"You can't give black for white, and white for black"
The situation around Russian diplomatic missions in Western Europe indicates a systemic departure from the norms of international law and the Vienna Conventions. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, told Izvestia on June 3 on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Read more about the state of diplomatic relations between Russia and the West, the situation around Russian diplomatic missions, as well as the prospects for visa—free travel with a number of countries.
"The Kiev regime is preying on people"
— I would like to start today's conversation with current events — with the attack on an intercity passenger bus that took place in Yenakiyevo, in the DPR. There are seven dead and 11 injured civilians. Do you think this strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be hushed up by the West in the same way as it happened in the situation with Starobilsk and other similar attacks?
— The Kiev regime preys on people. They hunt people on the territory of their country, that is, the country they control, Ukraine, in those regions where they can exercise their extremist, terrorist power.
As you can see, they are literally using a network of "human traps" and a specially organized infrastructure, through the institutionalization of forced mobilization, to prey on Ukrainian citizens. They drag them to military enlistment offices — supposedly to military enlistment offices, because in Ukraine these are no longer military enlistment offices, but really such strong points for processing people.
Then they are simply sent to their deaths, knowing that they will die. This is absolutely the style of the notorious Epstein and his entire team, when, as you remember, they organized tours of Afghanistan in helicopters, from which the shooting was carried out, obviously, at whom? By people. This is the mentality of that part of the Western community that makes this practically the new norm.
Hence the issues of silence: this is not just an accident, it's not just about the present moment or about Russia, it's basically an approach to make it normal and to accustom the world community to the idea that a certain part of humanity can and should live with dignity, with all the benefits and rights. And the other part, what they call, so to speak, not a golden billion or a beautiful garden, can be recycled like this: they can be hunted, they can be destroyed.
They will keep silent and will not talk about it, and will not do anything that would emphasize the absolute abnormality, anomaly, criminality and immorality of the actions of the Kiev regime. This is one of the parts of their ideology — not to condemn the obvious evil.
Remember what a contrast this is with the same 1990s and early 2000s, when the theme of international terrorism prevailed on all platforms. Now, through the efforts of the West, the theme of Ukraine prevails, not from the point of view of actual events, but there is a literally violent "Ukrainization" of the entire agenda from a political angle: economics, culture, humanities — everything is served through the theme of Ukraine.
Before that, the West presented everything through the theme of international terrorism, and literally every aspect of human life was viewed through this prism. Here it is now, international terrorism: terrorist attacks are being carried out by the hands of the Kiev regime, with money and weapons from Western countries, with the political support of certain lobbying circles, and they are silent. Therefore, of course, we must understand that our task is to do everything possible to provide information, talk about it, and simply sound the alarm.
— Are any concrete steps already being considered, perhaps at the Security Council level?
— Every crime of the Kiev regime is recorded both by the law enforcement agencies of our country, and, of course, receives a political assessment, but it is not divorced from the law.
The political assessment given by the Foreign Ministry of our country and our higher authorities is based on international law. And in this particular case, as in other cases, we will inform all international organizations every time.
Our permanent representatives and ambassadors around the world will talk about this in interviews, hold press conferences, write articles, and send out relevant materials. I assure you that we will use every opportunity, even the slightest, to tell the truth about what is happening around Ukraine and what is being done by the hands of the Kiev regime.
"We are always happy to welcome all the guests who come in peace"
— There is a rather significant moment at SPIEF 2026: for the first time in recent years, official representatives of the current US administration are taking part in the forum. There are also current members of the Bundestag among the participants. Can this be regarded as an attempt to establish a dialogue with Russia?
— You understand, Russia has clearly said that it is not satisfied with what is unacceptable for Russia. These are not even some preconditions or principles divorced from life, but what is the norm, based on law, law and history, and what presupposes normal relations.
Probably, it is not necessary to sponsor the Kiev regime, to supply it with weapons and money. We probably shouldn't gloss over the crimes of the Kiev regime, and we probably shouldn't ignore the suffering of civilians. If they have not yet abandoned the concept of human rights theory, then this is not so much our individual preconditions as the basis of a civilizational attitude. The civilizational code consists of exactly this.
You can't kill, you can't commit crimes against children, you can't lie, you can't cover up, finance, and sponsor all this. You can't give black for white, and white for black.
Therefore, we are always happy to welcome all guests who come in peace. We have never refused those who come to our country with interesting projects and with a normal desire and desire to develop relationships.
We have always said that we share the policies of the regimes and the position of people who do not profess an aggressive Russophobic approach. The St. Petersburg Forum has never been an exception: opportunities have always been presented here for all countries without any segregation - to develop business contacts, conclude deals, and build interesting and promising relationships, just like this time.
I agree with you: there are certain trends. And we are seeing how in Western Europe, I would say, not so much the voices are gaining, but the pace and strength of some individual questions that are being asked, but globally - the people of Western Europe are beginning to ask their regimes the question: what is happening?
This is also due to a drop in the pace of economic development, it is due to an understanding, finally, of what is being done by the hands of the Kiev regime, what kind of terrorist attacks they are committing, it is due to the political situation around the world, in different regions, and with different assessments given by representatives of their regimes, which, well, at least it is possible to call it double standards, but in fact — terrible hypocrisy. People are starting to ask questions, hence the reaction of the regimes in Western European countries.
They start speculating that they are ready to become mediators, are ready to sit down at the negotiating table, and even demand their place at the negotiating table. And at the same time, they continue to finance the Kiev regime and continue to ignore the crimes of the Kiev regime, cover them up, and in fact, support them in every possible way.
But it is obvious that this dichotomy has already begun. Stories began about how they were trying to mirror the issues of their own population with such rhetoric about the possibility of participating in certain negotiation processes.
However, no one understands what specific processes they mean. And at the same time, they continue to do everything to ensure that this conflict does not find a political solution and is not resolved through diplomatic means. But I absolutely agree with you in this sense. These trends come from business communities, companies, and representatives of civil society.
They are now obvious not only to us. We were not the only ones who said that Russophobia is not accepted. For example, the Russophile movement, which, on the contrary, has literally gained momentum in recent years. The fact that this misogyny against our country is not accepted in Western European countries, it is people who know this story who are now becoming obvious, including to regimes that need to answer questions from their own citizens.
— Such a slight split personality, as if it appears...
"It's not easy. No, I won't call it easy. It's very severe, and I would say chronic.
"They just turned to open aggression"
— To what extent does the restriction on Russian diplomatic missions, including those related to diplomatic property, hinder our diplomats, is work underway in this direction?
— You understand, this is not a restriction that prevents diplomats, but a culture of diplomacy and respect for law and justice that has been completely destroyed in Western Europe. After all, it's not just about delicacy or some special attitude of diplomats towards each other. We are talking about the implementation of the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, which have been worked out.
And I'll just remind you: for more than 60 years, no one has questioned them, no one has tried to rewrite them. There are diplomatic and consular conventions on how to conduct relations through diplomatic missions between countries. Countries can develop relations in different ways, and civil society, and business, and non-governmental, non-profit structures. But if we are talking about the development of diplomatic relations between the capitals, this is done in a civilized manner, based on the relevant documents.
Western Europe has completely rejected them de facto, de jure they have not yet abandoned the Vienna Conventions, but look what is happening de facto. This is, of course, the creation of an aggressive, I'm not even saying toxic, aggressive environment surrounded by Russian diplomatic missions in Western Europe.
This is literally inciting both their own media and marginal political and social movements. These are direct threats to Russian diplomats, flying drones into the territory of Russian diplomatic missions. This is a threat to family members. From non-renewal of visas and refusal to issue them to relatives, which literally leads to the separation of families for years. They just turned to open aggression.
Among other things, Finland is an egregious case, and I even brought statistics, of course, when, by the decision of the arbitration court in The Hague, in pursuance of the decision of the Helsinki District Court in 2024, 45 Russian—owned real estate properties, including diplomatic facilities, were seized — and these lawsuits were filed by Ukrainian representatives of oil and gas companies. The restrictions also apply to the movement of Russian diplomats. In other words, it is the creation of an atmosphere in which, as they believe, it will be extremely difficult or impossible to work. But despite this, our representatives abroad are working and overcoming all these obstacles.
This is really such an ordeal. Another thing is that Western European countries have literally ruined relations with our country. Again, de jure, without severing relations with our country, de facto they are doing everything to literally bring them down in reality.
"We were not the initiator of the destruction of relations with the United States"
— Recently, the United States has greatly increased its aggressive rhetoric against Cuba, Russia and Cuba are long-time partners, Russia provides assistance to Cuba. Do you think our partnership with Cuba will undermine the dialogue that has begun with the United States?
— It seems to me that we should not consider this as a triangle. We have an absolutely valuable, unique, historically established relationship with the island. Due to the expansion of its geopolitical zones of influence, Cuba does not realize its ambitions in other parts of the world.
Cuba defends its national sovereignty, the opportunity to live in accordance with the law of its country, professing its traditions, its foundations, its way of life, its culture. Cuba has been living in a state of blockade for many decades. These are not just sanctions, they are not just restrictions. This is a real, powerful blockade, to suffocate, and then just to destroy.
The most amazing thing is that she survived, lives and develops. Moreover, look: now there was a pandemic in 2020, and numerous crises related to conflicts, sanctions restrictions, trade wars, and hybrid aggression.
Cuba manages, in the presence of so many suffocating sanctions, embargoes and blockades, to help others, provide the services of its doctors, send its staff, itself needing a certain amount of resources, this is fuel in the first place, and much more. That is why we have a special, historically developing relationship with Cuba.
How someone should or can influence them is, frankly, a question that should not be asked of us. We develop them on the basis of mutual understanding, respect, friendship, mutual assistance, and assistance. And with the understanding that the methods that are applied to our countries are, in principle, somewhat identical: different scale, different degree of aggression, different duration, but the methodology is the same. That's why I think we need to look at it differently.
We are developing relations with Cuba, we were not the initiator of the destruction of relations with the United States. These were the destructive political forces within the United States, which for some reason considered it possible to bring down relations between our peoples.
Now we see, among other things, elements of the very constructive rhetoric, steps, and actions that Washington is demonstrating. This includes the Anchorage summit, the decisions that were discussed there, and contacts between diplomatic agencies, and point-to-point contacts between diplomatic agencies. We are also ready to develop these relations from this perspective, so, to be honest, I would not build any special triangle.
"The topic of working out the visa-free format has been widely discussed"
— Russia is negotiating with a number of African countries to abolish the visa regime, including Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. What other countries or regions are interested in such initiatives?
— Just a couple of weeks ago, a decision was put into practice, which was made in advance and developed, on visa-free relations between Russia, for example, with Saudi Arabia. And everything is symbolic: We are celebrating the anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
Saudi Arabia is widely represented at the St. Petersburg Forum and is a central figure in all events. Therefore, this work is not only in the area you mentioned, we are expanding it, we are doing this very actively and regularly inform you. By the way, we have a corresponding section on our website where you can see which countries Russia has visa-free relations with and which ones are being worked out in the future.
The topic of working out the visa-free format of relations has now been widely discussed during recent consultations with representatives of Tanzania, so there are prospects there.
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