Vladimir Putin participates in the presentation of state awards took place at the Kremlin’s St Catherine Hall on Wednesday.
"Each of you has your own destiny, your own “life line”. But what all of you have in common is your dedication to working for the good of your native country, society, for the good of our citizens," Putin said,
The President noted that these achievements have opened up new horizons in various fields and continue to do so; they serve Russia’s modern development, make a great contribution to its successful future, and provide an example of dedication, duty, determination and daring to make difficult and often out-of-the-box decisions.
On Tuesday, a conference call with the leadership of the Armed Forces was held at the National Centre for State Defence Control of the Russian Federation under the leadership of the head of the military department, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu.
Opening the meeting, the Defence Minister recalled that in accordance with the decision of the Presidents of Russia and Belarus, the reaction forces of the Union State are being checked. From the Russian Armed Forces, the military administration bodies and units of the Eastern Military District are involved.
The first stage of inspection is currently underway. The troops were transferred to a distance of up to 10 thousand km, including aviation units and military units of the air defence were relocated. The protection and defence of state and military facilities, the state border in the airspace has been organized within the framework of the unified regional air defence system of Belarus and Russia.
As part of the second stage of the inspection (in the period from February 10 to 20), a joint exercise Union Courage–2022 will be held at five Belarusian training grounds. During the exercise, tasks will be worked out to ensure the military security of the Union State and counter terrorism.
"I would like to emphasize that the number of participants in the maneuvers and the main weapons systems does not exceed the parameters established by the Vienna Document of 2011, which does not oblige us to notify foreign partners about the events being held," the head of the Russian military department added.
Nevertheless, within the framework of voluntary transparency, informed the military attaches of foreign states about the inspection and joint exercises.
"In addition, in accordance with the training plan of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for 2022, a series of naval exercises are being held in January–February in all areas of responsibility of fleets. The actions of the Navy and the Aerospace Forces are being worked out to protect national interests in the oceans and to repel military threats from sea and ocean directions, more than 140 warships and support vessels, more than 60 aircraft are involved in the exercises," the Defenсe Minister said.
Turning to the thematic part of the meeting, the head of the military department proposed to discuss the supply of the Bars-M mapping and remote sensing satellites to the troops.
The Progress rocket and space center is engaged in the modernization and manufacture of Bars-M products in the interests of the Armed Forces.
"Today we will consider the problems with the deadlines for the delivery of spacecraft, as well as measures to remedy the situation," said General of the Army Sergei Shoigu.
The second issue on the agenda of the conference call was devoted to the strategy of ensuring the uniformity of measurements in the Russian Federation until 2025.
"I want to emphasize that the development of the system of ensuring the uniformity of measurements in the Armed Forces directly affects the introduction of breakthrough technologies, the re-equipment of troops with the latest high-precision and other types of weapons. During the implementation of the strategy, the Ministry of Defenсe is regularly updating the fleet of military measuring equipment — more than 600 units of the latest models have already been delivered to the troops," the Defenсe Minister said.
In addition, according to the head of the military department, an automated system for monitoring the condition of measuring instruments is being created. The regulatory legal framework in the field of ensuring the uniformity of measurements in the Armed Forces, other troops and military formations, as well as within the framework of CIS cooperation, is being actively improved.
"The measures taken can significantly improve the efficiency of the existing system. Today we will see how the action plan for the implementation of the strategy is being implemented," Sergei Shoigu added.
The 24th Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing from February 4 to 20.
"The Russian team consists of almost a third of CSKA athletes. Army men have won prizes at world championships more than once. I am sure that this time they will adequately represent our country at the Beijing Games. I sincerely wish our athletes good luck and high results," Shoigu said.
In their responses to the Russian proposals on security guarantees, the US and NATO ignored Moscow’s fundamental demands, Vladimir Putin told a news conference following talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The president said they had substantially exchanged opinions regarding proposals on giving Russia long-term legal guarantees of security from the West.
"Let me note that we are closely analyzing the written responses received from the US and NATO on January 26. However, it is already clear, and I informed Mr. Prime Minister about it, that the fundamental Russian concerns were ignored," Putin said. He explained that Moscow had seen no adequate response to three key demands - preventing NATO’s expansion, non-deployment of strike weapons systems near Russian borders and returning the military infrastructure of NATO in Europe to the positions existing in 1997 when the Russia-NATO Founding Act was signed.
"At the same time, ignoring our concerns, the US and NATO generally refer to the right of the states to freely choose ways to ensure their security. But this is not just about giving somebody the right to freely choose how to ensure their security," Putin emphasized. This is only one part of the well-known principle of the indivisibility of security, he reiterated. "The second inalienable part says that no one should be allowed to strengthen their security at the expense of the security of the other states," the president stressed.
Besides, while considering international issues, the Russian president and the Hungarian prime minister discussed the current state of things in relations between Russia and the European Union. In conclusion, Putin expressed gratitude to Viktor Orban for productive joint work. "I am confident that the results of our talks will help to further strengthen Russian-Hungarian multifaceted partnership," he said.
The United States reacted negatively to Russia’s key demand that the accords on indivisible security be implemented responsibly, Sergey Lavrov said after a phone talk with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.
"As for the key issue that generally prompted us to turn to the United States and the North Atlantic alliance with the initiative, the reaction was negative. I mean our demands that all must responsibly implement the agreements on indivisible security reached within the OSCE framework in Istanbul in 1999 and in Astana in 2010," Russia’s top diplomat pointed out.
The US reply to Russia’s proposals on security guarantees that was received last week showed that "the Americans prefer to focus on discussing still important but secondary issues," Lavrov insisted.
At the same time, the West seeks "to sink into oblivion" the key principle of indivisible security, he said. "They literally make as the cornerstone exclusively the principle of the freedom of choosing unions while completely ignoring the condition agreed at the highest level that infringing upon the security of other states in this case is inadmissible," the Russian foreign minister elaborated.
"In order not to let this happen, when we received a reaction from Washington to our original proposals, I described this in detail in a special message and sent it to all OSCE foreign ministers and the foreign ministers of other countries to let them know our position," Lavrov said.
Moscow is also alarmed that other NATO countries, for example, France, "insist on the need of ensuring security based on the documents that preceded the adoption of the Istanbul charter and the Astana declaration and, in particular, they quote a document of the 1990 OSCE Paris summit, which lacked a provision that the security must not be strengthened at the expense of the security of others," he added.
Russia will insist on an honest talk with NATO and seek explanations why the West does not want to honor its commitments, the Russian foreign minister stressed.
"Today, I confirmed to Antony Blinken that after all this is an issue, which we will not allow talking down. And we will insist on an honest talk and on an honest explanation why the West is unwilling to implement its commitments or wants to implement them selectively in its favor," Russia’s top diplomat said.
At the same time, the US Secretary of State agreed that there was a subject matter for discussion with Russia regarding the issue of indivisible security, Lavrov said.
"Tony Blinken agreed that there is a subject matter here for a further talk. We will see how things will develop," Russia’s top diplomat said.
Moscow is completing inter-agency coordination work on Washington’s proposals received in the process of security discussion and a subsequent report will be made to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the foreign minister said.
The news that appeared earlier on Tuesday that the United States had allegedly received Moscow’s reply to its security proposals emerged due to misunderstanding, Lavrov said.
"Today we, indeed, heard a message from the US Department of State that a reply was allegedly received from Moscow to the document that the Americans had sent as a reaction to our original proposals on the guarantees of security in Europe," the foreign minister said. "There is a misunderstanding here."
Hungary is the important Russian partner in Europe, Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday after talks with Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban.
"I would like to stress that Hungary is the important partner of Russia in Europe. Despite the challenging situation related to the coronavirus pandemic, mutual trade grew by 30% to $5.5 bln as of the end of eleven months of the last year," Putin said. Mutual investments of both countries also increased, he noted.
"Our negotiations with the Prime Minister were held in the meaningful and businesslike atmosphere, traditional for Russian-Hungarian relations. I should say we discussed almost all items we wanted to discuss," the Russian leader added.
Vladimir Putin met with Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban in the Kremlin on Tuesday.
The discussion focused on the further development of bilateral cooperation in trade, economic, energy, cultural and humanitarian areas as well as current European security issues.
Moscow and Paris will look at the possibility of a personal meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Emmanuel Macron of France, the Kremlin press service said on Monday after a telephone conversation between the two presidents.
"The sides agreed on further telephone contacts. They also agreed to look at the possibility of a personal meeting between the Russian and French presidents," it said.
"The leaders continued to exchange views on the situation around Ukraine and on issues linked with the long-term legally binding security guarantees to Russia," it said. "Vladimir Putin once again informed about Russia’s principled approaches to these problems."
It was the second telephone call between the two presidents in the past week. They spoke over the phone on Friday, January 28. Their conversation focused on the issue of security guarantees to Russia. The Russian president said that Moscow would analyze the United States’ and NATO’s written responses to its draft agreements and before making a decision on further actions. He stressed however that the West had ignored Russia’s principled concerns in its responses.
The United States is seeking to mislead the world community about the real state of things around Ukraine and the reasons for the current outburst of global tensions, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said on Monday.
"In its explanatory note to the initiative to call today’s meeting, the US delegation said it considers the deployment of Russian troops on Russian territory as a threat to international peace. It is not only inadmissible interference into the domestic affairs of our country but also an attempt to mislead the international community about the real situation in the region and the reasons for the current global tensions," he said at a UN Security Council meeting on the situation around Ukraine.
Statements by British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss about possible new sanctions against Russian businessmen undermine the investment attractiveness of the United Kingdom, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Also, he has called on Europeans to ultimately understand that it is inadmissible that the United States is meddling into their affairs, bearing in mind that Washington is seeking to fan tensions.
On January 30, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, in an interview with Sky News, said that the country's authorities would amend the current legislation in order to be able to expand the sanctions list. According to her, at present, London can only impose sanctions against those who are directly involved in destabilization activities in Ukraine. Amendments to the legislation will expand the list so that any company of interest to the Kremlin and the Russian regime could be subject to sanctions.
Liz Truss refused to disclose any details about the announced restrictions. When asked about possible measures against the property of large Russian businessmen residing in London, the UK Foreign Secretary noted that nothing is ruled out.
Russia knows from its own mistakes what statements of the West are worth, and it will seek to achieve that they take into account Russia’s legitimate interests, Sergey Lavrov told the Voskresnoye Vremya program on Channel One on Sunday.
According to the top diplomat, Russia is facing serious problems now because the West acted carelessly and dishonestly towards Russia’s interests. "It could have been different, but history has no subjunctive mood. We have become wiser. They say one can learn only from one’s own mistakes. Now we know what the West’s words are worth," Lavrov stressed.
"We will now seek to achieve not only pledges, political commitments ‘on paper’, but also legally binding guarantees that would ensure security across the European continent with the full and equal regard for the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation," Lavrov said.
Relations between Russia and the US looked absolutely cloudless in the early 1990s, he said. "Of course, there was a touch of euphoria. It seemed to those who were determining the foreign policy, that all problems would be settled automatically, since Russia would become part of a "civilized" world, Western culture, the architecture of security, and would get strong support on different tracks," Lavrov added.
In the same time, the West was confident that Russia would now follow the path meeting its interests, and this continued rather long in the 1990s, he said. However, at the start of the 2000s, Russia regained the historical and national self-awareness.
President Vladimir Putin’s Munich speech in 2007 came as the landmark. "Reputed authors of a number of US scientific, political magazines draw attention to Russia’s statement of 2007 about its concerns, and about agrowing disillusionment in the West and its interests. They say directly that Putin’s words fell on deaf ears back then," Lavrov added.
Sergey Lavrov answered Stanford University professor Michael McFaul's "absolutely ignorant" (according to him) question about Ukraine, the recognition of Donbass, etc. which was 'kindly voiced' by Echo of Moscow radio station Editor-in-Chief Alexei Venediktov (representative of the so-called "Russian liberals")during an interview on Friday.
In an interview on Friday, Sergey Lavrov answered a question from Govorit Moskva radio station Editor-in-Chief Roman Babayan about the possibility of a complete severance of relations between the Russian Federation and the United States due to ignoring Russian proposals for security guarantees, the threat of unprecedented sanctions against Russia's top leadership (in particular against Vladimir Putin and himself), as well as the aggravated diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
Russia is not interested in a war, yet Moscow won’t allow its security interests to be disregarded, Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with radio stations on Friday.
"If it depends on the Russian Federation, there won’t be a war. We do not want wars, but we won’t allow our interests to be flagrantly stepped on and ignored," he emphasized.
The Russian top diplomat noted that the talks with the US and NATO on security issues have not yet been concluded. "As you know, the Americans and NATO members have studied our extremely simple proposals contained in the drafts of an agreement with Washington and an agreement with the North Atlantic alliance for over a month and we received the answers only the day before yesterday, which muddy the waters in many ways in such a Western style, yet there are some rational kernels on secondary issues," he explained.
The foreign minister specified that these "secondary issues" at certain stages were very important. According to him, they involve the issue of intermediate-and shorter-range missiles that emerged after the US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). "We urged them to listen to the voice of reason after all, and the President of Russia then sent his message to all OSCE members, inviting them to join our unilateral moratorium with the coordination of verification measures. This was shrugged off, but now it is included in their proposals," he pointed out.
Additionally, according to the top diplomat, the counter-proposals contained concepts similar to the previously ignored Russian initiative to withdraw the exercises away from the border on both sides and to agree on a limit distance for the approach of combat aircraft and warships, [in addition to] a number of other deconfliction, de-escalation, and confidence-building measures. "All of this has been rejected for the past two or three years.
Now, all of this is being put forward for discussion. So the constructive content in these proposals, essentially, has been borrowed from recent Russian initiatives. Nevertheless, I think that this is still something, as we say in Russia. Yet, the important part for us is to sort out the conceptual foundations that European security is built on," the foreign minister concluded.
Incredible case! Pan Zelensky did not speak in unison with his supreme curator.
A fragment of his interview with foreign journalists after the same telephone conversation with Joe Biden, when the US and Ukrainian administrations were forced to make excuses.
The reason was the words of a CNN correspondent in Kiev, as if Biden warned a younger colleague: Kiev is threatened with ruin, namely ruin, by Russian troops. Zelensky seems to have found it too theatrical even for his own standards.
"I don't think the White House is wrong in its analysis. I believe that today they are participants in this informational situation that has developed around our borders. Since the White House understands that there are risks, they constantly talk about it, they constantly support this topic and make it as sharp as possible. In my opinion, this is a mistake, such signals cause a very powerful reaction in the world," President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Russia will not change its position on security guarantees and there is no room for compromise, Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
"If they [US] insist that they will not change their positions, we will not change our positions either," he said in an interview with radio stations on Friday. "It's just that their position is based on false arguments, and on a direct misrepresentation of facts, while our position is based on what everyone signed," he maintained.
"I don’t see any possibility for a compromise here, otherwise what can we agree on if they openly sabotage and misrepresent previous decisions. This will be a key test for us," Lavrov said.
"It is very important to not try to simply shake off the responsibility, and this is exactly what our American and other NATO partners are doing now," he stated. "It will be impossible for them to evade answering the question of why they are not doing what their presidents signed up to in terms of the inadmissibility of strengthening their defense at the expense of the security of others," Lavrov added.
The United States and NATO gave Russia written responses to proposals for security guarantees that Moscow demanded from Washington and Brussels on Wednesday. According to these statements, the West did not make concessions for Russia, but outlined directions for further negotiations.
Vladimir Putin discussed the issue of providing Russia with long-term and legally binding security guarantees by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday.
The EU promotes a “trench” philosophy and wants to present everything in the friend-or-foe paradigm (or ally-adversary, to use the current terms), Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department Alexey Zaitsev side on Thursday.
"The “conclusions” of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on January 24 confirmed that the EU has an extremely ideological approach to the new world order. Obviously prompted by the anti-Russian wing, the text was written in a confrontational style and follows Cold War patterns. Meaningful analysis and perception of European security problems have been replaced with politicised assessments. There is an obvious reluctance to address the root causes of the deteriorating situation and to understand that NATO’s unrestrained expansion is clearly dangerous," he said.
All this runs counter to the principle of indivisible security that was set forth and repeatedly affirmed by the EU countries and in OSCE documents adopted at the top level, including the Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security, the 1999 European Security Charter and the 2010 Astana summit declaration.
"The EU’s “conclusions” are permeated with hypocrisy. It is emphasised that “spheres of influence” are unacceptable in the 21st century. That said, a number of EU functionaries openly declare that the Western Balkans belong to the EU (President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said this at the EU-Western Balkans summit on May 6, 2020). Or that “whenever we are present in the region, there is no space for others” (as former Head of EU diplomacy Federica Mogherini told ambassadors of the EU countries on September 3, 2018). In one-on-one conversations, EU officials bluntly say that Mali and the CAR are the EU’s “backyard.” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell also said that after the departure of the US and NATO, it is necessary to prevent Afghanistan from falling into the hands of Russia and China," Zaitsev added.
In essence, the issue of European security is reduced to Ukraine. The pathological inability to acknowledge its mistake of supporting the Ukrainian coup d’etat in 2014 and stop openly abetting the Kiev authorities that are discriminating against Russian speakers, is preventing the EU from facilitating the settlement of the internal Ukrainian conflict (via direct dialogue between Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk). It doesn’t allow the EU to take a broad view of the situation in Europe either. It also prevents the EU from understanding that the implementation of the Russian proposals on the legally binding security guarantees from the US and NATO will create the necessary conditions for the stable development of all countries of our common continent (regardless of their membership in military blocs or unions). It will also enhance European security, thereby allowing the EU to ensure its required strategic autonomy and independence.
"We are surprised by the EU’s call for dialogue after it unilaterally decided to immediately freeze the entire diverse system of cooperation with Russia in 2014, including in foreign policy and security. It refuses to engage in top-level contacts or discussion of security issues," he said.
Zaitsev added that simply put, the EU’s desire to take part in discussing Russian proposals on security guarantees looks strange against the backdrop of such “conclusions.”
Vladimir Putin convened the Security Council to discuss the proposals of the Foreign Ministry on further actions on security guarantees on Friday.
"By and large, the Security Council of Russia and its regular meetings prepare strategic planning documents in a variety of spheres. But today we will talk about foreign policy, an area of the Security Council’s direct responsibility," he said.
Putin added that Foreign Ministry has prepared an updated draft of the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation. It is certainly a strategic planning document. The Foreign Ministry took into account the recent global changes, including changes that took place in international politics over the past five years.
The report of Minister Sergey Lavrov was held behind closed doors.
Russia understand why NATO is throwing tantrums about the Russian threat in front of the countries of the Alliance: how else would they explain and justify the need for the military containment of Russia? Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department Alexey Zaitsev side on Thursday.
"Such statements by the NATO Secretary General create an unfavourable environment for the dialogue on security guarantees. They go to show that it has become common practice for the Alliance to bolster its negotiating position with military capabilities," he said, answering a question on the statement by Jens Stoltenberg that Alliance is considering increasing its presence in the east, including possible deployment of additional combat groups.
For decades, the Alliance has consistently reinforced its eastern flank, taking over the territories of new member states and creating new infrastructure and weapons depots. Reconnaissance aircraft are present in the air space near the Russian borders almost around the clock. NATO strategic aviation is practicing attacks on Russian facilities and command and control centres. NATO military planning is entirely geared towards the same goal which is “deterring” Russia and achieving military superiority on all potential theatres of war and in all operational environments. The threshold for the use of nuclear weapons is lowered conceptually and technically. The sea is used for projecting power. As a reminder, Romania and Poland are home to the US global missile defence system with the capability of launching Tomahawk missiles.
Vladimir Putin will find the time and the form in which to express his position regarding the West’s reply to Russia’s security guarantee proposals, but no decision regarding the details has been made yet, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Friday.
"I have no doubts that this will happen. I have no doubts that the president will set a date and find the form in which to express his position. In this particular case no decisions have been made yet. As soon as they have been made, we will let you know," the Kremlin official said, when asked if Putin was going to describe his reaction to the replies received from the West.
The United States and NATO on Wednesday handed to Russia their written answers to Russia’s security guarantee proposals. The US sides asked Russia to refrain from making these documents public, but US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg reviewed their highlights. As follows from their statements, the West failed to agree to any concessions of fundamental importance to Russia, but outlined prospects for further talks.
Moscow are convinced that without “Western aid” the conflict in eastern Ukraine would have ended long ago, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department Alexey Zaitsev side on Thursday.
"Moreover, the conflict that began with the advent of nationalists to power in Kiev most likely would have never happened," he added.
The past week has clearly shown the artificial character of the domestic conflict in Ukraine. Some Western countries are trying hard to fuel it in an effort to divide the historically common peoples of Russia and Ukraine and create a hotbed of instability, complicating relations between the EU countries and Moscow.
"We consider unacceptable even the idea of a war between our peoples," Zaitsev side.
"We urge the Ukrainian authorities to finally show independence, think about the interests of their own country and its people and find a sustainable political solution to the current conflict in direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk. We hope the NATO countries will stop fuelling the conflict in eastern Ukraine and abstain from interfering in the domestic affairs of that country. This should allow the contracting Ukrainian parties to resolve their differences in a direct dialogue between themselves," he added.
Clearly, neither the Americans nor the local Kurdish government are able to ensure reliable security in northeastern Syria, in areas under their control, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department Alexey Zaitsev side on Thursday.
The successful ISIS attack on Al-Sinaa prison was yet further evidence of the failure of the US military that, according to official Washington, are there to put an end to ISIS. Several hundred terrorists who are now at large undoubtedly pose a security threat not only to Syria, but to other countries in the region and beyond as well. The legitimate Syrian authorities will now face the additional dangerous challenge of neutralising a significant number of escaped gunmen who are capable of wreaking much havoc.
"We reiterate our position whereby Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be unconditionally respected and the legitimate authorities must reinstate control over all regions of that country after the foreign military contingents, that are deployed there illegally, pull out of Syria. This is the only way to finally eliminate the presence of international terrorism in Syria and to ensure sustainable stability and security in and around Syria," he said.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry put out an official statement on January 22 in connection with the developments in Al-Hasakah, calling the ISIS attack and the response by the Syrian Democratic Forces crimes that led to the tragic loss of life and the mass exodus of local residents, as well as to the significant destruction of civilian infrastructure. Damascus used the same language to describe the US actions, emphasising “barbaric” nature of the US air raids. The statement emphasises that despite the difficult circumstances caused primarily by the Western sanctions on Syria, the Syrian authorities provided every possible assistance and support to the people who fled the area of hostilities. In this context, UN humanitarian organisations, including UNHCR, the WHO and UNICEF, are also called on to make vigorous efforts to immediately help the internally displaced persons, and the UN Security Council to take effective measures to protect civilians residing in northern and northeastern Syria. The United States and Turkey have once again been called on to end their illegal military presence in Syria.
The United States and NATO don’t seem to have taken Russia’s concerns on security guarantees into account when drawing up responses to Moscow’s proposals, nor did they demonstrate any willingness to do so, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
The United States and NATO handed their written responses to Russia’s proposals on security guarantees over to Moscow on Wednesday.
"The numerous statements that our colleagues made yesterday make it clear that as for the major aspects of the draft agreements that we earlier presented to other parties, we can’t say that they took our concerns into account or showed any readiness to take our concerns into consideration," he pointed out.
Peskov noted that the US and NATO had asked Russia not to make their responses public. "However, our colleagues spelled out the contents of those papers and in fact, maybe they really should not be [published] now," the Kremlin spokesman said.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry released draft agreements on the security guarantees that Moscow expects to receive from Washington and NATO. The two accords - one with the US and the other with the Western-led bloc - particularly oblige NATO to cease its eastward expansion, namely to drop plans on granting Ukraine membership, and envisage restrictions on the deployment of serious offensive weapons, including nuclear ones.
Vladimir Putin visited Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery in the city of St. Petersburg on Thursday to honor the defenders of the city and the victims of the Siege of Leningrad that was lifted 78 years ago today.
The head of state laid flowers at a common grave, which, according to documents, contains the remains of his brother who died as a child during the Siege of Leningrad. The president also laid a wreath at the Motherland monument.
Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery is the largest common burial site of World War II, where about half a million residents and defenders of Leningrad were buried during the siege. Only some 150,000 of them have been identified so far and search activities continue to this day.
Putin, a Leningrad resident born in 1952, participates in memorial events dedicated to the Siege of Leningrad on a regular basis. It is a very personal story for the president. His father Vladimir Putin fought at the Nevsky Pyatachok southeast of Leningrad during the siege, his mother stayed at the city for the entire duration of the siege and his elder brother Viktor died of diphtheria in the besieged city in the winter of 1942.
This year marks the 78th anniversary of the lifting of the German Siege of Leningrad. The siege, which lasted 872 days from September 8, 1941, to January 27, 1944, claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of the city’s residents. Historians still find it difficult to give a specific number, which ranges from 500,000 to 1.5 mln people. The Battle of Leningrad went down in history as one of the longest and deadliest fights of World War II.
Washington’s replies on security guarantees reveal no indication that it sees the main issue of NATO’s further expansion as being unacceptable, Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.
"There is no positive reaction in this document on the main issue. The main issue is our clear-cut position on the inadmissibility of NATO’s further eastward expansion and the deployment of strike armaments that may threaten the territory of the Russian Federation," Russia’s top diplomat said.
The US response on security guarantees makes it possible to expect a serious conversation to begin but on secondary issues, Lavrov pointed out.
"As for the contents of the document, it contains a reaction, which makes it possible to expect the commencement of a serious talk but on secondary issues," the Russian foreign minister said.
Russia’s top diplomat said he was confident that Washington’s response to Moscow’s proposals on security guarantees would become known to the public at large in the near future.
"I think that the substance of the reply will become known to the public at large shortly. As our American counterparts told us (although they prefer this document to remain confidential for a diplomatic dialogue), it had been agreed with all of the US allies and the Ukrainian side. There are no doubts that it will be ‘leaked’ very soon," Russia’s top diplomat said.
Russia will put the emphasis on explaining the West’s crafty claims it is allegedly impossible to guarantee NATO’s non-expansion, Lavrov stressed.
"We were told [concerning the admission of new members to the military alliance] that in the 1990s there were no written guarantees regarding NATO’s non-expansion, whereas now we do have such written pledges. They were confirmed within the OSCE framework more than once, including at the summit level. Now we will put the emphasis on explaining this crafty stance taken by our Western counterparts," Lavrov said.
When presented with Russia’s arguments on their pledges to halt NATO’s eastward expansion, the Western countries began to explain their policy towards the alliance’s careless expansion not quite in ‘an adult way,’" the Russian foreign minister pointed out.
"Now that we present not verbal pledges but written documents signed by the leaders of all the countries - parties to the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe], including the US president - and these are the 1999 Istanbul Declaration and the 2010 Astana Declaration - our Western counterparts have to find crafty ways out of a more serious situation," he added.
"Under these documents, the right to choose unions "is clearly conditioned by the need to take into account the security interests of any other OSCE member state, including the Russian Federation," Lavrov pointed out.
With regard to the issue of NATO’s non-expansion, the West deliberately hushes up the principle, which stipulates that a state cannot strengthen its security at the expense of the security of other states, Russia’s top diplomat said.
"Our Western partners do not mention either the Istanbul or the Astana declaration in ongoing discussions on European security. These items are sidestepped. However, we cannot accept this," Lavrov said.
As Russia’s top diplomat pointed out, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave no reply to his request at the Geneva negotiations on January 21 to explain the grounds, on which the Western countries "considered the commitments assumed within the OSCE solely as a ‘menu."
"I warned him and also our other counterparts that we would shortly send them an official inquiry with a demand to explain why they pull out only one point from their own obligations while they are trying to ignore the terms of complying with this favorite point for them," Lavrov said.
"This will be an official inquiry to all the countries whose leaders signed the Istanbul and Astana declarations. I hope that in this case no extra time will be required to explain why the West holds precisely this stance," Russia’s top diplomat said.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published Russia’s two draft agreements on security guarantees, which Moscow expects from Washington and NATO. The agreements with the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization stipulate, among other things, the US-led bloc abandoning its designs on eastward expansion along with denying membership to Ukraine, in addition to restrictions on deploying serious offensive armaments, in particular, nuclear weapons. The sides have already held several rounds of consultations in various formats but have not announced any agreements reached yet.
On January 26, the United States and NATO handed over their written reply to Moscow’s proposals on security guarantees.
In Paris, negotiations were held for 8,5 hours between political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy Four - Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine.
Naturally, the focus was on the situation in the Donbass. No one expected a breakthrough, but the very fact of such a meeting is already important. Therefore, all of Europe closely followed the consultations. Russia was represented by Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Dmitry Kozak. The situation in southeastern Ukraine is heating up again, but for some reason Kiev is in no hurry to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk agreements.
“Our disagreements often come to such an extent that we don’t understand from which document they take and draw some conclusions. I have repeatedly said, maybe we have some kind of different documents? Maybe there are other Minsk agreements in the Normandy format for the USA? Or do they have some obligations of Russia written in invisible ink between the lines? Let's get a look. We didn't find anything," Kozak said.
The next round of talks of the Normandy Format political advisers will take place in Berlin in two weeks.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has lost touch with reality and it is difficult to perceive his statements seriously, Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Wednesday, commenting on Stoltenberg’s words about a potential military buildup on the eastern flank.
"You know I have not been giving any consideration to his statements for a long time. In my opinion, he has already lost touch with reality," Lavrov said.
On Monday, the North Atlantic Alliance said that NATO Allies "are putting forces on standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to NATO deployments in eastern Europe, reinforcing Allied deterrence and defense as Russia continues its military build-up in and around Ukraine." For his part, Stoltenberg argued that the deployments of new Allied forces in Eastern Europe "does not threaten Russia" and that NATO "remains ready to continue dialogue with Russia."
On Wednesday, in the State Duma, communist deputies proposed to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics as independent and sovereign states.
"To quarrel Russians on the borders of Russia and Ukraine is the golden dream of the Anglo-Saxons. I believe that Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians are one people, with a common history, faith and victories. And those who offer to quarrel us there are the criminals themselves. We must do everything not to follow this path.
We made a proposal [State Duma] to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk republics. This does not provoke a war, it provokes the defense of our citizens, because there are already 600,000 citizens of the Russian Federation there," General Secretary of Russian Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov said.
Putin instructed the government and the Bank of Russia to come to a consensus on the regulation of cryptocurrencies and report on the results.
Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that Russia has a competitive advantage in the field of cryptocurrency mining.
Cryptocurrency has pros and cons. New technologies are a source of profit. But you can also permanently lose your wallet if you forget or lose your password.
Last week, the Central Bank proposed to ban cryptocurrencies in Russia.
Putin instructed the government and the Bank of Russia to come to a consensus on the regulation of cryptocurrencies and report on the results.
The United Russia political party asked the Russian leadership to provide aid to Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR) and ship military products, necessary to deter aggression and protect their citizens, the United Russia Duma faction leader Vladimir Vasilyev announced Wednesday.
"We address the leadership of our country, [asking] to provide aid to Lugansk and Donetsk Republics in form of shipment of military produce necessary to deflect military aggression and to take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the citizens," Vasilyev said, according to the party press office.
"We are concerned with protection of lives of Russian citizens and compatriots living in DPR and LPR. We held consultations in the Duma Council and in the faction, and came to an understanding that we cannot leave the people to the mercy of the Kiev regime," Vasilyev added.
According to the politician, NATO actions "are no longer simply worrying, they are truly alarming and bewildering." "To orchestrate a hysteria in the global media and to pump Ukraine with Western lethal weapons at the same time is very dangerous," Vasilyev underscored.
He noted that Ukraine today receives missile systems, grenade launchers and other armaments, as well as "instructors, who teach how to use these systems." "This is a big danger, this is preparation for hostilities, undoubtedly. For hostilities against civilians who live there," Vasilyev said.
He added that Russia cannot allow an "extermination of people."
"We’ve been waiting for a long time for reason to prevail in Washington, but this does not happen. We hear only about sanctions and about weapons coming to the conflict area. The scenario, displayed by the collective West in Ukraine, looks like a return to Nazism and times of [Stepan] Bandera. We cannot put up with this," Vasilyev underscored.
"United Russia is watching with great concern the pumping of Western lethal weapons into Ukraine. Almost all leading NATO countries do this, and they do it on a very large scale. The number of shellings in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions has increased many times, civilians are dying, and at this time, Western curators are pushing the Ukrainian junta to a direct invasion of the Donbass. They arm the national battalions, for whom Bandera and Hitler are heroes, and the swastika is their respected sign. I believe that under these conditions, Russia should provide the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics with the necessary assistance in the form of the supply of certain types of weapons to increase their defense capability and deter the military aggression clearly being prepared by Kiev. We must stop the Kiev regime," Secretary of the General Council of United Russia Andrey Turchak said.
Vladimir Putin held a virtual meeting with heads of leading Italian companies on Wednesday.
The discussion focused on trade, economic and investment cooperation between Russia and Italy and prospects for further expanding bilateral business ties.
Russia and Italy managed to keep the economic cooperation at a high level during the pandemic period, Vladimir Putin said.
Supporting the macroeconomic stability in the country remains the priority for Russian authorities, President Putin said.
Italian companies are receiving Russian natural gas at prices much lower than market ones owing to long-term contracts, Putin said.
Russia sees serious prospects for expansion of the business partnership between Moscow and Rome in other energy spheres as well, the President said. This refers in the first instance to development, use and commercialization of renewable energy sources, he noted.
The Italian business has already invested about 500 mln euro into construction of wind power plants in three Russian regions, Putin added.
The absence of mutual recognition of COVID vaccines and vaccination certificates between Russia and the EU does not contribute to an intensification of business contacts and trips, Putin said.
In this context, he mentioned the recent joint Russian-Italian comparative research of coronavirus vaccines, performed by the National Institute for Infectious Diseases of Italy. According to this research, the Russian Sputnik V vaccine "displayed the highest titer of antibodies to the Omicrons strain and once again proved its efficiency," Putin noted.
The president noted that the online meeting with the Italian business was attended by key Russian economic ministers and heads of largest Russian companies, so that the Italian businessmen could listen to Russian colleagues’ first-hand assessments of the development perspectives of the Russian-Italian economic ties.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Italian businessmen that Moscow will compete with Rome for the right to host the World Expo 2030.
"The Russian capital, Moscow, has put forward its candidacy to host the World Expo 2030. We know, of course, that Rome is also a candidate city," Putin said at a meeting with representatives of leading Italian companies on Wednesday. He recalled that Italy has already held such events. "Our country has never done this, although it has been participating in it for 170 years and was represented at the first Expo in London in 1851," Putin noted.
Russia was the first country to formally apply in April to host Expo 2030, proposing Moscow as the location for the event. In June, it was reported that the South Korean Busan has also applied. On October 7, Italy nominated Rome. Ukraine also applied to host Expo 2030.
Russia will take necessary measures, should the West fail to provide a constructive response to Moscow’s initiatives on guarantees of security, Sergey Lavrov said, speaking in the State Duma Wednesday.
"Should there be no constructive response, should the West continue its aggressive course, then, as [President Putin] said repeatedly, Moscow will take necessary response measures," the Minister said. "In any case, everyone must consider the security of Russia and its citizens an absolute priority, and it will be ensured under any circumstances."
The United States has promised Russia that it will provide its replies to security guarantee proposals this week. Moscow will not let the West downplay this initiative and brush it under the carpet during endless discussions, Lavrov said.
"Depending on the contents of that reply we and our colleagues from other agencies will draft our proposals addressed to President Vladimir Putin regarding further steps. There is a distinct trend towards downplaying our proposals and brushing them under the carpet in endless discussions. In particular, this concerns the attempts to dump this issue onto the OSCE and the insistent calls by the European Union for finding a place for it in these discussions. We will not let this happen. We will not let them emasculate our initiative," Lavrov said.
He stressed that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a meeting in Geneva on January 21 promised that Washington would hand to Moscow its item-by-item replies explaining the US stance in writing already this week.
On December 17 last year, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements on security guarantees addressed to the US and NATO, which say NATO won’t expand eastward, deny membership to Ukraine and limit deployment of serious offensive weapons, including nuclear ones.
There are fewer and fewer countries willing to sacrifice their national interests for the West, or pull chestnuts out of the fire for the United States and the European Union, Lavrov said.
According to him, the world is no longer US-centric or even Western-centric and the unipolar global order will never be restored. "The number of those willing to sacrifice their core national interests and, so to say, pull chestnuts out of the fire for their superiors from Washington and Brussels is declining," the Russian top diplomat emphasized.
Lavrov pointed out that the vast majority of countries shared Russia’s principled approaches, which rejected the West’s diktats in terms of ideology and its geopolitical "zero-sum games."
The West is trying to punish Russia and China by various unsuitable tools, including sanctions, Sergey Lavrov said at a plenary session of the State Duma on Wednesday.
"The West is trying, as they say, to punish dissidents, who pursue an independent policy, primarily our country and China, by various unsuitable tools such as different kinds of sanctions, demonization in the media space, provocations carried out by special services and so on," the top diplomat noted.
Lavrov pointed out that "the West led by the US" was trying to confront the objective course of history, seeking to secure a one-sided advantage for themselves "not really considering the interests of others, in fact not taking them into account at all."
"Washington and its allies are persistently imposing their own vision of international life on the global community, calling it the need to establish and respect an order based on rules. As part of this concept, the West arrogates to itself the right to set up rules in various fields, completely ignoring the principle of genuine, universal multilateralism, embodied in the UN, thereby undermining international law and the UN-centric architecture of international ties," the Russian top diplomat said.
Over 20 combat ships and vessels of the Russian Black Sea Fleet departed from their naval bases in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk for drills in the Black Sea waters, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday.
"The drills of combined-arms task forces, naval strike and amphibious assault groups in the Black Sea involve frigates, guard ships, missile corvettes and missile boats, amphibious assault ships, small anti-submarine warfare ships and also minesweepers.
During their transit to the designated areas, the warships’ crews will hold a series of communications and safe maneuvering drills in the sea lanes with intensive shipping and also an exercise to provide air defense at sea, the press office specified.
In compliance with the 2022 plan of the Russian Armed Forces’ training, a series of naval drills will be held in January-February this year in all the areas of responsibility of the Navy’s fleets under the general command of Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov.
The naval maneuvers will focus on measures by the Navy and the Aerospace Force to protect Russia’s national interests in the World Ocean and counter military threats to Russia from the direction of seas and oceans.
The drills will cover the seas adjacent to Russian territory and also operationally important areas of the World Ocean. Separate drills will run in the Mediterranean, North and Okhotsk Seas, in the northeastern Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean.
Overall, the sweeping drills will bring together over 140 warships and support vessels, more than 60 aircraft, 1,000 items of military hardware and about 10,000 troops.
On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin met with members of Russia's national team ahead of the opening of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Putin expressed his certainty that Team ROC will do everything it can during the Beijing Olympics to once again prove the high standards of the Russian sports school. He made this remark during his video conference meeting with the athletes.
"We believe that our athletes - the Russian Federation national team - will do everything it can to prove the high class of the Russian sports school and to delight its fans. I wish you all the best and good luck," Putin said.
Speaking to ice hockey player Yegor Yakovlev, Putin noted that he, being a champion of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics "must be well aware of how the country reacts to what our hockey team does on the ice."
"Russia likes winter sports - both figure skating and ice hockey. This always takes a special place, although other winter sports have a lot of fans as well. But, I believe, ice hockey matches attract the most fans," Putin noted. "We know that there are no easy matches at the Olympics, we understand that all this is difficult, but we will sincerely root for you and hope for success," he added.
On Russian Students Day, Tuesday, Vladimir Putin held a virtual meeting, with students from Moscow, St Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Nizhny Novgorod universities.
"Today, in line with an ancient tradition, we mark Tatyana’s Day, also known as Russian Students Day. I would like to convey my greetings to undergraduate students, medical residents, post-graduate students, and of course school pupils who are only preparing to enrol at universities. It goes without saying that my greetings also go to well-established adults. After all, the memories of student camaraderie and the marvellous university years stay with us forever. It is not surprising that even many years after graduating, today’s researchers, doctors, engineers and specialists in various fields stay friends and meet up with their peers to share memories of the wisdom and advice they received from their professors and mentors," he said.
Putin noted that it is thanks to this connection between generations that Russia is moving forward, making scientific and technical breakthroughs, including in mathematics and digital technologies.
"In fact, Russia has built a solid track record in these disciplines and has firmly established itself as a frontrunner," he added.
Vladimir Putin and his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel did not discuss bolstering bilateral military-technical cooperation or deploying military bases during their telephone conversation, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
"No," the Russian presidential spokesman said, replying to a question about whether the Kremlin press office’s message that the leaders discussed "both countries’ further coordination on the international scene in line with the principles of strategic partnership and the traditions of friendship and mutual understanding" should be understood to mean bolstering military-technical cooperation and deploying Russian military bases.
As the Kremlin press secretary pointed out, "the relations between Russia and Cuba have deep traditions."
"They are filled with solid content and, indeed, it is extremely important to synchronize positions on international and regional issues of mutual interest. This is what the heads of both countries spoke about yesterday," Peskov insisted.
The Kremlin press office reported on January 24 that Putin and Diaz-Canel held a telephone conversion.
"The leaders had an in-depth exchange of opinions on bilateral cooperation in trade, the economy and investment. The Cuban head of state thanked Russia for the humanitarian aid supplied to the republic, including in the context of countering COVID-19. The presidents discussed both countries’ further coordination on the international scene in line with the principles of strategic partnership and the traditions of friendship and mutual understanding," the Kremlin press office said in a statement.
During their talk, both leaders "reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral relations and agreed to intensify contacts at different levels," the statement reads.
Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with Governor of Kamchatka Territory Vladimir Solodov to discuss the territory’s socioeconomic development on Monday.
The President started the meeting by saying that growth in the territory’s agricultural output has been gathering momentum, alongside higher fixed capital investment, while industrial output and construction had decreased slightly, and the share of substandard housing is quite high. In response, the Governor noted that in 2021 industrial output started to recover, which is mostly attributable to fish processing following a very good fishing season.
As for construction, Kamchatka has been struggling with this sector for a while now. The territory has finally succeeded in ending the stalemate on the substandard housing issue and has drafted several comprehensive housing development projects. It raised funds for improving the utility infrastructure through infrastructure loans, and is preparing to build a total of 200,000 square metres of housing. The construction of single-family homes is receiving special attention.
On the coronavirus, the Governor said that the situation has been quite stable in Kamchatka. The Defence Ministry has done a lot to help the territory by deploying an infectious disease hospital, with military personnel stepping in to help the territory during peak periods. Vladimir Solodov also reported on launching the construction of the Kamchatka Regional Hospital, and asked the President for his support in approving allocations for the construction.
The Governor went on to emphasise that improved living standards was a priority for the territory, which managed to prevent a decline in real disposable income during the epidemic. Support measures taken under the President’s instructions, as well as the decision to increase the minimum wage played a special role in this regard. Unemployment remained relatively low as well, and fewer young people left the region, which is another positive development.
Vladimir Putin said the territory needs to install broadband, and Vladimir Solodov replied by noting that the territory’s northern areas will benefit from internet connection as soon as 2023, although the northernmost districts, as well as the Komandorskiye Islands will still have to rely on satellite communications. The Governor pointed out that when asked what they need the most, young people in the northern villages ranked internet first, followed by quicker postal deliveries. The territory intends to carry out a pilot project on using drones for this purpose.
The Governor spoke about the construction of new facilities, in particular, sport centres. One unique facility has already been completed and will open soon – a year-round winter sports centre, where athletes will be able to train right on the Avachinsky volcano, including in summer. This first major ice arena in Kamchatka has been built with private money.
Vladimir Solodov brought up a problem that is common for most regions in the Far East. It has to do with the normative level of the federal government’s co-financing of the national projects in the Far Eastern regions. In particular, according to him, standard projects do not objectively take into account the higher construction costs in regions such as Kamchatka. The President suggested that the Governor should formulate the relevant proposals in writing and send them to him in order to instruct the Government to work on this.
The Governor also raised a number of questions that are very important for Kamchatka Territory. They concern a fair indexation of fees on aquatic biological resources, investment quotas for the construction of fishing vessels and so on.
Vladimir Solodov stressed that the region expected a tangible effect from the Northern Sea Route. Novatek is already implementing the first project for the shipment of liquefied natural gas. Kamchatka is a convenient transshipment point in the east of the country.
The President and the Governor also discussed the construction of roads and air transport, especially in the region. In this regard, the Governor asked for federal subsidies to partially finance such non-alternative routes, as the regional government cannot afford this. The President also asked him to prepare relevant proposals.
The discussion predictably covered tourism, which Vladimir Solodov called the most promising industry. He said Kamchatka was known to the whole world. At present, work is underway in the Valley of Geysers. The region has seen a 60 percent increase in tourist inflow. New tourist facilities are being added. One of them is a falconry centre. Its first stage has already been completed, and the first batch of birds is going to be delivered soon.
The Governor also said that the region was going to host the Ecosystem Nationwide Youth Forum in August, before the Eastern Economic Forum. It will be the first carbon-neutral forum, innovative in many ways. Mr Solodov invited the President to attend it.
Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the Republic of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez on Monday.
The leaders had an in-depth exchange of opinions on bilateral cooperation in trade, the economy and investment. The President of Cuba thanked Russia for the humanitarian aid supplied to the republic, including in the context of countering COVID-19. The presidents discussed further coordination of Russia’s and Cuba’s actions in the international arena in line with the principles of strategic partnership and the traditions of friendship and mutual understanding.
Vladimir Putin and Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral relations and agreed to intensify contacts at different levels.
