Politics
Saturday 24 June 2017
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Elmurod Rasulmukhamedov
First Deputy Chairman of the All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation
“The information about the green spaces targeted for renovation was apparently taken from a CIA spy satellite.”
Read more...Moscow’s controversial urban renewal project has prompted discussion among environmentalists, with Greenpeace Russia warning it could have damaging consequences. One Russian organization, however, falsely accused Greenpeace of using CIA spy satellite data to fabricate the report. -
Vladimir Putin
Russian President
“The Ukrainian government is insisting that the section of the border in the area of the unrecognized republics must be closed. And indeed, the Minsk protocols require that the border with Russia be closed by Ukrainian border guards, but only after the key political decisions are adopted.”
Read more...Putin is right about the timetable of the Minsk peace agreements, but he ignores his own responsibility for the ongoing war in Ukraine. -
Kiselyov’s legal defense team
“Dmitry Kiselyov has never expressed support for the directing of Russian forces to Ukraine... The EU Council did not provide information necessary to ensure [his] legal right to defense, since the accusations leveled were formulated in an unduly vague way.”
Read more...Lawyers for pro-Kremlin media figure Dmitry Kiselyov claim their client never expressed support for sending Russian troops into Ukraine, and that the European Council has denied him the right to legal defense. In fact, Kiselyov is notorious for provocative comments about Ukraine and the court followed regular procedures in adjudicating his case. -
Anro Khidirbegishvili
Editor-in-chief, Sakinform news agency
“A decision was made to drag Georgia into NATO as soon as possible… Therefore, it is no longer convenient for the West to recognize the territorial integrity of Georgia… This is [another] reason why it is essential to force Georgia to give up its rights to Abkhazia and South Ossetia.”
Read more...NATO is not forcing Georgia to join the alliance. It is Georgia which seeks to join both NATO and the European Union. In addition, NATO and the EU have consistently and publicly supported Georgia’s territorial integrity and called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia. -
Dmitry Peskov
Russian Presidential Press Secretary
“I know nothing about this, this is the first time I’ve heard about it.” [in reply to a query about then-President Barack Obama directly addressing President Putin on Russia’s alleged hacking attacks on the U.S.]
Read more...President Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, denies any knowledge of a phone call between Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, in which the U.S. President addressed his Russian counterpart on the subject of alleged Russian cyber-attacks and interference in the 2016 presidential elections. Unfortunately for Peskov, he had briefed journalists on this very phone call less than six months earlier. -
Gen. Sergei Surovikin
Commander of Russian forces in Syria
"Instead of eliminating terrorists guilty of killing hundreds and thousands of Syrian civilians, the U.S.-led coalition together with the Democratic Forces Union [Syrian Democratic Forces] controlled by it, enters into collusion with ringleaders of the ISIL, who give up the settlements they had seized without fighting and head to the provinces where the Syrian government forces are active."
Read more...The commander of Russian forces in Syria said the U.S.-led coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces have entered “into collusion” with Islamic State “ringleaders” and given them safe passage “south of Raqqah,” and that IS left the city “without fighting.” However, the territory south of Raqqah is controlled by IS, which means they do not need a safe corridor to travel there, while IS is reportedly fighting U.S.-backed forces for every street inside the city. -
Vladimir Putin
President of Russia
“Nowadays, NATO is a mere instrument of U.S. foreign policy. It has no allies, it has only vassals. When a country becomes a NATO member, it is very hard for it to resist pressure from a big country … like the United States.”
Read more...NATO is a consensus-based organization, in which every member, regardless of its size, has an equal say in decisions taken. NATO’s political unity makes it the most successful alliance in history. -
Vladimir Putin
President, Russia
“We are aware of the accusations of the use of chemical weapons. There is no proof whatsoever! We offered right after it happened to conduct an inspection exactly at the airport from where President Assad’s aircraft allegedly took off with chemical weapons. They refused – nobody wants that. …because they were afraid that this falsification would be exposed – it’s as simple as that. Regarding the people who were killed or suffered from the use of weapons, including chemical weapons – that is false information.”
Read more...Vladimir Putin said the United States and its allies refused to investigate chemical attacks that took place in Syria in April because they feared the probe would reveal that the attacks were “falsified” and there was no proof the regime of Bashar al-Assad possesses and has used chemical weapons. Putin also claimed that reports about the victims of such attacks is “false information.” However, France, Turkey and the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have each conducted an independent investigation and produced detailed reports showing the Assad regime carried out sarin gas attacks. -
Nikolai Patrushev
chairman of the Russian Security Council
“Western technologists have not renounced their plans to implement 'color scenarios' in our country […]. As a rule, such an outburst of activity from opposition forces is observed in the run-up to federal election campaigns. It is no accident that the West is allocating financial and material means to non-governmental organizations in Russia and creating so-called "independent" Russian-language mass media.”
Read more...Due to Kremlin crackdown, few foreign-funded NGOs or independent media operating in Russia. Those that still do are not involved in elections such as the forthcoming 2018 presidential ballot. -
Maria Zakharova
Spokesperson, Russian Foreign Ministry
“The most acute anxiety is being experienced by the Football Association of Norway, which on May 16 sent the International Federation of Association Football [FIFA] a letter that contains a request to launch an investigation into the use of immigrant labor in the construction of the Zenit Arena stadium in St. Petersburg under conditions reminiscent of modern slavery, without registration, for a beggarly payment and so on. This topic is an instrument of political pressure and blackmail, and in this case, it is an information campaign. We urge you to not react to these fakes.”
Read more...Russia’s Foreign Ministry has denied that North Koreans building a stadium for the 2018 World Cup in St. Petersburg are working under conditions reminiscent of modern slavery, calling these accusations “fake” and “political blackmail.” However, several international organizations, including FIFA, the world football body, and the United Nations confirm these violations of labor rights in Russia. -
Channel One
Russian state television broadcaster
“The case against Russian citizen Denis Katsyv, the owner of the Prevezon company and the first defendant under so-called Magnitsky law, actually fell apart in a New York federal court.”
Read more...Russian state TV’s Channel One reported on May 24 that the U.S. government case against a Russian businessman accused of money laundering under the Magnitsky Act “actually fell apart” in a New York federal court. In fact, a settlement was reached in the case, with the defendant paying the U.S. Treasury nearly $6 million, pending court approval.