Lavrov's first public keynote since the beginning of the war in Ukraine - at the 'New Horizons Educational Marathon' (the other keynote is by Kadyrov) - is a true festival of lies

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NATO wants a unipolar world. They promised Russia they won't enlarge, even in 2009, and that they won't threaten us, but they tricked us.

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Ukraine is being forced into NATO.
The coup in 2014 brought Nazis and radicals to power.
NATO planned to place offensive weapons there.
The UK was already designing a naval base in the Azov Sea with the Ukrainian government.

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Russian-speakers, people like you [the audience is mostly children and youth!] were threatened.
They voted in a referendum to live the way they want.

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The West wants us to change our values.
They want to destroy our family and traditional values [HAPPY IDAHOT!]. We cannot let this happen.

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Question from the audience: what is soft power?

Lavrov: Yugoslavia, Libya, Syria? The West is terrible.
Russia is different. We have a lot to offer the world. We have a lot to offer. We are for peace. Russia wants to solve problems peacefully!

[Also see: не бьёт, не любит]
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Question from the audience: the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany called chancellor Scholz a thin-skinned sausage. Why does Ukraine get away with everything?

Lavrov: nobody needs Ukraine. They are expendable. The West wants to fight until the last Ukrainian.

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Lavrov: Russians are not 'zombified' like westerners. Russians are different. They have access to free information, media, and can assess it critically to make up their own mind.

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Ukraine banned the Russian language from 5th grade. Also banned all Russian-speaking media.

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French president Macron is the only European leader who has a balanced view of the situation and proposes constructive solutions for the 'situation in Ukraine'

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Question from the audience: children from Donetsk People's Republic can already participate in our event. When will children from Kherson be able to do it?

Lavrov: it all depends on what the local structures [Russian occupier forces] and local civil society [LOL] wants

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Q: can the West disconnect Russia from the internet?

Lavrov: I have heard nothing to this effect, but I am sure 'Russian brains' will secure us a pole position in all communication systems

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Q: Why are Russian diplomats expelled [from Western countries]?

Lavrov: USA dictates this; USA said kick them out - they think everything is allowed; you can 'beat' Russia, and humiliate it, cancel its culture etc.
Our Embassies cannot work in the West - all channels closed
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Lavrov: we will reform our Foreign Ministry. We will reinforce the HQ and our embassies in countries that respect the UN charger, especially CIS

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Q: Proxy wars are a Western specialism. Does it make any sense to talk to Kyiv, as they are marionettes in the hands of the West?

Lavrov: Ukraine is not sovereign. During the negotiations in Turkey, Ukraine presented ideas we were happy to consider. We started...

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...translating this into a legal agreement, but the following day the 'Bucha provocation' surfaced and Ukraine stopped talking to us.
It is clear Ukraine is steered by the USA and the UK. They have representatives in Ukraine too.

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Lavrov: as my predecessor [Soviet Foreign Minister] Andrey Gromyko said, 10 years of talks are better than 1 day of war. We did not want this, but we were forced [to invade Ukraine]

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Luckily for all of us, Lavrov has no more time for questions.

EOT - off I go to wash my eyes with bleach again

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