Embassy press officer’s reply to a media question on cooperation between Russia and African countries
Question: British media has been paying particular attention lately to various aspects of cooperation between Russia and African countries. Could you comment on this?
Answer: Indeed, the sheer amount of publications covering our ties with Africa leads to believe that we are dealing with a deliberate information campaign. The aim seems to be to denounce the Russian approach to cooperation with African states as unscrupulous and mercantile. We would like to recall that Russia’s relations with Africa are free from problems related to colonial past, so it is hardly fair for the British media to suspect colonial ambitions on our part. Russia (as previously the USSR) has always been and continues to be a strong advocate for equal and respectful cooperation with nations of the African continent, both bilaterally and in international organizations. This approach is known and appreciated both by our traditional and new partners in Africa.
It is hardly a coincidence that Western media have started this campaign ahead of the Russia-Africa summit (October 24, Sochi), where we expect to host leaders of more than 40 African states. The interest expressed by African nations for mutually beneficial relations with Russia bothers our Western colleagues in light of their historical influence on the continent.
We have taken note that Russian companies operating in Africa have also become a target of UK media attacks. The latest example in a series of publications is a piece in the Guardian of 28 August, focusing on Rosatom implementing a number of cutting-edge projects in the field of atomic energy. The nervous and misplaced reaction must be a recognition of the indisputable success of Russian nuclear energy technologies in Africa and their global relevance.
Question: What impact have the sanctions had on the state of relations between Russia and the West?
Maria Zakharova: Unfortunately, the growing use of politically motivated, unilateral restrictive measures by a number of Western countries, primarily the United States, has become a reality of our time. We increasingly view the sanctions against Russia as a “gesture of despair” and a manifestation of the local elites’ inability to accept the new reality, abandon the stereotypes of their bloc-based thinking, and recognise Russia's right to independently determine its path of development and build relationships with its partners.
In terms of discussion of the issue of current implementation of the Treaty on Open (OST) Skies, the Russian Delegation would like to announce the official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia on the situation with regard to the Treaty on Open Skies.
On April 21, Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy Bart Gorman was summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was handed a note saying that 10 US Embassy employees in Moscow had been declared persona non grata. These people have been ordered to leave the Russian Federation before the end of the day on May 21.
We consider the FCDO statement of 15 April on “malign activity by Russian intelligence services in cyberspace” as nothing but an attempt to play along with the US, which as usually try to put a blame on Russia while obviously failing to ensure their own cyber security.
Question: Newly appointed to lead the inquest into the death of Dawn Sturgess, Baroness Hallet has announced her plans to examine the Russian state’s involvement in poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury as part of the inquest. Any comments?
Answer: We see it as a confirmation of our earlier conclusion that the situation with regard to these tragic events would evolve according to the Litvinenko Case scenario. Regular investigation and regular use of existing international legal instruments (since there have been Russian nationals affected) is being substituted with a quasi-judicial procedure. It does not formally pertain to the incident in Salisbury as such, yet would undoubtedly be used to support again and again the groundless accusations against Russia made by the British authorities.
On 10 March 2021, the Embassy undertook a demarche to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office regarding the leaked FCDO-related documents that reveal a large-scale campaign being performed by the UK Government aimed at exercising systematic influence on the Russian-language media space.
Three years have now passed since the highly publicized incident in Salisbury. So far we have learnt little on what really happened. The British authorities laid the blame on Russia for an alleged use of chemical weapons on the British soil. Such a serious accusation however was not backed by any facts, proof or other sort of relevant information. Being ungrounded, it cannot be considered credible.
The representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey as guarantors of the Astana format: 1. Reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as well as to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and highlighted that these principles should be universally respected and complied with;
Russia has its own views on global developments and we openly express them and take practical actions to uphold them, unlike a huge number of other countries who have their own views too but keep mum. The West doesn’t like this so it chose aggressive deterrence of Russian Federation. Sanctions are imposed by the West in order to feel satisfaction from the act of meting out “punishment”. But sanctions lead nowhere and cannot result in a change in our course on upholding Russia’s national interests.
Mr Navalny was detained, in full accordance with the law, for violating the terms of probation. He was convicted for fraud back in 2014, and the European Court on Human Rights dismissed his claim that the case was politically motivated. He was released on probation, but neglected to comply with its conditions even before his alleged “poisoning” last August. He was not bothered during his hospital stay, but after the discharge he continued to break probation rules and ignored the warnings of penitentiary authorities, which led to his current detention. He is not a “political prisoner”, but a common criminal, who flaunted the law to look like a victim for political gains.
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