MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. Western countries’ purposeful anti-Russian propaganda has led to the assassination of Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Tuesday.
"Unfortunately, we are receiving threats not only from terrorists," she noted. "Throughout the year, we have been intimidated by our civilized counterparts, either diplomats or officials in various countries rather than by terrorists." "This is the deliberate anti-Russian propaganda, which has continued for a long time at all levels and led to the assassination of the Russian ambassador. It is on the conscience of the people who were involved in this propaganda," she stressed.
To confirm her words, Zakharova quoted a number of Western politicians. "On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, we heard the following phrase from our counterparts, "There will be countermeasures in response to your every military success. Those standing up against you will be sure to have new MANPADS in their hands, which are capable of shooting down your helicopters," she said. The diplomat recalled remarks by US Department of State spokesman, John Kirby, who said that Russia will "continue to send troops home in body bags."
"The French leader speaking in Germany’s Bundestag called for rallies and demonstrations against Russia’s policy in Syria, adding that he cannot understand why there had been no demonstrations for a long time in front of the Russian Embassy in Berlin against Moscow’s actions in support of Assad," Zakharova said.
"Isn’t that a direct appeal to those who later came and did that? They did that in different ways, with embassies attacked, rallies that posed a threat to security of Russia’s diplomatic missions were held in some places, and then the Russian ambassador was murdered."
"Who fomented the hatred that later led to the assassination of the Russian ambassador?" the diplomat said. "Those were civilized individuals…"
According to Zakharova, a special mention "will be given to US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, who indulged in slander using for that a special place in the UN Security Council from the standpoint of international law."