dragged into” by persuasion, compliments, threats, and ultimatums, is the “Copenhagen format”, conceived in order to “hammer into the heads” of all mankind the lack of alternative to the “formula of peace” by V.A.Zelensky. I am sure that this “formula” is well known in your countries. The West is maniacally “courting” all the capitals of the World’s majority, trying to attract as many countries as possible under this “umbrella”. Another meeting was held in Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, following which it was proudly announced that “support is growing.” They say 84 countries and organizations have already participated. All the countries present here, when your representatives participated in various meetings of the Copenhagen format, then share their impressions with us.
They say that this format and, most importantly, the absolute obsession, the obsession with the lack of alternative to the “formula of V.A.Zelensky” is the way to nowhere. The requirements contained in this document that “Russia must capitulate”, “repent”, “go to the tribunal”, “pay everyone for something”, “limit itself through international obligations in the types of weapons” that it has the right to have, “must agree to some kind of buffer zone on their territory,” it’s all nonsense.
At the same time, some of our colleagues say that there are sections on food, energy, physical and nuclear safety. The West is trying to tell them that, they say, you don’t like these aggressive ultimatums, they say, take something neutral and be the “curator” of the section on food security. But even these “innocent” sections begin with the fact that food security has worsened “because of Russia’s aggression” against Ukraine. And energy security is in a crisis situation due to the fact that Ukraine has been “subjected to aggression” by Russia. All our colleagues who tell us about these “gatherings”, including from your countries (but not only), say that they necessarily emphasize when they are invited there that it is impossible to discuss the outcome of this conflict without Russia. If it’s impossible, then why go there?
I’ll tell you a story. This has already been announced. Last week I went to New York for a meeting of the UN Security Council, primarily on Palestine, which showed the double standards of the “collective West.” He does not have any justification for his actions on the one hand on Ukraine, on the other hand on Middle Eastern issues. A meeting on the Ukrainian crisis was also held there. I had many meetings on the sidelines of these events at the UN headquarters. One of them was with the Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation, I. Kassis, at his request. He said that Switzerland would like to help find agreements, that they are a traditionally neutral country hosting the European headquarters of the United Nations, since the Cold War numerous negotiations have been held in Switzerland, and it has always been possible to find compromises somehow. He proudly asked if we had noticed that when they held the “Copenhagen format” on Ukraine in Davos, then at a press conference he said that a solution should be sought with the participation of Russia, and that it was pointless without Moscow. He told me this, drawing attention to this fact. I asked him, if he understands this, then why are they holding all these “events”? There is no answer. It is a fact that this is a propaganda move to which the West attaches great importance.
Westerners will again recruit by hook or by crook as many participants as possible to hold either another meeting or some kind of “peace summit”. At this “world summit”, to approve the “formula of V.A. Zelensky” and say that Russia must fulfill this “opinion of the world community”. The fact that this is a path to nowhere, I think, does not need to be explained. It is also funnier how they relate to the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, which are “invited” there to these “gatherings” in support of V.A.Zelensky’s “formula for peace”. Please note that the absolutely categorical thesis is “there is no alternative to this formula.” It is impossible to even discuss anything else.
Let me remind you that there was an initiative of our friends from China, which “looks at the root.” One of its key points is the need to eliminate the well-known causes of the current crisis. Both the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and our other representatives have been talking in great detail about how for many years (almost ten years) these reasons were created by the West.
There is a proposal from our friends from South Africa. On the sidelines of the Russia–Africa summit in July 2023, a meeting of the Contact Group of Africans, consisting of seven representatives, with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin took place in St. Petersburg. As a result, a communique was adopted on the humanitarian aspects of the current situation, including the exchange of prisoners.
There is an initiative by the President of Brazil, L.Lula, who promoted it, including in contacts with the President of the Russian Federation, V.V. Putin.
All these countries are invited to the Copenhagen format. They are told that, they say, there is only the “V.A. Zelensky formula” and they are needed not to promote any of their ideas (whether Chinese, Brazilian, Indian, South African), but only to create “extras”. I’m talking about this frankly. I think this is cynical and disrespectful towards those who are trying to “invite” to these events. When they were held for the first and second time, the participants invited there probably had some hopes that it was “about dialogue”. There was no dialogue. Many realized that this was not “about dialogue” and stopped sending their representatives to such “impolite” events.
You can see with what frenzy the Anglo-Saxons are literally defending the lack of alternative to the “formula of V.A. Zelensky”. If this is so, then all those who know the West a little bit should have no doubt that it was the West who wrote this “formula of V.A.Zelensky”. Just as at one time the British “Jesuitically” divided their possessions into India and Pakistan. I won’t go into the story, but nothing changes.
I understand that you all have interaction with Western countries. You want normal relations with all states. We also want everyone to respect each other, but for it to be sincere and for all relations to be based on international law, first of all, the UN Charter.
When the West needs to “detach” Kosovo from Serbia, then it cites the key principle of the Charter on the need to respect the right of nations to self-determination. A few years later, Crimea rebelled against the bloody coup, refused to cooperate with the putschists who illegally seized power, and held a referendum. There was no referendum in Kosovo – it was just the West’s decision. Crimea is holding a referendum on independence and reunification with Russia, and the West says that, allegedly, the article of the Charter, which proclaims the territorial integrity of the state, has been violated. We used to say: “the law is like a drawbar: as it turned, so it turned out.” With this law – international law – the West “twirls” at its discretion, depending on how it fits into its rules. The main principle of the UN Charter is the article stating that the United Nations is based on the sovereign equality of states. Not once, after the UN was created, in any situation of international or regional significance where there were conflicts of interest, not once did the West apply or respect this principle of sovereign equality of the state. I recommend that you look at the history of diplomacy and international relations at your leisure (if anyone doubts).
When we say that it is necessary to form a multipolar world, we are not making anything up. We affirm that there are enduring principles of relations between states enshrined in the UN Charter. But they should be applied not as anyone pleases (today – one, tomorrow – another) and at the same time take directly opposite positions, but in their entirety and interrelationship. This is what we mean when we talk about the need to form a just, democratic, multipolar world order. It doesn’t even need to be created – it forms itself.
Powerful centers of economic growth, financial and political influence are emerging. Look at China, India, Brazil, and the fast-growing continent of Africa. Of course, they want to have a worthy place in the world picture and participate in benefiting from the international division of labor, and not just supply raw materials and then receive “crumbs”, while “developed democracy” will remove all the main “cream”.
When we discuss Ukraine, when we talk about Ukraine with you and your governments, I want everyone to see what is behind this. I tried to contribute to this a little bit. He was outspoken. I hope this is helpful.
