IZHEVSK, April 24. /TASS/. High-ranking NATO officers are reportedly infiltrating the leadership structures of the Ukrainian armed forces to exert direct control, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing.
According to the diplomat, the European Union makes no secret of the fact that the new EU civilian mission to Armenia will make it possible for Brussels to interfere into domestic affairs of that country.
She also pointed out that Brussels inflicts harm to itself and undermines its energy security by imposing sanctions against Russian hydrocarbons.
TASS has summed up the spokeswoman’s key statements.
EU sanctions
Russia will take tough measures in response to the European Union’s 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions: "We will take response measures. They will be tough. They will be determined and implemented in accordance with our interests."
"Brussels hits itself" and undermines its energy security by introducing sanctions against Russian hydrocarbons.
US policy in outer space
The United States’ policy in outer space is becoming "increasingly aggressive and provocative."
Washington is planning to place weapons in outer space: U"nder the guise of yet another alleged Russian threat, as they put it, the Americans, with the active support of a number of their allies, are stepping up their efforts to deploy weapons systems and build up their military capabilities in space."
EU presence in Armenia
European Union countries are seeking to turn Armenia into their outpost, but Yerevan should not expect real assistance from them: "There will be no real help from them, just as there is no real help for other countries to which they constantly promise quick accession, but in fact only pump out resources or use these states for their own political purposes."
The European Union does not hide the fact that the new EU civilian mission in Armenia could allow Brussels to interfere in the country’s internal affairs and influence the outcome of the parliamentary elections in June: "Under the pretext of tracking illegal financial flows and countering cyberattacks, information manipulation, and information interference from third countries, the EU will try to interfere in the internal affairs of Armenia."
Nuclear threats
Moscow has taken note of increasing security threats to nuclear facilities, including the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant and Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.
Russia sees that the Kiev regime is trying to use the situation around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant as "an element of nuclear blackmail": ""It's horrifying, really. And it doesn't do them any good. But does anyone on Bankova Street really care about that?"
Britain and France, in their anti-Russian frenzy, are seeking to escalate the current tensions to a nuclear level: "Their likely goal is to further intimidate their populations with a mythical threat from Russia."
Should Paris and London hand over nuclear weapons to Ukraine, it would greatly undermine the basic principles of nuclear non-proliferation "in a brazen and absolutely unacceptable way."
France and Poland’s plans to conduct nuclear deterrence drills are "openly provocative and cynical."
Russia keeping a close eye on Western countries’ activities in this sphere.
New governments in Europe
Russia will judge by concrete steps by the Progressive Bulgaria party, led by Rumen Radev, which won the parliamentary elections, to form its opinion on the new Bulgarian leadership.
Russia is in no hurry to comment on the position of the new Hungarian government and refrains from hasty conclusions. It will wait for Budapest’s concrete steps and actions.
The West’s hypocrisy
Awarding Vladimir Zelensky with the Four Freedoms Award is and act of "pure cynicism and hypocrisy": "Evidently, he has freed the people of Ukraine from the freedom of speech, from the freedom of religion, poverty and fear. Indeed, he has freed the people of Ukraine from all that. Now they have no freedom of speech, no freedom of religion. Now they have poverty and fear. This is what he has done."
Speaking about European sponsors of the Kiev regime’s terrorist activity, here is no need to be shy about calling a spade a spade: "Look how much they don't like it."
NATO officers in the Ukrainian army
High-ranking NATO officials are reportedly infiltrating the leadership structures of the Ukrainian armed forces to exert direct control: "They are not there to provide consultations, advice, or to bolster Ukraine’s attractiveness to investors. Instead, they are installed to exert manual control over Ukraine’s armed forces."
Zakharova further accused Western military personnel involved in this structure of orchestrating terrorist operations against Russia, utilizing Western weapons supplied to Kiev.
The structure will incorporate representatives of NATO, the CIA, and military forces of Germany, Britain, Norway, Canada, and Slovakia. She also noted that this advisory body is to be led by British General Richard Shirreff, a former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of NATO’s Joint Forces in Europe from 2011 to 2014.
Ukraine and the EU
"Europe continues to plead for a seat at the negotiating table" on the Ukrainian settlement.
Brussels’ decision to provide a 90-billion-euro loan to Ukraine will hurt EU citizens: "This is another decision Brussels is making at the expense of their own citizens, that is, at the expense of the current and long-term interests of EU nationals and businesses/"
Zelensky is deliberately blackmailing and scaring Europe to prevent it from reassessing the scale of financial and military aid to Ukraine: "Insatiable dependency has long become the state policy of modern Ukraine."
The European Union once rejected Russia’s concept of combining peaceful potential and creating a common space for cooperation, and is now "seriously listening to Zelensky, who is proposing the creation of some aggressive force to once again start bloodshed in the center of the European continent": "This is insane."
The West is turning a blind eye to the environmental destruction caused by Ukrainian strikes on the Black Sea coast: "But a serious environmental threat has arise. The contaminated area amounts to about ten thousand square meters. Where are the Western environmentalists? Where are the non-governmental organizations funded by Western regimes?"
Middle East conflict
Moscow reaffirms its "fundamental position in support of Lebanon’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity" and expects that the current ceasefire will hold.
Russia hopes that the United States and Iran will ultimately "resolve their contradictions and reach final agreements."
The situation in the Gulf will only aggravate problems in the European Union.
Persecution of Russians in the European Union
Ukrainian nationalists collect data about Russians in the European Union and draw "some kind of black lists, post their personal data, including photos, addresses, on the web on special sites."
European government must pay attention to the "illegal and socially dangerous activities related to the collection and dissemination of private information" in their territories: "This discredits their law enforcement system as this is being done with the full connivance of the local authorities."