Belarus
Wednesday 28 August 2019
-
“In these circumstances, the Soviet Union had to go it alone to ensure its national security and sign a non-aggression pact with Germany. This forced move made it possible to better prepare for the coming war with the aggressor. Today, it is worth reminding everyone that our country made a decisive contribution to defeating the Hitler war machine and liberating Europe and the world from Nazism. Had the efforts been joined in the pre-war period, the many victims could have been avoided.”
Lavrov is partially correct about Anglo-French reluctance to enter into a collective security pact with the USSR, but he leaves out the extent of Moscow’s cooperation with Hitler and its increasing economic transactions with Nazi Germany after the signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Agreement. -
“The Chernobyl series … is packed with petty anti-Soviet filth, which poisons viewers’ brains, thus becoming a deliberate, well-thought-out distortion of Soviet reality.”
The Chernobyl miniseries has been widely praised for accuracy and realism, including by people involved in the actual nuclear catastrophe. HBO is a private company not subject to government editorial control, and any claim its producers have been engaged in a “Western propaganda” campaign are false -
“Probably, the level of integration in the CIS format is not the same as in the Eurasian Union... But this is a common story. These are, as we say, variable-speed tracks of integration.”
Looking at all of Russia’s main trading partners, only one has seen the share of trade dramatically increase over the past decade. -
"I understand that some countries would like to forget as soon as possible about the role that they played in the years of prior to World War II. However, I deem those attempts to accuse us of militarizing public opinion as offensive."
Many countries distort or omit inconvenient facts from their pre-World War II history, but Russia has all but eliminated the most difficult discussions from its state education system. One man was even fined for posting factual information. -
“Look, they cheated, and the damage for us both economically and financially, and indeed reputational, is very serious.”
Vladimir Putin’s assessment of the financial and reputational damage is correct: the contamination cost Russia and its European clients billions of dollars. However, the investigation is ongoing and Putin’s claim that the contamination was the result of fraud is, at this point, groundless. -
“I note that we’ve never, even in the days of tsarist Russia, killed people for dissent. This, by the way, is the great strength of our people.”
Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union have persecuted dissidents, sometimes using capital punishment. Modern Russia has abolished the death penalty, although a number of dissidents and journalists have been murdered, their cases remaining unsolved. -
“We love and are proud of President Vladimir Putin, because he is a friend of Palestine and not only Palestine, but all the people who are seeking freedom. President Putin succeeded in restoring Russia’s authority in the international arena and forced all to respect Russia.”
Independent polls show trust and respect for Russia and its president has significantly decreased globally. Under Vladimir Putin’s leadership, Russia has suppressed insurgencies in Chechnya and in Syria. Moscow has lost its membership or voting privileges in multiple international organizations. -
“…the proportion of people who want friendship between Russia and Ukraine remained the same over the past 10 years. This is despite a campaign of anti-Russian propaganda in Ukraine and numerous infringements of Russian speakers’ rights which have been taking place since the 2014 replacement of the lawfully-elected Ukrainian government with a pro-Western regime in the course of violent protests known as ‘Maidan’.”
Attitudes: Russians actually hold a more negative view of Ukrainians than the reverse. Pollsters from both countries know why. The "negative tint of propaganda" directed at Ukraine, they say. -
“Do not believe the stupid Western propaganda that Russia grabbed a piece of Ukrainian holy land from Ukraine. Nothing like that. Crimea has been Russian since very long time and it will be forever”
The Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea violated post-Soviet agreements Russia signed establishing the sovereignty and borders of Ukraine. The international community recognized the annexation of Crimea as a land grab in United Nation General Assembly Resolution 68/262. The resolution confirmed the territorial integrity of Ukraine and invalidated the Crimean referendum on independence held in 2014. -
“This demonstration of power potential is taking place in close proximity to Russian borders and has a clear anti-Russian orientation. Northern Europe and the Baltic region, previously calm militarily, are turning into a training ground for simulating large-scale military operations, setting up public opinion for the possibility of their transformation into a real theater of war.”
NATO began beefing up its forces in Eastern Europe to deter a potential Russian military threat after Moscow’s brief war with Georgia in 2008, followed by the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and orchestration of a pro-Russian uprising in eastern Ukraine. -
“Russia fully complies with the Treaty on Open Skies. The US accusations are completely groundless.”
The Russian government has set distance limits to flights over the Kaliningrad Oblast, imposes altitude restrictions for the Moscow region, denies permission for Open Skies aircraft to fly within 10 kilometers of the Russian border with South Ossetia and Abkhazia. For its own observation flights over the United States Russia uses aircraft with disputed high-resolution digital electro-optical sensors. -
“Russia is ready to host the World Cup. The stadiums are open. The cops are polyglots. That is a quick recap of many years of work.We're not going to lose face in front of the planet. It’s not for nothing we terrified [the planet] with a missile. In general, all is well. But there is only one “but”: Our team, frankly, is sh-t.”
The International Federation of Football Association, the world soccer authority better known as FIFA, ranked Russia’s national team #70 and labeled it a “worst mover.”