PreferredOur society considers flirting with President Zelenskyy’s regime to be absolutely unacceptable, especially when it is done by our partners and allies, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson Maria Zakharova said during Thursday's press briefing.
This is how she commented on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s statement that his country had allegedly contributed to the "independence gained in the past" of post-Soviet countries.
In addition, Zelenskyy had noted the need to strengthen Ukraine’s relations with Azerbaijan and emphasized the restoration of Ukraine’s ties with Armenia "after a long break."
According to Zakharova, the position she voiced belongs not only to Russia's state structures, but also to the entire Russian society.
“This is the question that our citizens, who are literally targeted by the terrorist attacks of the Kiev regime and clearly realize the neo-Nazi nature of this regime—which they now openly profess, ask: and how is it that some countries, official representatives, civil servants, and politicians do not see all this? Those countries, which, I emphasize again, are our allies, partners, and friends...
We [i.e. Russia], of course, condemn the visits to Kiev and the fraternization with the ringleaders of the terrorists. They openly declare their goal to destroy everything Russian, shell civilian objects of our country every day and kill civilians—citizens of not only Russia, but also other states, including the CIS member states. In addition, they commit terrible atrocities and justify the Banderite supporters of Hitlerite Germany. By the way, millions of citizens of all republics and nationalities of the [former] Soviet Union gave their lives for the victory over that same Germany [in World War II].
It is absolutely impossible to understand why it is necessary to host representatives of the Ukrainian junta, participate with them in politicized, so-called ‘rallies,’ and even provide [them] a podium for making threats against Russia. Should we [i.e. Russia] silently follow this or turn our backs and pretend that we have not heard or seen? This question is for all those who do this.
I would have said it should be left to their own conscience, but we will not leave it. We will certainly appeal to their conscience, but we will not pretend that we do not notice all this, because they must give full account of themselves as to what risks such a policy is fraught with, including in the context of relations with our country.
It is obvious that it is not befitting for the completely bankrupt occupier of Kiev to talk about the independence of other countries. As a result of their rule, Ukraine once and for all lost—although I do not like this wording, I think that it was Zelenskyy who deprived Ukraine of—the last vestiges of independence and completely sat on the financial, economic, and military-technical ‘needle’ of Western patrons. He plunged the country into decades of dependence, destroyed everything that was called ‘modern Ukrainian statehood,’ which was just being formed and taking its first steps at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries.
He destroyed everything. He literally distorted and corrupted everything,” the Russian MFA spokesperson added.
