Latest news with #RussianForeignMinistry
Russia Today
2 days ago
- General
- Russia Today
Lavrov and Rubio discuss Ukrainian attacks on Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the phone on Sunday. The two sides have discussed the upcoming Moscow-Kiev talks in Istanbul and recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory. Just a day before the talks scheduled in Türkiye, two bridges collapsed in Russia's Bryansk and Kursk border regions, leading to at least seven deaths and dozens of injuries. The incidents were caused by sabotage, according to Russia's Investigative Committee. Later that same day, drones targeted military airfields in Murmansk Region in the country's north, in Ivanovo and Ryazan regions in western Russia, and in Irkutsk Region in Siberia and Amur Region in the Far East. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Rubio 'expressed sincere condolences on the civilian casualties resulting from the bombings of railway infrastructure in the Bryansk and Kursk regions on June 1.' Lavrov stressed that the attacks would be thoroughly investigated, and 'the results will be published in the very near future'. 'The guilty parties will be identified and will inevitably face deserved punishment,' the minister added.
Russia Today
6 days ago
- General
- Russia Today
Ukraine training terror groups in Africa
Ukraine is training jihadist fighters and supporting terrorist groups in Africa's Sahel region, a Russian Foreign Ministry official has said, accusing Kiev of funneling Western-supplied weapons to militants operating across the continent. Tatyana Dovgalenko, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department for Partnership with Africa, made the remarks on Thursday at the 13th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues in Moscow. Representatives of 104 countries, including African delegations, have gathered at the event to discuss a new global security architecture. 'The Kiev regime continues systematic efforts to destabilize the continent, collaborating with terrorist networks in the Sahel, particularly by training and organizing militants,' Dovgalenko said, according to TASS. 'There is evidence that the arms delivered to Ukraine by Western states are being transferred to terrorist factions operating in various global regions, including Africa,' she added. Moscow has made terrorism and counter-extremism a central focus of its security cooperation with African states, particularly those in the Sahel, which have been embroiled in a decade-long jihadist insurgency. Dovgalenko noted that terrorist groups have adapted to modern technologies and shifting counterterrorism strategies, warning that nearly 60% of global terrorism deaths in 2024 occurred in Africa, with the Sahel accounting for 20% of the continent's attacks. Ukraine has been at the center of a growing diplomatic storm in the Sahel region since an ambush by Tuareg rebels in July 2024 left dozens of Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner Group contractors dead. Reports have claimed that Ukrainian military intelligence supplied information used in the deadly attack. Moscow and the Alliance of Sahel States made up of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have jointly denounced Kiev's 'criminal alliance' with extremist groups. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier accused Ukraine of openly abetting terrorists in the region. Mali cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine in August. Niger followed suit shortly afterwards, with Burkina Faso later confirming its relations with Kiev were effectively frozen. Ukraine has denied the allegations. Last month, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said Kiev must be held accountable for fueling instability in Africa, which has resulted not only in the deaths of Malian soldiers but also in civilian casualties. The West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso officially quit in January, also warned against 'foreign interference' that threatens the region's peace and security. In a speech on Wednesday marking 50 years since the group's formation, ECOWAS Commission President Omar Alieu Touray identified terrorism as one of the 'formidable' challenges facing the community and called for collective efforts to address the crisis.
Russia Today
7 days ago
- General
- Russia Today
Force will not resolve South Sudan crisis
Escalating violence in South Sudan cannot be solved by military force, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has warned. Clashes between the East African country's government forces and opposition groups have spiralled into a humanitarian and political catastrophe. Zakharova made the statement during a briefing on Tuesday in Makhachkala, the Republic of Dagestan, which focused on regional and international security issues. 'The sharp deterioration of the situation in South Sudan in recent months is a cause for serious concern,' Zakharova said, noting that the armed confrontations have led to rising casualties, including among civilians. Fighting has intensified in Africa's youngest country since early this year, with alarming reports of ethnic-driven violence and breaches of a fragile 2018 peace deal that had once offered a path to unity. The International Committee of the Red Cross announced on Monday that its medical teams have performed over 1,000 surgeries on weapon-wounded patients in less than three months. More than 130,000 people have reportedly been displaced as airstrikes and fighter jet raids forced residents to flee towns, disrupted humanitarian access, and cut off key trade routes linking South Sudan to neighboring Ethiopia. The situation has been further complicated by political upheaval, including the arrest of First Vice President and opposition leader Riek Machar in March. The landlocked country gained independence from war-torn Sudan in 2011, and has remained unstable since the end of a five-year civil war that erupted in 2013 over a feud between its president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and Machar. Machar's party has warned that his arrest effectively nullifies the 2018 peace agreement that brought the civil war to an end. Several Western nations, including the US and the UK, have advised their citizens to leave South Sudan amid growing fears that the country could slide back into full-scale conflict. On Tuesday, Zakharova reaffirmed Russia's support for African-led efforts to resolve the crisis in South Sudan, which she noted adds to the existing challenges in neighboring Sudan, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She urged South Sudanese parties, with backing from their African partners, to 'demonstrate political wisdom' and prevent further escalation by recommitting to the framework of the 2018 peace agreement. 'We proceed from the fact that a forceful solution to this conflict is impossible,' Zakharova stated.
Al Arabiya
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Russia says Finnish naval drills are an instrument of NATO escalation
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday that Finnish naval exercises were turning into an instrument of NATO escalation near the Russian border.
Russia Today
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Drone targets Russian Embassy in NATO country
An unidentified drone flew over the Russian Embassy in the Swedish capital, Stockholm on Sunday and dropped a container of paint near the main entrance. According to a statement issued by the diplomats, the drone operators used a glass vessel which could have caused serious injuries had it struck anyone. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova urged Sweden to 'tame its ultras [radicals]' following the incident. 'Tomorrow, Stockholm will receive a note of protest. Sweden must tame its ultras, take control of the situation, and strictly observe the Vienna Convention,' Zakharova told TASS on Sunday. The embassy said these types of incidents have persisted for over a year, and that repeated appeals to Swedish police and the Foreign Ministry have not produced any results. It accused Stockholm of ignoring its obligations under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which requires host countries to protect foreign embassies and their personnel. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Russian diplomatic missions have been frequently harassed, with vandals throwing eggs or defacing buildings with spray paint. In January, a Ukrainian citizen living in Sweden rammed his vehicle into the embassy gates. The same individual previously targeted Russian diplomatic premises in 2015 and 2018. In April, paint cans were dropped in front of the embassy's auxiliary building and residential compound, which includes a school. 'The probes into the previous incidents allegedly conducted by Swedish law enforcement yielded no results,' the embassy said at the time. The diplomats noted that the incident in April was the 11th in the past year.
