Crimea

“I believe that the allocation of $300 million in the United States for military assistance to Ukraine, on the contrary, opens the door for us to help the people at whom they want to shoot with these weapons.”

“[I]t is unfair to claim that the two-day visit to Moscow of Nazi Foreign Minister Ribbentrop was the main reason for the start of the Second World War. All the leading countries are to a certain extent responsible for its outbreak.”

“No, Russia doesn’t have any territorial claims against its neighbors.”

"We do not know about any oligarchs, or about their existence."

“This (claim about persecution of Crimean Tatars) once again confirms that in Ukraine the name of the presidenthas changed, but the regime that came power in Ukraine after the coup has not changed. The actions are the same, the policy is the same, which is based on outright falsification, outright distortion of facts, outright labeling without any attempt to confirm them with any evidence.”

“However, we have long had questions regarding what the United States is guided by in including or not including certain organizations on its ‘blacklists’ [of terrorist organizations]. As you know, Washington has long refused to add the ISIS group to them.”

“Crimea is part of the Russian Federation, with all the consequences this entails. Russia doesn’t have to leave Donbas soil since it had never entered there.”

“The militia did not bring down the Boeing, I know better than anyone. And there was nothing with which we could bring it down, at least before I left the territory of the DNR (Donetsk People’s Republic).”

“We are not going to fight against anyone. We are going to create conditions so that nobody wants to fight against us.”

We fact check six false or misleading claims by made by the Russian Foreign Ministry in its annual review of the Kremlin’s policy initiatives.

"I'm constantly being asked this question: where do they get tanks and heavy artillery? Listen, in many hot spots around the world there are various kinds of conflicts and military campaigns, including with the use of tanks, artillery, and so on. Where does this come from? Apparently, from those structures and states who sympathize with them, but this is their equipment, not foreign. I'd like to draw attention to that."

While ‘brain dead’ @NATO annual #military budget exeeds [sic] $1 trillion, #Russia spends on defence 23 times less (only $46 bln). Neretheless, [sic] #fake Russian threat is used to justify even more waste of taxpayers’ $. Good for business strategy, dangerous for intl. peace & security”