Would that be the one that just bombed Kyiv?The Russian Federation's Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response
Would that be the one that just bombed Kyiv?The Russian Federation's Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response
28 June 2022 21:12
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to media questions following a ministerial meeting of the Caspian littoral states, Ashgabat, June 28, 2022
"Ladies and gentlemen, The ministerial meeting of the five Caspian littoral states has come to a close. Its main goal was to draft documents for the Caspian Summit which opens in the capital of Turkmenistan tomorrow, June 29.
In the course of our work today, we received a report from experts who worked on it for several days to come up with the draft final communiqué which will be submitted for approval by the heads of state. You will get a chance to read it tomorrow. It was decided that it will be released immediately after it gets approved (hopefully). The key issues that were discussed today and which we agreed upon include reaffirming sovereignty, equality, non-interference in domestic affairs and all other UN Charter principles which underlie Caspian cooperation.
We also underscored the inviolability and relevance of all, without exception, principles enshrined in the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, which was signed on August 12, 2018 at the summit in Kazakhstan. It stipulates that the Caspian Sea is the sea of all five Caspian countries and is of vital importance for each of these states. Only the five states located off the Caspian Sea have sovereign rights over the Caspian Sea and its resources.
We reaffirmed the principles underlying cooperation in promoting the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea in areas such as protection of natural environment, biological resources, scientific research, interaction in preventing and providing relief in emergency situations (including infections and various diseases), energy, transport, as well as in other areas that ensure normal life of our peoples on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
We highlighted the importance of cooperation in military interaction and proposed speeding up work on an agreement on developing confidence-building measures regarding the Caspian states’ military activities. The Convention principle governing the legal status of the Caspian Sea to the effect that the presence of armed forces of non-Caspian and non-littoral states in the region is out of the question has been firmly and strongly confirmed. Just like in navigation in general, including civil navigation, it was decided within the framework of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea that navigation shall be carried out only by ships sailing under the flag of one of the Caspian countries. The same principle shall apply to any ship entering or exiting the Caspian Sea. We clearly confirmed this principle today.
There is an understanding that following tomorrow's summit, work will continue on strengthening and expanding the legal framework of our Caspian cooperation, including in combating poaching and drug trafficking, as well as a number of other areas.
Question:
Could you comment on the United States’ plans to supply medium- and long-range air defence systems to Ukraine? Is this associated with a higher risk of a direct military conflict between Russia and the United States?
Sergey Lavrov:
On more than one occasion we have commented on the Americans and Europeans’ plans to pump Ukraine full of new weapons. These plans are carried out amid high-profile statements about the unacceptability of achieving peace on the Russian Federation’s terms and beginning peace talks until Ukraine reverses the momentum on the ground. You read these statements and you hear them daily on television and in social media.
We believe this approach taken by the West is counterproductive and harmful. The more they pump Ukraine full of weapons, the longer the conflict and the agony of the Nazi regime supported by the Western countries will last.
Boris Johnson, Olaf Scholz and Josep Borrell regularly make statements about the unacceptability of any talks in the current circumstances, while the latter routinely calls for allocating more money from the European Peace Fund to supply weapons to Ukraine. There is clearly some schizophrenia on display here.
Yesterday, all Western media outlets were abuzz with videos from Kremenchug that showed a burning shopping centre and accused the Russian military of bombing civilian infrastructure. The Russian Defence Ministry clearly and carefully explained what had happened in reality: they bombed a hangar with weapons and ammunition that had arrived from the United States and Europe. The explosion of that ammunition set the abandoned shopping center nearby on fire.
The longer weapons are supplied to extend the conflict and the suffering of civilians who are exposed to constant shelling by the Ukrainian neo-Nazi regime, the more tasks we will be carrying out on the ground. All of them will be completed.
Question:
Participants in the NATO summit in Madrid are going to adopt a new foreign policy concept and call Russia a direct threat, as well as to seriously build up its military presence in Europe. In turn, if President Vladimir Zelensky is ready to conduct talks, it is only from a position of strength. Does he really hope for direct military support from NATO?
Sergey Lavrov:
At the summit, NATO plans to call us a threat and China a systemic challenge. They are playing with words but the gist remains unchanged. Russia was already declared an enemy in different words long ago, well before the NATO summit. Western politicians declare our country a threat only because we don’t want to accept the neo-liberal world order. Having subordinated the entire West without exception, the United States is imposing it on all others as a “rules-based order.” President Vladimir Putin recently spoke about this, showing the utter futility of the policy pursued by the Washington-led West. This is no surprise for us. It will bring nothing new to the practical policy of the United States and its satellites.
The announced buildup of the armed forces on NATO’s eastern flank to 300,000 troops was planned regardless of what will be written in the documents adopted in Madrid. This was announced long ago and continues the unacceptable policy that violates all previous agreements and promises. Pursuing this line, NATO wants to develop the territory of the former USSR and bring its military infrastructure right to the Russian borders.
This is a long-standing policy. Since the start of the 2000s, we have been trying to stop it and come to terms on mutually acceptable ways of ensuring European security. We made such goodwill attempts many times. President Vladimir Putin personally explained the harmfulness of NATO’s actions in violation of the principle of the indivisibility of security. The foreign and defence ministries were working towards the same end. But all was in vain. The West categorically refused to fulfil its own commitments not to expand NATO and not to ensure its own security at the expense of the security of others. Subsequently, the West renounced the agreement between the then President Viktor Yanukovych and the Ukrainian opposition in February 2014. Having signed the Minsk Agreements, the West flatly refused to carry them out. This is no surprise to us. Since our words and arguments are completely and arrogantly ignored – and this is an established fact – we are going to draw conclusions on how to deal with our Western neighbours on this planet.
I don’t want to guess what hopes and thoughts President Vladimir Zelensky has. This is not important anyway because he is not the decision-maker. Decisions are made in Washington, and not at all at the presidential level. They are made by certain officials in the Department of State and, probably, the Presidential administration.
Question:
According to yesterday’s reports, Argentina and Iran are applying for BRICS membership. Does Russia support their candidacies?
Sergey Lavrov:
During the recent BRICS events (the BRICS summit and the BRICS+ meeting), we underscored our readiness to consider expanding this association. President Vladimir Putin noted in his remarks that this discussion was relevant and timely. Argentina and Iran are deserving and respected candidates, as are a number of other countries mentioned in the discussions.
The decision will be made by consensus. The important thing is that the preparation process has been launched. The main criteria will be whether the new members would make the group more effective and ensure practical results from its work.
Question:
Indonesia has made it clear that it is not going to withdraw Russia's invitation to the G20 summit, but at the same time, Ukraine has also been invited. How advisable and constructive is Russia's presence at this summit? Is there any point to it, with the anti-Russia rhetoric coming from a large number of its participants? How would you assess the possibility of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky on the sidelines?
Sergey Lavrov:
Our approach to the group’s work is based on the purpose that G20 was founded for, which was to promote coordination among the world's leading powers in the economy and international finance in order to ensure the global economy’s sustainability and prevent imbalances and crises, as well as to attain many other specific objectives related specifically to maintaining stability in the global economy.
Each host country invites certain representatives who are not G20 members. Nowadays, they won’t let a single event to be held without Vladimir Zelensky. “They” are so importunate and pushy. Apparently, he has enough free time between taking orders from Washington, so the Ukrainian president is happy to gatecrash any format to pronounce a few words with tears in his eyes. We will have little interest in whether he hovers on the sidelines at the Bali summit or not. At the same time, we always respect the actions of the G20 host country.
President of Indonesia Joko Widodo will visit the Russian Federation in a few days; the preparations for the G20 will be among the key subjects of his talks with President Vladimir Putin. We will not allow for this format’s meaning and significance to be held hostage to the whims of states that are trying to keep their own problems in the focus of the West and force it to use them more actively to pursue policies to undermine the foundations of international law and establish hegemony.
We will engage in business, not propaganda or ideology.
https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1819810/
A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.
A few days ago a mod here started a new news thread about North Korea .... and President Barack Obama, who was scheduled to give a State of the Union address later!
President Obama! A 9 year old article. Clearly that American mod had not read that article before posting it. Probably just saw "news" that fitted their agenda.
Europe has to grow out of mindset that its problems are world’s problems: Jaishankar
Speaking at the Globsec 2022 forum in Slovakia, Jaishankar, responding to a question on India's official position on the Ukraine conflict, said, “Europe has to grow out of the mindset that Europe's problems are the world's problems but the world's problems are not Europe's problems.”
"Pointing out that India’s problems with China “predates” the ongoing conflict in Europe, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday that attempts to draw links between the two situations are misplaced. He defended New Delhi’s position on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, saying that “caricature version of one situation” should not be used as a yardstick to pass sweeping judgments. Speaking at the Globsec 2022 forum in Slovakia, Jaishankar, responding to a question on India’s official position on the Ukraine conflict, said, “Europe has to grow out of the mindset that Europe’s problems are the world’s problems but the world’s problems are not Europe’s problems.”
“There is a linkage today which is being made. A linkage between China and India and what’s happening in Ukraine. So, come on guys, I mean China and India happened way before anything happened in Ukraine. So the Chinese don’t need a precedent somewhere else in the world on how to engage us or not engage us or be difficult with us or not be difficult with us. I don’t see this frankly as a very clever argument, a very self-serving one,” he said.
He was responding to a question on whether India will be in a position to reach out for support if there are further skirmishes along its border with China. Last Tuesday, holding talks on the border standoff after a gap of six months, India and China decided to continue the discussions through diplomatic and military channels.
“We have a difficult relationship with China. We are perfectly capable of managing it. If I get global understanding and support, obviously it is of help to me. But this idea that I do a transaction, that I come in one conflict because it will help me in conflict two, that’s not how the world works. So, a lot of our problems with China have nothing to do with Ukraine, have nothing to do with Russia, they are predated. And if we are getting into who is silent on what issue at what point of time, I could point to a whole lot of issues on which, as I said, Europe has held its peace,” he said.
Maintaining that India’s position on Ukraine has been “mischaracterised”, Jaishankar held out New Delhi’s statement condemning the killings in the Ukrainian city of Bucha as an example. India had “unequivocally condemned” the killings and also supported calls for an “independent probe” into the incident following global outrage.
Underlining that the “world cannot be that Eurocentric that it used to be in the past,” Jaishankar said, “If I were to take Europe collectively, which has been singularly silent on many things which were happening, for example in Asia, you could ask why would anybody in Asia trust Europe on anything at all.”
Jaishankar’s latest statements are in sync with his recent comments, as he has been very sharp in his comments on Europe in the last few months.
In April this year, in candid responses to questions from European ministers and leaders at the Raisina dialogue on the crisis arising out of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar had pointed to the challenges in Asia and India’s neighbourhood — in Afghanistan and from China — and said it was a “wake-up call” for Europe to look at these instances where the problems are happening.
In Washington DC earlier in April, on the issue of oil purchases, Jaishankar had said India’s total purchases for the month would be “less than what Europe does in an afternoon”.
In March, with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss listening, Jaishankar had addressed the issue of sanctions as he had said that “it looks like a campaign” and said that Europe is buying more oil from Russia than before and majority of the buyers of Russian oil and gas are from European countries.
Rejecting suggestions that India is a “fence-sitter” on global issues, Jaishankar said on Friday he does not necessarily believe that India has to choose between the two axes represented by the US-Europe and China-Russia. “Look, they are not exclusionary but we are a democracy. We are a market economy. We are a pluralistic society. We have laws and contracts, we have positions on international law and I think that should give you a fair part of the answer.”
“The fact that today you have a grouping like the Quad where very important decisions were made on connectivity, on telecommunications, supply chains, cyber security and maritime domain awareness, it should tell you which direction we are going. Do not use a caricature version of one situation as a yardstick to pass a sweeping judgment,” Jaishankar said.
On India acting as a possible conduit for sale of Russian oil to other countries, he said, “There’s an enormous shortage of oil, there’s a physical shortage of oil, getting access to oil is difficult. A country like India would be crazy to get oil from somebody and sell it to somebody else. This is nonsense.” He also rejected reports that India was allowing “trans-shipment of oil”."
Europe has to grow out of mindset that its problems are world’s problems: Jaishankar | India News,The Indian Express
Best shut his fat gob if he wants anyone's help keeping out the chinky parasites.
The West also has to grow out of the mindset that it is the World. It increasingly resembles another planet.
June 30, 2022 by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR
Russia steals the thunder in ‘wheat war’
"In a master stroke of military diplomacy, Russian Foreign Ministry announced today that it is “withdrawing” the garrison in Snake Island, the hotly contested Black Sea property from where Ukrainian forces were evicted in March in the early days of Moscow’s special military operation. This decision comes a day after Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres discussed food security amid the situation in Ukraine, in a phone call Wednesday. The Russian readout said Lavrov “underscored that the export of Ukrainian grain is being prevented by Kiev’s mining of the Black Sea.”
Furthermore, Lavrov “reaffirmed readiness to continue fulfilling its obligations on export of food and fertilisers, despite their fulfilment being significantly complicated by the illegal unilateral sanctions of Western states and disruption of global production and retail chains due to the COVID pandemic.”
Importantly, Lavrov conveyed to Guterres Moscow’s “intent for further work on reduction of threats of the food crisis, including in cooperation with the UN.”
The Russian Defence Ministry while announcing the withdrawal from Snake Island, called it a “goodwill gesture” and linked it to the crisis of food security. It added, “The Russian Federation has demonstrated to the international society the absence of any obstacles for the efforts of UN to establish a humanitarian corridor for transporting agricultural products from Ukraine.
“This solution will prevent Kiev from speculating on an impending grocery crisis citing the inability to export grain due to total control of the northwestern part of the Black Sea by Russia.
Now it is up to the Ukrainian side that is still not clearing the Black Sea coastline, including the harbour waters.”
In effect, Russia has challenged Kiev to do its part by removing the mines in the approaches to its ports. But this act of diplomacy is not without serious military implications. Kiev will surely celebrate this as a “military victory”.
However, on the face of it, Moscow is taking a gambit — a clever action that takes the wind out of the sails of Western propaganda blaming Russia for the food shortage as if this situation is the result of its 4-month old operation in February rather than a crisis that had been snowballing through the past four or five years for which the US and the Western countries are to be blamed.
But, as with any gambit, this ploy involves taking a risk insofar as the Russian retreat from Snake Island could be seized by Kiev to retake that strategic piece of real estate in the Black Sea, something that its American and British military advisors have been pressing for. Moscow has taken precautions by stating that it won’t accept wheat cargo ships being accompanied by western warships or drones and that it reserves the right to inspect the ships and ensure they are not carrying military stuff.
So far, two major operations by Kiev with the indirect participation of the Americans and British advisors to seize Snake Island by force were beaten back by the Russian forces. The Western military analysts estimate that the Russian presence on Snake Island would pose threat to NATO’s assets in next-door Romania. (See my blog Southern Ukraine is the priority in NATO’s planing, Indian Punchline, June 22, 2022.)
However, this Russian move also has a certain political resonance insofar as it can be construed as going beyond issues concerning Ukraine’s wheat export. Of course, the facilitation of “humanitarian corridors” in the Black Sea obviates the need for any Western intervention, as implied in the G7 Statement on Global Food Security issued in Elmau, Germany on 28th June backing “UN efforts to unlock a safe maritime corridor through the Black Sea.” This is the first thing.
Indeed, Russia, which accounts for accounted for 16% of global wheat exports, and Ukraine, which accounted for 10%, are not the only key global exporters of wheat — for instance, the US and Canada, which export 26 and 25 million tons of wheat, respectively (or around 25% of global exports) and other major western producers France (19 million tons) and Germany (9.2 million tons) accounting for another 12% of global exports are unwilling to share their grain with those in need, prioritising their own food security in the recent years.
Of course, these rich western countries have their own difficulties related to energy prices, production costs and inflation. They would want to keep their raw materials to shield their economies from further inflation spikes. Simply put, in the event of currency instability, or indeed any form of economic or political instability, it is always more prudent to have raw materials than cash: it does not depreciate as quickly as currency.
The problem with the supply of such a widely produced commodity as wheat will most likely be solved only if the US and EU allow Russia, the largest exporter of wheat in the world, to share supplies in exchange for the removal of sanctions. The western sanctions have forced international companies to sever long-standing business ties and leave Russia, which caused supply disruptions. In one example, the EU last month banned cooperation with the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, through which more than half of the exported grain from Russia is shipped.
What worries the West most is that Africa’s heavy dependence on Russian wheat supplies have a strategic dimension that boosts Moscow’s influence in that continent. The rapidly growing Russian presence in Africa challenges the western neo-colonial projects of European countries. This is already evident in the Sahel region.
At any rate, Russia still retains its dominance over the Black Sea and can not tolerate any threat to Crimea. The goodwill gesture on Snake Island apart, there is no let-up in the Russian special military operation in southern Ukraine, either.
In this context, President Putin’s remarks at Ashgabat yesterday are to the point when he was asked by the media about the “current goal” of the Russian operations. Putin said:
“Nothing has changed, of course. I talked about it in the early morning on February 24. I talked about it directly and publicly for the entire country and the world to hear. I have nothing to add. Nothing has changed… I trust professionals. They are doing what they consider necessary to attain the overall goal. I have formulated the overall goal, which is to liberate Donbass, protect its people and create conditions that will guarantee the security of Russia itself. That is all. We are working calmly and steadily. As you can see, our forces are moving forward and attaining the objectives that have been set for the particular period of the engagement. We are proceeding according to plan. [Emphasis added.]
“We are not speaking about any deadlines. I never speak about them, because this is life, this is reality. It would be wrong to make things fit any framework, because, as I have already said, the issue concerns combat intensity, which is directly connected with possible losses. And we must think above all about saving our guys’ lives.”
Here, the operative words are: “create conditions that will guarantee the security of Russia itself.”
After all, Snake Island is only some 175 miles from Sevastopol, the Russian naval base in Crimea."
https://www.indianpunchline.com/russ...-in-wheat-war/
THE LORD speaks.
No visable scripts, no visable teleprompter.
Vladimir Putin answered journalists’ questions
In conclusion of his working visit to Turkmenistan, Vladimir Putin answered questions from media representatives.
June 29, 2022 23:25
Ashgabat
"President of Russia Vladimir Putin:
Good evening.Please go ahead. How did you like Ashgabat? The weather is hot, though. But the city has completely transformed in the past years, with new architecture. It is so beautiful.
Question:
Mr President. It has been a while since your last visit to Turkmenistan. Today you have arrived in our country to attend the 6th Caspian Summit. Also today, you have met with the President of Turkmenistan and Chair of the Halk Maslahaty of the Milli Gengesh [the upper chamber of parliament] of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who turns 65 today. You offered birthday greetings to your former colleague.
Therefore, my question is: what significance you attach to this visit to Turkmenistan, and, in your opinion, what are the prospects of further partnership between the Caspian littoral states following the 6th Caspian Summit here in Ashgabat.
Thank you.
Vladimir Putin:
I have already said it and want to say it again: congratulations to Turkmenistan and the people of Turkmenistan on such a good choice. Your new President is a young and energetic man with brilliant education and experience in public administration. We are forming a good relationship. He is taking over from his predecessor and father. We had a very informative and good conversation during his visit to Moscow. We outlined a plan of specific actions to develop our bilateral relations and we are starting to implement it.
As concerns your previous leader, Mr Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, we have established a very good and friendly relationship over the years. In many respects it was thanks to his efforts that a framework was created for developing Russia-Turkmenistan relations, and that our cooperation continues, both between our energy companies and in humanitarian affairs, in education and transport. It is very important as logistics in the modern world are essential to economic success.
I must say that, after the official part, he invited us to an informal lunch, where we had a chance to offer our birthday greetings, but perhaps 90 percent of the time was dedicated to an informal and open conversation about the development of cooperation in the Caspian region. You know which areas were in our focus. There were many ideas and proposals expressed. I do not want to reveal everything as they must first be formalised in corresponding multilateral and bilateral documents.
Naturally, we did not speak only about energy or logistics. We also covered industrial cooperation – in the areas that, certainly, are of common interest to all the countries – in particular, the main areas of our economic activity. We agreed on selecting these priority areas and distributing competences among ourselves. According to these competences, we will take steps to build broad cooperation in major areas, primarily in industrial production and high technology.
In my opinion, there are great prospects. It is important and relevant to focus more on these things.
As for our traditional areas of cooperation such as energy and some others, we reached specific agreements as well, including with respect to extending several contracts. Gazprom management will be travelling to Turkmenistan soon.
So, we are very grateful to the leadership of Turkmenistan for organising this event. After this lengthy break, let’s call it a COVID hiatus, we finally had a chance to work with each other in a full format. It was very useful. So, thank you very much.
Question:
The keynote of the G7 summit in Germany was punishing Russia as much as possible. Also, jokes were made about, I apologise, your naked torso. Everybody had a go, including the Prime Minister of Canada, who suggested dropping jackets to be cooler than Putin. Here, at the Caspian Summit, did you by any chance discuss anything like that?
Also, Boris Johnson said that if the Russian President were a woman, there would be no war. What do you think about that?
Vladimir Putin:
I do not know how much they wanted to take off, to only bare their tops or also bottoms. But I think it would have been a disgusting sight anyway. I would like to quote Pushkin here. I may be wrong with the details but he said something to the effect that “You can be a sensible person and think about the beauty of your nails.” So, obviously, I agree with that: everything should be balanced in a person, both body and soul should be taken care of. To achieve this, one should refrain from drinking too much and other bad habits. It’s important to exercise and keep fit.
The colleagues you mentioned, I know them all personally. It is not the best period in our relationship, clearly. Nevertheless, they are all leaders, which means they have strong characters. If only they set their minds to it, they can achieve success, of course. But it takes effort. The mere fact that they are talking about it is good and I can praise them for that.
Now, to the second part of the question. Did you say Johnson? I do not want to elaborate on what could have been, I simply want to remind you about the events in recent history, when Margaret Thatcher made a decision to start a military operation against Argentina for the Falklands. There was a woman who decided to start a military operation. Where are the Falkland Islands and where is Great Britain? The decision was dictated by nothing but imperial ambitions and the goal was to reaffirm the country’s imperial status.
Therefore, I think that, at any rate, it is not exactly a good jab from the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the current events.
Question:
The NATO summit has begun with the war-mongering rhetoric. Russia has been declared a “direct threat” to the security of the Alliance. Stoltenberg admitted that NATO had been rearing for confrontation with Russia since 2014. The Prime Minister of Belgium said that Ukraine must win and that it must do this on the battlefront, which has allegedly been coordinated with the Ukrainian authorities.
How would you assess these statements? And how should we regard them?
Vladimir Putin:
We should regard it as a fact. As regards their preparations for some actions against us since 2014, this information is not new to us. It explains our decisive actions to protect our interests. They have long been looking for an external enemy, for a threat that would rally their allies. I am referring above all to the United States.
Iran is not quite right for that role. Russia is much better. They see us as a chance to rally their allies in a new historical period. There is nothing new in this for us. This is fresh proof of what we have been saying all along: that NATO is a relic of the past, of the Cold War era. They always replied that NATO had changed, that it had become more of a political alliance, but at the same time they were looking for an opportunity to give it a new lease on life as a military organisation. Well, this is exactly what they are doing now. There is nothing new in this for us.
Question: What about Ukraine’s victory?
Vladimir Putin:
As for Ukraine’s victory, we are aware of this as well. Ukraine conducted talks with us, sometimes better than at other times. We made certain arrangements at some point, but later they, pardon the expression, chucked them. The calls to Ukraine to continue fighting and to abandon any further negotiations reaffirm our supposition that the united West and NATO do not care for Ukraine or the interests of the Ukrainian people, and that their goal is to protect their own interests. In other words, NATO and the leading members of the alliance are using Ukraine and the Ukrainian people to reinforce their positions and their role in the world, not to reaffirm their leadership but their hegemonism in the direct meaning of the word, their imperial ambitions. This is what they want. What they have always said about their exceptionalism, the idea they tried to impress on the international community that those who are not with them are against them – all this are manifestations of the same policy. This is not new to us.
Question:
Mr President, Turkey has abandoned its convictions on the issue of Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO. Will that decision have any effect on Russia-Turkey relations? What will Russia do now, especially in light of Stoltenberg’s statement that you wanted less NATO on Russia’s borders but got the opposite: more NATO.
Vladimir Putin:
I am aware of this premise, which is wrong and bears no relation to reality. Our position has always been, as I have already said during this conversation today, that NATO is a relic of the Cold War and is only being used as an instrument of US foreign policy designed to keep its client states in rein. This is its only mission. We have given them that opportunity, I understand that. They are using these arguments energetically and quite effectively to rally their so-called allies. This is the first point.
On the other hand, regarding Sweden and Finland, we do not have such problems with Sweden and Finland as we have, regrettably, with Ukraine. We do not have territorial issues or disputes with them. There is nothing that could inspire our concern regarding Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO. If they want it, they can do it.
However, they should know that they did not face any threats before but, if military contingents and infrastructure are deployed in their territory now, we will have to take mirror-like actions and create the same threats for them that are created for us. This is obvious. Don’t they understand this? Everything was good between us before, but now there will be tension, which is obvious and certainly unavoidable if, as I have said, any threats are created for us.
As for the assumption that we were fighting against NATO approaching us through Ukraine but now have Sweden and Finland to deal with, there is no substance behind it at all, because Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership is not at all the same as the potential membership of Ukraine. These are two different things. They know this very well, but they are promoting this idea to show that Russia has received more of what it did not want to have. No, this is entirely different, and we are aware of that. And they are aware of that. They are trying to substitute these notions, to show that Russia has not attained its goals. But this will not deceive us.
If Sweden and Finland want to join NATO, let them do it. You know, there are rude jokes about stepping into unsavoury things. This is their business. Let them step into what they wish. But Ukraine is a totally different matter. They were turning Ukraine into an anti-Russia, a bridgehead for trying to stir up Russia itself. They began fighting Russian culture and the Russian language, they began to persecute those who regarded themselves part of the Russian world. There is nothing like that in Finland or Sweden; the situation is completely different. If they want to join [the bloc], they are free to do it.
Question:
Today Lev Leshchenko said that he was willing to perform a song about the heroes of the special operation. Ilya Reznik has already written lyrics. The other day I came back from Lugansk where Head of the Lugansk People’s Republic Pasechnik proposed making a film. He pitched his idea to Vladimir Mashkov who was immediately inspired by it. We remember the role that Soviet art played during the Great Patriotic War. What do you think about these ideas and proposals?
Vladimir Putin:
It is a good idea. You see, the guys who are performing their combat duty there, fighting, risking their lives, some actually losing their lives, they are sacrificing themselves for the goals of this military operation. They are protecting people in Donbass, protecting Russia’s interests and ensuring the security of our country. Don’t we realise this? I have said it many times before: if an anti-Russia foothold is established at our borders, we will be constantly under this threat, under this sword of Damocles. So, these guys are performing a crucial mission to ensure the security of Russia and, of course, they deserve to be known and talked about around the country. Not only do I support such ideas (this is the first time I have heard about this), but I think that we should write songs and poems and build monuments to these heroes.
Question:
Mr President, have the goals of the special operation changed since it began? What is the current goal? Do you understand when all this will end?
Vladimir Putin:
Nothing has changed, of course. I talked about it in the early morning on February 24. I talked about it directly and publicly for the entire country and the world to hear. I have nothing to add. Nothing has changed. Also back then, several days into the operation, I said that the tactics may be different, the tactics proposed by the Defence Ministry and the General Staff, with respect to where the troops must move and what targets must be hit, what must be achieved when several groups entered central Ukraine and what must be achieved in Donbass. The Kiev regime had been preparing for that for a long time, since 2014. Therefore, we needed to take certain action to distract them.
Yes, I am the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, but I have not graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. I trust professionals. They are doing what they consider necessary to attain the overall goal. I have formulated the overall goal, which is to liberate Donbass, protect its people and create conditions that will guarantee the security of Russia itself. That is all. We are working calmly and steadily. As you can see, our forces are moving forward and attaining the objectives that have been set for the particular period of the engagement. We are proceeding according to plan.
We are not speaking about any deadlines. I never speak about them, because this is life, this is reality. It would be wrong to make things fit any framework, because, as I have already said, the issue concerns combat intensity, which is directly connected with possible losses. And we must think above all about saving our guys’ lives.
Question:
May I ask about the terrorist attack, well, not an attack but the explosion at the shopping centre in Kremenchug in Ukraine? There are different versions.
Vladimir Putin:
There was no terrorist attack there nor an explosion.
I was here, so I do not know the details. What I know, and what we have pointed out many times and we have shown the footage, including from drones, that weapons, MLRS, artillery guns and heavy weapons are deployed in residential districts and other places. We are not shooting at empty fields. We usually shoot at targets that have been identified.
I am sure that this is what happened in this case as well. They are hiding the equipment, especially equipment delivered from the West, in hangars, at outdoor markets, at plants and in the shops where this equipment is repaired or adjusted after a long period of transportation from foreign countries.
The Russian army does not strike at civilian facilities. There is no need for that. We have the possibility of identifying the targets, and we have modern long-distance precision weapons to attack them. Of course, I will find out the details when I return to Moscow."
Vladimir Putin answered journalists’ questions • President of Russia
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