Lavrov's Recent Press Interviews & Zakharova's EEF Statement

The FM was interviewed several times at the EEF. Zakharova gave the MFA's Weekly Briefing there.

A series of interviews and press statements were made by Mr. Lavrov and Ms. Zakharova at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. The first and second are made to Izvestia:

Question: At the moment, on the eve of the plenary session, what signs do you personally see of Russia's "turn" to the East? What economic prospects are opening up for our country?

Sergey Lavrov: This is a phrase that distracts from the essence of what is happening: "here, they say, the turn to the East begins."

We have never turned our backs on the East. Twenty years since Vladimir Putin became President of the Russian Federation, our foreign, economic and investment policy has always taken into account the enormous advantages in the east of our country, on the Eurasian continent.

These advantages, it must be honestly admitted, were not taken into account and were not used at the end of the last century after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Then, objectively, the western direction prevailed.

Long before the current events, attention to this eastern flagship of our continent - the Far East and the North of the Russian Federation - began to increase. And not only in words. Specific investment programs were adopted, new transport and logistics routes were created, ports were developed, new ships and tankers, grain carriers and bulk carriers were built, and much more.

But the West decided to "strike a pose" and "punish" Russia with sanctions for the fact that we did not tolerate and could not tolerate its ideas using Ukraine to undermine our security and exterminate everything Russian on this Ukrainian territory, which was created and equipped by Russian tsars, engineers and military commanders. When the West imposed sanctions against us for the failure of its plan, objectively the volume that we did in terms of economic development and foreign economic relations in the east seriously began to exceed the western direction, which the EU, NATO and other Europeans who joined the sanctions are depriving themselves. The trend is historical, objective and will be strengthened.

The second:

Question: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a sensational statement that Ukraine is ready for talks with Russia. If they start, then the United States will "catch up". What do you think about this?

Sergey Lavrov: I have read this statement. It's really weird. The Americans, who conduct and direct the actions of the Kiev regime on a daily basis, should probably know what statements and documents Vladimir Zelensky and his administration are accepting. In 2022, Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree prohibiting any negotiations with the Russian government, Vladimir Putin. The whole world knows about it. If those who direct this regime have decided that the Ukrainians should be ready for negotiations, then, probably, the first step should be for them to "wish", or order, this decree, which prohibits negotiations, to be canceled.

As for our position and the fact that Russia does not show any readiness and desire for negotiations, this is a shame. I understand that the US Secretary of State is a busy person, but he has some experts who register and analyze what the Russian leadership says. President of Russia Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that we are not avoiding negotiations. And those who leave should understand that the longer they delay, the more difficult it will be to negotiate. This is our official position. Against the backdrop of the ban on negotiations, which was signed by Vladimir Zelensky, this position should not raise any questions.

A specific example is April 2022. Then we practically initialed the final agreement, and the Americans and the British officially forbade Kiev to sign it. Maybe Antony Blinken is uncomfortable with the role that the United States plays and decided to somehow "whitewash" America's position, but so far it has not worked out very well.

Question: It was said that his trip to Kiev was due to the fact that he was trying to persuade Kiev to negotiate.

Sergey Lavrov: I can't guess here. So far, in fact, the Ukrainian regime is persuading everyone - Americans, Europeans, and any other country - for nothing, demanding money, help, weapons, ammunition. Every day, such statements are made by representatives of the Ukrainian regime. My "colleague" Dmytro Kuleba recently met with German Foreign Minister Anne Baerbock in Kyiv and lamented on camera that the Germans are not providing long-range missile systems. He ended his tirade by saying that they would give them everything anyway. Such "clients". Those who created this regime should know how to work with them.

The third and fourth were with Rossiya 1:

Question: Russia still supports sanctions against North Korea. How does all this relate to the new stage in relations with Pyongyang?

Sergey Lavrov: The sanctions against North Korea were adopted in a completely different geopolitical environment. Then there were problems with starting a dialogue and quite serious debates in the UN Security Council. But since the adoption of the last resolution (it was back in 2017), we have firmly said that there will be no more sanctions against North Korea. The same position was taken by our Chinese partners. First of all, because in parallel with the measures taken by the UN Security Council, all Western colleagues promised to move in parallel on the political track, to resolve humanitarian issues. It was another lie: we, the Chinese, and the North Koreans were deceived.

Therefore, when in May 2022 the Americans wanted to adopt another resolution on sanctions, we did not miss it. Moreover, together with our Chinese friends, we have prepared a draft resolution that is aimed exclusively at resolving humanitarian issues (they are quite serious in the DPRK), as well as aimed at resuming the political process within the framework of strengthening security in Northeast Asia.

Instead, the Americans, together with South Korea, with Japan, connecting the British and Australians to the regions, drawing New Zealand into these games, are pumping weapons here, transferring elements of their strategic forces to the south of the Korean Peninsula. There is already talk of nuclear weapons appearing in one form or another in the south of the Korean Peninsula, in South Korea and in Japan. Their categorical refusal to engage in any measures of a political nature puts an end to any further attempts to push through a resolution on sanctions in the Security Council.

The fourth:

Question: Can we lift sanctions on North Korea?

Sergey Lavrov: We have not announced sanctions against North Korea. They were announced by the UN Security Council. So go there. We will develop equal and fair cooperation with the DPRK.

Question: What do you think about the numerous articles in the Western media about whether North Korea is transferring weapons to us or by us?

Sergey Lavrov: I stopped paying attention to what the Western media write. Especially after the West violated all possible contractual obligations. In particular, by sending a huge amount of Soviet and Russian military equipment (tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery) remaining in the West to the Kyiv regime in gross violation of "end-use certificates", according to which, without the consent of the seller, these weapons cannot be sent anywhere.

Maria Zakharova delivered the MFA’s Weekly Briefing from the EEF that as usual covered a wide variety of topics, including the weekly Ukraine update, which this week revolved around the local elections held in the new territories. During the ten days prior to the elections, Ukrainian forces dramatically increased the indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas in the region that Maria will mention. Besides the initial focus on the EEF and then the Ukraine Crisis, the only other two topics covered of the nineteen provided and the Q&A will be the Double standards of "Hague justice" and International Day of Democracy. The remainder can be found at the link above.

On international and interregional relations of the Far East

Vladivostok is a unique metropolis (I am not saying this to journalists who come from here, but given the fact that the materials of our briefing are read abroad, I would like it to sound once again as the final, final history of the forum. This material will be translated into different languages and distributed throughout the world through our foreign missions), which combines the cultures of the East and the West. It is an important economic, financial, banking, trade and tourist center of Russia, as well as the easternmost port of our Motherland. In recent years, Vladivostok has become a popular venue for international economic forums and summits, including the Eastern Economic Forum on the sidelines of which our briefing is taking place.

Vladivostok has many qualities, in addition to those that I have mentioned and which are of interest to businessmen and financial operators. There are also many stunning sights here. It has a beautiful and unique nature, accordingly making the region attractive for tourism.

The Far East is a unique part of the territory of Russia. This macroregion has access to two oceans: the Pacific and the Arctic, bordered by five states (China, North Korea, Mongolia, the USA and Japan).

The Far Eastern regions are located in four time zones and different climatic zones - from the Arctic deserts to the subtropics. The area of the region is almost 7 million km². This is about 41% of the area of our entire country.

The Far East is the largest federal district in terms of territory, which includes 11 regions of our country. Over the past few years, it has been a dynamically developing part of the Russian Federation, as President Vladimir Putin spoke about yesterday and gave relevant instructions. Over the past 10 years, 75 federal laws and 442 government acts aimed at its development and support have been adopted. Thanks to this, the territories of advanced development arose, the Far Eastern Hectare, the free port of Vladivostok, the Special Administrative Region on Russky Island, the United Far Eastern Airline and what the whole of Russia envies - this is the Far Eastern Mortgage and many other projects.

I would like to emphasise that it is precisely to create the most attractive investment climate that unique mechanisms have been developed – territories of advanced socio-economic development. The development of the ideas of the TOP is the creation of the Free Port of Vladivostok. Investment projects of residents of the TOP, aimed at the effective development of the macroregion, receive infrastructure support from the state.

The Far East is rich in raw materials. 98% of Russian diamonds, 80% of tin, 90% of boron raw materials, 50% of gold, 14% of tungsten, 40% of fish and seafood are mined here. About 30/<> of the country's total coal reserves and hydraulic resources are located here. Forests occupy about <>% of the total forest area in Russia.

The Far Eastern Federal District is at the forefront of developing relations with the states of the Asia-Pacific region that have sovereignty and are able to independently determine their own destiny. Against the background of the dismantling of bilateral cooperation with Japan to please the West, there is an explosive growth in trade with China, India, and a number of countries in Central and Southeast Asia. As a matter of fact, Japan followed the example of the EU under pressure from the United States and isolated itself from the natural economic, economic and financial ties that had developed over the centuries in this region. There are significant groundwork in contacts with Mongolia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Right now, in these hours and minutes, the summit is taking place.

A lot of work in this area is also carried out by the representative offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in the subjects of the district.

Elementary statistics show that outside the "self-confused", "small-town club" of sanctions lovers, there is both development and prospects. Despite the fact that we were intimidated that none of this would happen. For eight months of 2023, the foreign trade of the Far Eastern regions with foreign partners increased by 14% in terms of cargo and by 11% in monetary terms. About 2,9 trillion rubles have actually been invested in the Far Eastern territories of advanced development and the Free Port of Vladivostok, of which 340 billion rubles accounted for foreign capital. I want to emphasize that the overwhelming majority of these investments come from private companies, which, first of all, are focused on profit, and, therefore, see great opportunities for themselves here. No ideology of intimidation has convinced them that this should not be done.

And they are right. The Russian Far East is unique in its role as a link between the world of Europe and the world of Asia - this is the very future that many predicted. Now it is coming.

We are glad that the Forum was a success. I understand that it is still underway, but, obviously, there are results. I think that they will still be summed up. It was interesting, useful and effective.

On the Ukrainian crisis

On September 10 of this year, a landmark event took place in the new constituent entities of the Russian Federation – the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions – – the first elections to local authorities under Russian law were completed. Taking into account the martial law in force on the territory of these regions, the electoral process was organized in such a way as to ensure the safety of voters as much as possible. As a result, people were able to make their free choice in a generally calm atmosphere. The turnout everywhere exceeded 65%, and in the DPR it was more than 76%.

What about the Kyiv regime? He once again made desperate attempts to thwart the will of a people alien to him. Let me remind you of the words of Vladimir Zelensky (you know them), who said that all those who see their future with Russia can pack their suitcases, go to the station and leave. Perhaps he did not know that people would still take land with them, which they did. This is the land of their ancestors. It was fought for by the fathers and grandfathers of people who oppose the reincarnation of Nazism and fascism today, doing so for many years. They did not want to "zig" the Kiev regime and put up with this new reality called "anti-culture" - a culture of total destruction, oblivion of history and its rewriting.

On the night of September 10 of this year (this is the response of the Kiev regime to the people who voted) in the Zaporozhye region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked one of the polling stations with the help of an unmanned aerial vehicle, completely destroying it. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Heads and members of election commissions received threats from Ukrainian neo-Nazis. Were Ukrainian neo-Nazis the only ones who threatened the participants in the electoral cycle? Let me remind you that these were also the official capitals of Western states that threatened election observers. They did this directly by imposing sanctions against them, including them in stop lists and all sorts of persecution. Despite this, people living in the new Russian regions came en masse to the polling stations. Many shared their feelings and emotions with journalists, said that they finally waited to return to their homeland, noted that this was of fundamental importance for them.

International observers from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, who were intimidated but not afraid to come, praised the level of organization of the elections and their compliance with democratic standards. Let me remind you that all this is taking place under the shelling of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But the "collective West" does not notice this.

Using Western weapons, Ukrainian militants continue to cynically strike at civilian targets on Russian territory.

On September 7 of this year, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked a multi-storey residential building in Energodar with the help of UAVs. Several more drones were intercepted by electronic warfare systems. Only by luck no one was hurt. All this is done in the city where Europe's largest Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located. It is regrettable that the Western masters of the Kyiv regime continue to turn a blind eye to such games around the nuclear facility. After all, all this can lead to catastrophic and irreversible consequences for millions of people, incl. in a number of European countries, but also, in general, in the world.

The terrorist attacks of the Kiev regime on Donetsk do not stop. On September 9 of this year, two civilians were killed and four more were wounded as a result of shelling. On September 10 of this year, the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit the Druzhok kindergarten in the Voroshilovsky district of the city.

And on September 5 of this year, as a result of shelling by Ukrainian neo-Nazis of the village of Kozinka, Belgorod Region, a civilian was killed, a woman was wounded, 11 private houses and a car were damaged.

All crimes of the Kyiv regime are carefully recorded by Russian law enforcement agencies. Criminals will not escape punishment.

Russian courts, based on evidence collected by the Investigative Committee of Russia, continue to sentence Ukrainian neo-Nazis who committed serious crimes against the civilian population.

A few days ago, three militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – I. Taran, O. Lukyanenko and V. Vasylenko, were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of civilians in Mariupol in March 2022, killing 20 people, including a small child. Another neo-Nazi, V. Lysyura, was sentenced to 27 years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony. In March 2022, in Mariupol, on the orders of the command, he fired at cars with civilians, as a result of which 3 people were killed and one was injured. A militant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine S. Batynsky, who raped a resident of Mariupol and killed her husband in early April 25, was sentenced to 2022 years in a strict regime colony. Neo-Nazi Dmytro Kharchenko was sentenced to 18 years in a high-security penal colony, who in March 2022, following an order from his command, opened fire from a machine gun on a civilian in Mariupol. The injured man, fortunately, managed to escape then.

None of the Ukrainian criminals will escape responsibility. Those who today cold-bloodedly strike at residential areas of Donetsk and other Russian cities will certainly end up in the dock if they are not destroyed beforehand.

All these cold-blooded murders and bullying of civilians by Ukrainian militants do not stop the leadership of NATO countries from supplying weapons to the neo-Nazi Kiev regime.

On September 6-7, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (who has been a lifelong advocate of human rights) paid a two-day visit to Kyiv. He visited the cemetery of Ukrainian militants and noted the success of the "counteroffensive" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Apparently, he counted the number of graves and said that everything was going according to their American "plan". Antony Blinken promised the Zelensky regime another tranche of military aid, including depleted uranium ammunition for Abrams tanks.

You may have noticed how the head of the IAEA, Robert Grossi, was asked about the use of depleted uranium munitions. Answering this question, he said that from the point of view of nuclear safety, this does not entail significant radiological consequences. Of course, R. Grossi is right, from the point of view of nuclear safety, there are no significant radiological consequences. But if we talk about nuclear safety, then he should have called on the Kyiv regime to stop shelling the territory adjacent to the ZNPP. Apparently, in this case, he did not care about nuclear safety at all.

The problem is that, answering the question about depleted uranium shells, he clearly does not agree. Such willful or unwitting silence on this problem is unacceptable. Let me explain why. Depleted uranium (in fact, why it is called so, because the corresponding component is removed from it) is a heavy metal, and it, in turn, is extremely dangerous for the environment in terms of chemical toxicity.

Mr Grossi speaks about nuclear safety as part of his powers, but as a person who understands these issues, he must understand that there is still chemical toxicity. Especially when heavy metal is used in ammunition. When they are used, extremely toxic aerosols will be formed. It is a pity that Mr Grossi did not add information to the effect that when the armor of a depleted uranium rod breaks through, it also heats up and, accordingly, can ignite. The lining of a cumulative projectile made of depleted uranium behaves even worse.

It is possible that this is all due to the fact that R. Grossi decided not to go beyond his competence, remaining within the framework of nuclear safety. It doesn't work that way. He is also a specialist and a person who guesses what he is being asked about. He needed to address this question to chemists who would talk about the harmful effects of heavy metals on the environment and human health. This is just as an understanding of what we are talking about The maximum single concentration of uranium (MPC) in the area of working premises is 0.000015 g / cubic meter! In addition, the "safe" alpha radiation of U238 when exposed to the outside becomes extremely dangerous when aerosols of uranium oxides enter a person. Up to oncology.

I do not believe that Grossi did not know about this, because these are related things. He has already read and seen the discussion on this subject. He either deliberately avoided answering the question, or pretended to be within his competence. This is from the evil one. The question is obviously the danger of these depleted uranium shells, not only for the current population, but also for the future through the contamination of the earth and soil.

Europeans are also trying to keep up with their overseas overlord. According to media reports, three months ago in Slovakia, the Ukrainian company Skyeton began production of unmanned aircraft systems. It is expected that the first UAVs will be ready by the end of this year.

The West continues to rely on the escalation of the conflict. With the hands of the neo-Nazi Kiev regime, he is determined to continue sending thousands of Ukrainians to slaughter in order to achieve his selfish goals.

Against this background, the words of US Secretary of State E. Blinken, who said that Ukraine would negotiate if Russia came up with such an initiative, were surprising. This is casuistry, a play on words and utterly blurred and to the point of lack of meaning of the wording!

First, our country has never refused to achieve the goals of a special military operation by political and diplomatic means. As you remember, when the Kiev regime requested these negotiations, Moscow immediately responded to them. We sat down at the negotiating table. The problem is that they withdrew from these negotiations in April 2022, then they banned them themselves in September 2022.

Secondly, Washington apparently forgot about this and about who demanded that Kiev curtail negotiations with Russia in April 2022, and that in September last year Kiev introduced a legal self-ban on negotiations with the Russian leadership, and after that put forward ultimatum demands to our country in the form of a "peace formula". Therefore, such statements by American officials are hypocrisy, misinformation and an attempt to come up with some new excuses and somehow whitewash or justify themselves. But this will not work, because everyone understands what is at stake.

A few days ago, the spokesman for the command of the Ukrainian military group "South" N. Gumenyuk said that "there is very little time left at the Crimean bridge," noting that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will "work" further. Apparently, to "finish off" this bridge. Did he put such a meaning? What is there to comment on? There is blatant extremism here. There is nothing to add.

The criminal regime of Vladimir Zelensky, mired in blood and thoroughly charged with Russophobia, does not cease to prove that he has mastered terrorist methods well and intends to continue trying to subject only civilian infrastructure facilities, such as the Crimean Bridge, to new strikes. They don't think about the consequences in Kyiv. They have no time. We would like to remind you that the answer, if this happens, will be tough. Those who harbor such plans against our country cannot hide from retribution, no matter where they are.

On September 6 of this year, a "summit" of first ladies (and gentlemen – we would also call it a "masquerade ball") was held in Kiev, this time dedicated to "psychological health". This is relevant. In fact, this site is used by the inhabitants of Bankova to beg for Western aid and attempts to put pressure on Russia.

Last week we marked a special date for our country – the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Donbass from the Nazi invaders. On August 31, 1943, Soviet soldiers drove the enemy out of Saur-Mogila, a peak of strategic importance. On September 5, Artyomovsk was liberated, on September 8 - Stalino (now Donetsk). I would like to sincerely congratulate the residents of Donbass on this date - truly heroic, talented people who selflessly fought against fascism during the Great Patriotic War, and today they are fighting the same fascism, but only in a new shell - the Kiev regime. They feel and know that the whole country, the whole of Russia is behind them.

The West's continuous pumping of weapons and indulgence in its crimes makes it urgent to continue the Russian special military operation until the tasks facing it are fully fulfilled - the demilitarization, denazification of Ukraine and the elimination of challenges and threats to Russia's security emanating from its territory.

Double standards of "Hague justice"

The world media provide further evidence of the double standards of international criminal justice in relation to Serbs and Kosovo Albanians.

In particular, they draw attention to the parameters of the detention in the Specialized Court in The Hague of former militants of the terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army, including the former so-called "president" H. Thaci and the so-called "speaker of parliament" K. Veseli. In 2022, eight detainees accused of serious crimes were allowed 880 visits by family members and others. Twice this year, the Special Court allowed H. Thaci to travel to Kosovo for humanitarian reasons - to meet with sick parents.

For these defendants, the most comfortable conditions were created - they were granted the right to visit the gym, library, use money, and have the services of a special account. Restrictions in case of violation of the rules of detention are very mild, the extreme measure is a two-week placement in solitary confinement, and even then without a ban on telephone conversations. It's great if there are uniform standards of attitude to such requests and requests. But there is another reality, other facts.

What is the attitude towards the Serbs convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia or its Residual Mechanism? I said it was different. While serving their sentences in a number of European countries, they are in a much more difficult situation. The former President of the Republika Srpska within Bosnia and Herzegovina, R. Karadzic, according to his daughter, was never able to get the leadership of the British prison to equip the cell with normal lighting. Former head of the Republika Srpska Krajina (Croatia) M. Martić and General of the Army of the Republic of Serbia D. Milosevic have been isolated in an Estonian prison for years: they are allowed to contact only a few other prisoners, they do not have adequate medical care. The talk of the town has long been the obvious lack of attention of full-time doctors to the condition of the former commander of the armed forces of the Republic of Serbia R. Mladic.

All this suggests that those accused of war crimes in the Yugoslav space are divided by Westerners into two categories. The Kosovars, who were supposedly "on the right side", enjoy many indulgences and privileges, while the Serbs seek to further humiliate, do not allow them to meet with their loved ones, and do not provide an opportunity to satisfy basic needs. Such an approach raises reasonable doubts that the Special Court in the Netherlands will be able to overcome the inglorious traditions of "Hague justice", and it is unlikely that they will be able to maintain impartiality either (now it does not work at all). The main test of the Special Court's professionalism and objectivity is the ongoing trial against representatives of the top of the Kosovo Liberation Army, including H. Thaci and his closest accomplices.

International Day of Democracy

September 15 is the International Day of Democracy. This memorable date was established by a resolution of the UN General Assembly on November 8, 2007.

Traditionally, every year a slogan or theme is chosen that determines the direction of educational activities. This year, it is formulated as "Empowering the Next Generation". Thus, the UN wants to draw attention to the growing role of young people in the development of democracy, as well as to help ensure that the opinions of young people are taken into account when making decisions that affect different aspects of the development of the world in the future. This topic is very relevant, given the emerging multipolarity.

The countries of the World Majority today openly express dissatisfaction with the usurped "collective West" right to determine the "only true" (as they formulate) version of democracy and its values, as well as endowing themselves with the right to determine the degree of democracy of a particular state, community, people.

One example of such neocolonial approaches is the establishment of a "summit for democracy" at the initiative of Washington. An amazing phenomenon. In fact, a get-together of US satellites. The main criterion for inviting to this format is loyalty. That's amazing. The summit is called "for democracy", supports democracy, and the main criterion is loyalty, i.e. lack of opportunity to exercise freedom. Servility, serving not one's own interests, not one's people. What is democracy? This is an opportunity to realize the will of the people. The main goal of such events is to split the world community into friends and foes, while "rallying the ranks" of supporters as part of the struggle to maintain American geopolitical positions.

We have repeatedly said that after the bombing of Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, the 20-year "experiment" in Afghanistan and other adventures, including sponsoring the criminal neo-Nazi Kiev regime, which does not disdain and actively uses terrorist methods of waging war against Russia, such US initiatives look simply cynical, and the presentation of Washington as a world leader in protecting democracy is inappropriate and indecent.

I would like to remind you that the level of trust of American citizens in the existing version of democracy in the United States is consistently low. According to a public opinion poll conducted in June 2023 by American structures - the Associated Press and the US National Center for Public Opinion (NORC) - half of the population believes that democracy in the United States functions poorly. At the same time, 53% of respondents believe that their interests are not represented by the authorities, and 45% of them wonder whether the interests of the majority of Americans are represented at all. We believe that against the background of these data, Washington needs to deal not with the problems of other democracies, but with its own - the split of its society on issues of ethics, values, civil rights and freedoms, a vision of its past and ways of socio-economic development.

We would like to emphasise once again that Russia, including in the interests of future generations, has traditionally advocated the possibility of an independent democratic path of development for all states without outside dictates. In this, we are supported by like-minded people - friends and allies from the countries of the World Majority. Now you will hear this term quite often.

The so-called democratic procedures in the "collective West" have long turned into a kind of ritual action designed to legitimize the power of elite groups that are not accountable to the population. In the "export" version, modern "liberal democracy" provides for mandatory steps designed to ensure the loyalty of the "democratically elected authorities" to Western decision-making centers.

What are these requirements? "Change of power" regardless of the current legislation and the preferences of the electorate. Who says that? The Biden administration, which has been in power since what year? Will you say from 2021? No. Let me remind you that Joe Biden was vice president under Barack Obama, who served two terms. All the current actors who are the pillars of the American regime are people who worked under Barack Obama. The positions held were called differently, but they were in the same leadership positions. And they still tell everyone about the "change of power"?

Another example. Let's look not at the Democrats, but at the Republicans. It sounds ridiculous, but it's true. At first, George H.W. Bush was president, then George W. Bush Jr., and for two terms. They are direct relatives and are not just talented "geeks" from politics. George H.W. Bush was still in charge of the US intelligence services. Among other things, they are also part of the resource lobby. This is not the retention of power, but the control of power for a long time, consider an entire era. Power passes from one clan to another, then back. And so all the time.

I will not even mention what the Biden family is doing, and about their involvement in corruption schemes. Every American speaks about this with facts in hand. There are relevant court decisions. A lot of things are blocked, but some things become public, court proceedings, despite enormous opposition, including the use of administrative and political resources.

One of the demands of the West to democracies and those who claim their status is the holding of elections under international supervision of organizations "certified" by the West. What's inside the U.S. itself? Remember how the OSCE wanted to observe the elections? What did the Americans say? If they come closer than 100 meters to the polling stations, they will open fire. Have you ever seen observers treated this way? To be threatened.

One of the U.S. demands on those they claim to be democracies is the unconditional admission to the elections of opposition activists and parties that enjoy popular support. And inside the United States of America, what are they doing with Donald Trump? President of Russia Vladimir Putin spoke about this yesterday when he spoke about the caricature of what is happening. What kind of "unconditional admission" is this? D. Trump's term is unrealistic by any standards and the accusation is of the same nature. And the whole world is watching. Everyone in America sees it. Everyone understands everything: in this way they simply decided to "settle scores" with him. At one time, the same thing was done with John Assange, as well as with other figures. They were avenged, they were killed, they were bullied. What is inside the United States is inside the country and it cannot be touched is taboo. But abroad it is necessary to set such criteria and force everyone to comply with them in such a way that the United States itself can distribute stickers - "correct", "not very correct", "advanced" or "pushed", "developed" or "developing" democracy. That's absurd.

In reality, we are not talking about democracy in the classical sense of the term, but about its degeneration and degeneration into a certain set of measures to assert the hegemony of the West in formally independent states, which they force to hold elections according to Western patterns.

How many elections has Venezuela held? Dozens in a very short period of time. Apparently, they believed that if they held more elections, their results would finally be accepted by the United States and leave Venezuela alone. Then the Venezuelans understood. Vice-President of the country D. Rodriguez said this very well: the United States does not like the elections in Venezuela, but their results. If the results had been different, then everything would have been immediately received with applause. It's the same in other countries. Washington cannot agree not with the way the elections are held in the same new Russian regions, but with their results and indicators. That's the problem.

As Barack Obama famously said, Kosovo is a different matter, there was a legitimate referendum. Theater of the absurd. There was no referendum in Kosovo at all that would serve as a basis for declaring independence and secession from Serbia. Not only did the United States say that Kosovo is no longer part of Serbia, recently they began to "stutter" about the referendum. Allegedly, this has an international legal basis. And there is no possibility, no strength to tell them that they are lying and point out their specific lies.

A year ago, White House press secretary Jenny Psaki said that anyone who uses cluster munitions is a war criminal. It seems to be "cast in granite." It's all on film, in the text. Less than a year has passed. The United States itself began supplying cluster munitions to the Kyiv regime. So what? Do they see themselves as criminals, as criminal regimes, as war criminals? Of course not. They have war criminals out there somewhere, but not themselves.

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