Re: Russia today
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2024 3:13 pm
PUTIN’S REMARKS AT PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER MEETING WITH BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT LUKASHENKO, APRIL 11, 2024
APRIL 14, 2024 NATYLIESB LEAVE A COMMENT
Kremlin, 4/11/24
The presidents continued consultations at a working lunch.
* * *
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Lukashenko,
Thank you for coming in time for Cosmonautics Day, especially because we have a major event – our cosmonauts, including the first female cosmonaut from Belarus returned safely to earth.
We have another good event – our new heavy missile flew from a new spaceport. This is yet another stage in the development of the space industry in Russia.
And, of course, in addition to all other things, we have something to discuss. I am referring to our economic ties that are making steady headway. Last year, we demonstrated good economic growth rates and now everything is on the upsurge.
Overall, we see even bigger growth in the first months of the current year than we had in the past year. We are developing diversification, cooperation and interoperability. So, everything is on the upsurge and we are very happy about this.
Naturally, we will talk about security issues in the western borders of both Belarus and Russia. I know that you have information on everything taking place in Ukraine. Nevertheless, I will certainly use your visit to tell you in detail about what is going on.
In general, as you know, we have never rejected a peaceful settlement of disputes. Moreover, this is what we were inclined to do. It was not Russia that started this war in 2014. Everything began with a coup d’etat in Ukraine. Later, when everything moved to a hot phase, you initiated the conduct of peace negotiations in Belarus. We launched them in two cities.
Later, the negotiating teams moved to Turkey, to Istanbul.
We largely completed this work there, which took us much time and effort. We initialed it on both sides. Ukraine also initialed it. This paper, this document was initialed.
As you know, later, under pressure from the West, the Ukrainian side opted out of these agreements. I would like to remind you that at the time we were told that we could not sign the document in this manner, that Ukraine could not sign the document “with a gun to its head,” that we had to withdraw our troops from Kiev. So we did. Immediately after we did that, our agreements were discarded.
Now, as you know, the idea of holding some kind of conference in Switzerland is being promoted. We are not invited there. Moreover, they think that we have nothing to do there, and at the same time they say that nothing can be solved without us. Since we are not going there (it has now turned into a kind of nonsense), they say that we refuse to negotiate. We were not invited, but they say that we refuse.
It would be funny if it were not so sad. Once again, I would like to emphasise that we are in favour of talks. But not in the format of being imposed any schemes that have nothing to do with reality. Why do I say that? Because if the need arises, I will allow myself to turn to you, and maybe we will continue consultations with you in this area.
As for other matters, you are also well aware that, unfortunately, we have recently seen a series of strikes on our energy facilities, and we had to respond. I would like to emphasise that in winter time, guided by humanitarian considerations, we did not launch any strikes on energy facilities. I mean, they wanted to have our social institutions, hospitals and so on left without power supply. But after a series of strikes on our energy facilities, we had to respond.
I repeat once again: if everything gets down to solving the issues we talked about from the outset, and in the energy sector they are related, among other things, to solving one of the tasks that we set for ourselves, which is demilitarisation… Above all, we proceed from the fact that in this way we directly impact the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. But if we do get to the point where I started, if we move on to talks about resolving all the issues in other ways, then of course, as I have already said many times, we are ready for that.
You and I will talk about it in greater detail, I will tell you everything in detail.
President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko: Mr Putin, thank you for your updates. I can confirm everything you have said, because you and I revisited these issues on numerous occasions – a year ago, and several months ago – and discussed them, including the peace settlement. They are planning to hold what they call a peace conference in Switzerland. But if they want to talk about peace in Ukraine without us, let them do it.
Once again, we believe that the only thing they can agree on there is how to intensify the escalation of this conflict. Without Russia, what peace process are we talking about? No peace settlement is possible without Russia.
Maybe they are right in choosing not to invite us, because there is actually nothing to talk to them about when they try to invite more than 100 states and dictate something to us or enforce something on us. This does not sound like a proposal for peace talks.
Vladimir Putin: I think they – or at least the opposite side – has driven itself into a corner, to a certain extent, by refusing to negotiate, expecting to defeat Russia on the battlefield, to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. Now, having understood that this is impossible and having refused to negotiate, they have found themselves in a predicament.
Alexander Lukashenko: Indeed, they have found an ingenious way out.
Vladimir Putin: But our goal is not putting everyone in a tough spot. Just the opposite: we are ready for constructive efforts. But clearly, nothing detached from reality can be imposed on us.
Alexander Lukashenko: What I wanted to say is that I wholeheartedly support, absolutely wholeheartedly, the Russian authorities and you personally when it comes to the peace process in this conflict.
There are all the conditions for sitting down and negotiating the issue. If they do not want it, the reason is clear to us; we have answered that question. If those across the ocean choose to talk about peace, Ukraine will hear their voice. Ukrainians should know, especially the ordinary people, that the issue does not depend on us. Speaking plainly, the ball is in their court.
I remember the process that began in Belarus. We hosted three rounds of talks, and the fourth round was held in Istanbul. You later sent the photocopies to me. First you showed me the document, which I read, and then you forwarded the copy to me, just as we had agreed. It was the initialled document. It registered major concessions from both Russians and Ukrainians. And then a visitor called them [Ukrainians] down and ordered them to keep fighting to the last Ukrainian.
In other words, we wholeheartedly support the peace process, which Russia never refused to discuss, including today.
If we can contribute to this, you are aware of our capabilities. We will always stand together and act in the same spirit as you.
Thank you for the space mission. It is clear that it would not be held without your decision. We agreed that we would send a Belarusian woman.
Continue reading here. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73852
https://natyliesbaldwin.com/2024/04/put ... l-11-2024/
******
The Russian Ambassador To Poland Shared Important Insight Into Bilateral Relations
ANDREW KORYBKO
APR 16, 2024
Ambassador Andreev’s interview was very insightful, especially after he shared the important point that Russophobia very rarely manifests itself openly in personal contacts. This contradicts the popular perceptions of RT’s mostly “Non-Russian Pro-Russian” audience, who’d do well to remember this so as to resist the urge that some feel to behave bigotedly towards Poles and thus discredit Russia by association.
Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergey Andreev shared important insight into bilateral relations during his recent interview with RT, which can be watched with English dubbing here. The present piece will summarize what he said before concluding with some brief thoughts about its significance in the current socio-political context. Ambassador Andreev began by mentioning how taboo it is for Poles to discuss the participation of their citizens in the NATO-Russian proxy war in Ukraine.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Poles constitute the largest plurality of foreign fighters there at 2,960 out of 13,387, and slightly more than 50% of them (1,497) had been eliminated as of 14 March. Russia’s top diplomat in Poland said that sometimes these fighters will appear in the media to generally discuss what they did while abroad, but they never share specifics like their side’s death toll. He was then asked to express his views about the joint NATO mission in Ukraine.
Ambassador Andreev mentioned that its purpose is unclear because other Western officials haven’t spoken about it, only Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, so he said that it’s too early to reach any conclusions about it. He even suggested that perhaps there’s some misunderstanding of sorts though he didn’t elaborate on that train of thought. What he might have meant, however, is that Sikorski could have been spinning something old as something new for soft power purposes.
The next part of the interview saw him talk about the acute nature of the nationwide farmers’ protests, which continue despite ongoing talks with the government and various proposals being bandied about. As for whether society’s overwhelming support of this movement could translate into opposition to the government’s plans to increase defense spending, Ambassador Andreev clarified that these are “two questions on two non-intersecting planes”.
He elaborated that most Poles favor a multilateral EU solution to the issue of cheap and low-quality Ukrainian agricultural imports flooding their domestic market but support unilateral measures if that can’t be achieved. With respect to Poland’s military buildup, he said that society has been massively indoctrinated into fearing alleged “Russian aggression” and therefore there aren’t any widespread doubts about this policy or protests against it.
The interview then segued into Ambassador Andreev’s views about the prevalence of Russophobia in Polish society. He confirmed that interstate relations and public perception are significantly negative and even hostile, but then he surprised the average RT viewer by explaining that this is openly manifested very rarely in personal contacts. In his words, “most people are normal, sane…basically, interpersonal relationships develop more or less normally.”
He added that “From my own experience, I will say that in my almost 10 years of working in Poland, I can count on one hand the cases when such a negative attitude was expressed towards me personally. Basically, everything was quite correct.” The conditions for Russian diplomats working in Poland are also the same as elsewhere in the West from what he’s gathered by speaking with his colleagues. Negative manifestations intensified since 2022, he said, “but to be honest, I didn’t notice any drastic changes.”
Top influencers in the Alt-Media Community like “Simplicius The Thinker” should reflect on what Ambassador Andreev said after this popular writer tweeted very condescendingly about Poles three times on Sunday here, here, and here. His second tweet even employed the ethno-bigoted slur “Polack”, albeit purposely misspelled to prevent administrative action from being taken against his account for violating X’s terms of service against hate speech if anyone were to report him for this.
“Simplicius” and many “Non-Russian Pro-Russians” hate the Polish and Israeli governments, but this shouldn’t translate into hatred of the Polish people, which is bigoted and thus betrays the anti-bigotry cause that Russia is fighting for in Ukraine. Furthermore, it’s misleading to conflate Israeli leaders of Polish descent with ethnic Poles since their ancestors’ former Polish citizenship doesn’t mean that they were ethnic Poles, the same as Stepan Bandera’s Polish citizenship didn’t make him an ethnic Pole either.
This clarification isn’t to imply that Poles with a Jewish ethno-religious identity carried out war crimes of the sort that some of those Poles with a Ukrainian ethno-national identity did, but to point out that describing those two groups as “Poles” is misleading since it suggests a Polish ethno-national identity. Smearing Israeli leaders of Polish descent as “Polacks” only exposes one’s own ignorance. Those who’d like to learn more about Polish-Jewish relations can review these recent analyses here, here, and here.
Moving along after clarifying this crucial point that all “Non-Russian Pro-Russians” should always keep in mind when discussing anything about Poland in order to avoid discrediting the Russian cause by association if they end up behaving bigotedly, Ambassador Andreev lamented that the Polish authorities’ condemnation of the Crocus terrorist attack didn’t occur until the evening after. He interpreted this as a belated formality after the whole world already issued similar statements.
Moreover, he expressed displeasure with Prime Minister Donald Tusk hoping that Russia won’t exploit the terrorist attack as a pretext for “increasing violence and aggression” in Ukraine. It was also regrettable that some local media wildly speculated about the incident to the point of even suggesting that it was a false flag carried out by the Russian security services. Ambassador Andreev noted that this shows the powerful influence that the anti-Russian information warfare campaign has had.
On the topic of American nukes in Poland, which President Andrzej Duda recently once again requested, he said that this isn’t anything new and that Poland already participates in joint nuclear missions in NATO. The US has thus far rebuffed Poland’s requests to base its nukes there, however, but Ambassador Andreev said that Poland will agree to anything that the US requests of it due to how strongly Polish society and their elites support their country’s strategic alliance with America.
Relations with Russia could improve once the special operation ends upon the fulfillment of Moscow’s goals, but a “new normality” would emerge instead of a reversion back to the past since neither side is interested in going back to how everything used to be, which he said contributed to the current crisis. The final question that he was asked was about when Russia “lost” Poland and when it became clear that “Poland isn’t with us”, which he said can be understood in different ways.
He said that unfavorable attitudes towards the Soviet Union and Russia have always been widespread throughout Polish society and shared how surprised he was decades ago to learn about this first-hand from Polish acquaintances back when he assumed that everyone shared the same socialist solidarity. These differences have always existed, he said, so one could say that Poland therefore wasn’t ever “with Russia” in the sense that the question implied, thus suggesting that there wasn’t anything to “lose”.
All in all, Ambassador Andreev’s interview was very insightful, especially after he shared the important point that Russophobia very rarely manifests itself openly in personal contacts. This contradicts the popular perceptions of RT’s mostly “Non-Russian Pro-Russian” audience, who’d do well to remember this so as to resist the urge that some feel to behave bigotedly towards Poles. Russia is fighting against bigotry in Ukraine so it’s counterproductive to its cause to also have bigots among its supporters.
https://korybko.substack.com/p/the-russ ... -to-poland
Of course bigotry is always to be avoided, if only because it clouds sound judgement. Nonetheless it is impossible to ignore Poland's consistently poor political judgement over the last 500years.
APRIL 14, 2024 NATYLIESB LEAVE A COMMENT
Kremlin, 4/11/24
The presidents continued consultations at a working lunch.
* * *
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Lukashenko,
Thank you for coming in time for Cosmonautics Day, especially because we have a major event – our cosmonauts, including the first female cosmonaut from Belarus returned safely to earth.
We have another good event – our new heavy missile flew from a new spaceport. This is yet another stage in the development of the space industry in Russia.
And, of course, in addition to all other things, we have something to discuss. I am referring to our economic ties that are making steady headway. Last year, we demonstrated good economic growth rates and now everything is on the upsurge.
Overall, we see even bigger growth in the first months of the current year than we had in the past year. We are developing diversification, cooperation and interoperability. So, everything is on the upsurge and we are very happy about this.
Naturally, we will talk about security issues in the western borders of both Belarus and Russia. I know that you have information on everything taking place in Ukraine. Nevertheless, I will certainly use your visit to tell you in detail about what is going on.
In general, as you know, we have never rejected a peaceful settlement of disputes. Moreover, this is what we were inclined to do. It was not Russia that started this war in 2014. Everything began with a coup d’etat in Ukraine. Later, when everything moved to a hot phase, you initiated the conduct of peace negotiations in Belarus. We launched them in two cities.
Later, the negotiating teams moved to Turkey, to Istanbul.
We largely completed this work there, which took us much time and effort. We initialed it on both sides. Ukraine also initialed it. This paper, this document was initialed.
As you know, later, under pressure from the West, the Ukrainian side opted out of these agreements. I would like to remind you that at the time we were told that we could not sign the document in this manner, that Ukraine could not sign the document “with a gun to its head,” that we had to withdraw our troops from Kiev. So we did. Immediately after we did that, our agreements were discarded.
Now, as you know, the idea of holding some kind of conference in Switzerland is being promoted. We are not invited there. Moreover, they think that we have nothing to do there, and at the same time they say that nothing can be solved without us. Since we are not going there (it has now turned into a kind of nonsense), they say that we refuse to negotiate. We were not invited, but they say that we refuse.
It would be funny if it were not so sad. Once again, I would like to emphasise that we are in favour of talks. But not in the format of being imposed any schemes that have nothing to do with reality. Why do I say that? Because if the need arises, I will allow myself to turn to you, and maybe we will continue consultations with you in this area.
As for other matters, you are also well aware that, unfortunately, we have recently seen a series of strikes on our energy facilities, and we had to respond. I would like to emphasise that in winter time, guided by humanitarian considerations, we did not launch any strikes on energy facilities. I mean, they wanted to have our social institutions, hospitals and so on left without power supply. But after a series of strikes on our energy facilities, we had to respond.
I repeat once again: if everything gets down to solving the issues we talked about from the outset, and in the energy sector they are related, among other things, to solving one of the tasks that we set for ourselves, which is demilitarisation… Above all, we proceed from the fact that in this way we directly impact the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. But if we do get to the point where I started, if we move on to talks about resolving all the issues in other ways, then of course, as I have already said many times, we are ready for that.
You and I will talk about it in greater detail, I will tell you everything in detail.
President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko: Mr Putin, thank you for your updates. I can confirm everything you have said, because you and I revisited these issues on numerous occasions – a year ago, and several months ago – and discussed them, including the peace settlement. They are planning to hold what they call a peace conference in Switzerland. But if they want to talk about peace in Ukraine without us, let them do it.
Once again, we believe that the only thing they can agree on there is how to intensify the escalation of this conflict. Without Russia, what peace process are we talking about? No peace settlement is possible without Russia.
Maybe they are right in choosing not to invite us, because there is actually nothing to talk to them about when they try to invite more than 100 states and dictate something to us or enforce something on us. This does not sound like a proposal for peace talks.
Vladimir Putin: I think they – or at least the opposite side – has driven itself into a corner, to a certain extent, by refusing to negotiate, expecting to defeat Russia on the battlefield, to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. Now, having understood that this is impossible and having refused to negotiate, they have found themselves in a predicament.
Alexander Lukashenko: Indeed, they have found an ingenious way out.
Vladimir Putin: But our goal is not putting everyone in a tough spot. Just the opposite: we are ready for constructive efforts. But clearly, nothing detached from reality can be imposed on us.
Alexander Lukashenko: What I wanted to say is that I wholeheartedly support, absolutely wholeheartedly, the Russian authorities and you personally when it comes to the peace process in this conflict.
There are all the conditions for sitting down and negotiating the issue. If they do not want it, the reason is clear to us; we have answered that question. If those across the ocean choose to talk about peace, Ukraine will hear their voice. Ukrainians should know, especially the ordinary people, that the issue does not depend on us. Speaking plainly, the ball is in their court.
I remember the process that began in Belarus. We hosted three rounds of talks, and the fourth round was held in Istanbul. You later sent the photocopies to me. First you showed me the document, which I read, and then you forwarded the copy to me, just as we had agreed. It was the initialled document. It registered major concessions from both Russians and Ukrainians. And then a visitor called them [Ukrainians] down and ordered them to keep fighting to the last Ukrainian.
In other words, we wholeheartedly support the peace process, which Russia never refused to discuss, including today.
If we can contribute to this, you are aware of our capabilities. We will always stand together and act in the same spirit as you.
Thank you for the space mission. It is clear that it would not be held without your decision. We agreed that we would send a Belarusian woman.
Continue reading here. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73852
https://natyliesbaldwin.com/2024/04/put ... l-11-2024/
******
The Russian Ambassador To Poland Shared Important Insight Into Bilateral Relations
ANDREW KORYBKO
APR 16, 2024
Ambassador Andreev’s interview was very insightful, especially after he shared the important point that Russophobia very rarely manifests itself openly in personal contacts. This contradicts the popular perceptions of RT’s mostly “Non-Russian Pro-Russian” audience, who’d do well to remember this so as to resist the urge that some feel to behave bigotedly towards Poles and thus discredit Russia by association.
Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergey Andreev shared important insight into bilateral relations during his recent interview with RT, which can be watched with English dubbing here. The present piece will summarize what he said before concluding with some brief thoughts about its significance in the current socio-political context. Ambassador Andreev began by mentioning how taboo it is for Poles to discuss the participation of their citizens in the NATO-Russian proxy war in Ukraine.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Poles constitute the largest plurality of foreign fighters there at 2,960 out of 13,387, and slightly more than 50% of them (1,497) had been eliminated as of 14 March. Russia’s top diplomat in Poland said that sometimes these fighters will appear in the media to generally discuss what they did while abroad, but they never share specifics like their side’s death toll. He was then asked to express his views about the joint NATO mission in Ukraine.
Ambassador Andreev mentioned that its purpose is unclear because other Western officials haven’t spoken about it, only Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, so he said that it’s too early to reach any conclusions about it. He even suggested that perhaps there’s some misunderstanding of sorts though he didn’t elaborate on that train of thought. What he might have meant, however, is that Sikorski could have been spinning something old as something new for soft power purposes.
The next part of the interview saw him talk about the acute nature of the nationwide farmers’ protests, which continue despite ongoing talks with the government and various proposals being bandied about. As for whether society’s overwhelming support of this movement could translate into opposition to the government’s plans to increase defense spending, Ambassador Andreev clarified that these are “two questions on two non-intersecting planes”.
He elaborated that most Poles favor a multilateral EU solution to the issue of cheap and low-quality Ukrainian agricultural imports flooding their domestic market but support unilateral measures if that can’t be achieved. With respect to Poland’s military buildup, he said that society has been massively indoctrinated into fearing alleged “Russian aggression” and therefore there aren’t any widespread doubts about this policy or protests against it.
The interview then segued into Ambassador Andreev’s views about the prevalence of Russophobia in Polish society. He confirmed that interstate relations and public perception are significantly negative and even hostile, but then he surprised the average RT viewer by explaining that this is openly manifested very rarely in personal contacts. In his words, “most people are normal, sane…basically, interpersonal relationships develop more or less normally.”
He added that “From my own experience, I will say that in my almost 10 years of working in Poland, I can count on one hand the cases when such a negative attitude was expressed towards me personally. Basically, everything was quite correct.” The conditions for Russian diplomats working in Poland are also the same as elsewhere in the West from what he’s gathered by speaking with his colleagues. Negative manifestations intensified since 2022, he said, “but to be honest, I didn’t notice any drastic changes.”
Top influencers in the Alt-Media Community like “Simplicius The Thinker” should reflect on what Ambassador Andreev said after this popular writer tweeted very condescendingly about Poles three times on Sunday here, here, and here. His second tweet even employed the ethno-bigoted slur “Polack”, albeit purposely misspelled to prevent administrative action from being taken against his account for violating X’s terms of service against hate speech if anyone were to report him for this.
“Simplicius” and many “Non-Russian Pro-Russians” hate the Polish and Israeli governments, but this shouldn’t translate into hatred of the Polish people, which is bigoted and thus betrays the anti-bigotry cause that Russia is fighting for in Ukraine. Furthermore, it’s misleading to conflate Israeli leaders of Polish descent with ethnic Poles since their ancestors’ former Polish citizenship doesn’t mean that they were ethnic Poles, the same as Stepan Bandera’s Polish citizenship didn’t make him an ethnic Pole either.
This clarification isn’t to imply that Poles with a Jewish ethno-religious identity carried out war crimes of the sort that some of those Poles with a Ukrainian ethno-national identity did, but to point out that describing those two groups as “Poles” is misleading since it suggests a Polish ethno-national identity. Smearing Israeli leaders of Polish descent as “Polacks” only exposes one’s own ignorance. Those who’d like to learn more about Polish-Jewish relations can review these recent analyses here, here, and here.
Moving along after clarifying this crucial point that all “Non-Russian Pro-Russians” should always keep in mind when discussing anything about Poland in order to avoid discrediting the Russian cause by association if they end up behaving bigotedly, Ambassador Andreev lamented that the Polish authorities’ condemnation of the Crocus terrorist attack didn’t occur until the evening after. He interpreted this as a belated formality after the whole world already issued similar statements.
Moreover, he expressed displeasure with Prime Minister Donald Tusk hoping that Russia won’t exploit the terrorist attack as a pretext for “increasing violence and aggression” in Ukraine. It was also regrettable that some local media wildly speculated about the incident to the point of even suggesting that it was a false flag carried out by the Russian security services. Ambassador Andreev noted that this shows the powerful influence that the anti-Russian information warfare campaign has had.
On the topic of American nukes in Poland, which President Andrzej Duda recently once again requested, he said that this isn’t anything new and that Poland already participates in joint nuclear missions in NATO. The US has thus far rebuffed Poland’s requests to base its nukes there, however, but Ambassador Andreev said that Poland will agree to anything that the US requests of it due to how strongly Polish society and their elites support their country’s strategic alliance with America.
Relations with Russia could improve once the special operation ends upon the fulfillment of Moscow’s goals, but a “new normality” would emerge instead of a reversion back to the past since neither side is interested in going back to how everything used to be, which he said contributed to the current crisis. The final question that he was asked was about when Russia “lost” Poland and when it became clear that “Poland isn’t with us”, which he said can be understood in different ways.
He said that unfavorable attitudes towards the Soviet Union and Russia have always been widespread throughout Polish society and shared how surprised he was decades ago to learn about this first-hand from Polish acquaintances back when he assumed that everyone shared the same socialist solidarity. These differences have always existed, he said, so one could say that Poland therefore wasn’t ever “with Russia” in the sense that the question implied, thus suggesting that there wasn’t anything to “lose”.
All in all, Ambassador Andreev’s interview was very insightful, especially after he shared the important point that Russophobia very rarely manifests itself openly in personal contacts. This contradicts the popular perceptions of RT’s mostly “Non-Russian Pro-Russian” audience, who’d do well to remember this so as to resist the urge that some feel to behave bigotedly towards Poles. Russia is fighting against bigotry in Ukraine so it’s counterproductive to its cause to also have bigots among its supporters.
https://korybko.substack.com/p/the-russ ... -to-poland
Of course bigotry is always to be avoided, if only because it clouds sound judgement. Nonetheless it is impossible to ignore Poland's consistently poor political judgement over the last 500years.