Russian Foreign Ministry: West undermines APEC activities with politicized stuffing

The journalist of our publication reminded Maria Zakharova that she had previously commented on the Resolution of the 67th General Conference of the IAEA.

"How does all this relate to the atmosphere in which the IAEA group works at the Zaporizhzhya NPP? In particular, with delays in the rotation of Agency experts? Why should the rotation pass in transit through the territory of Ukraine? "- questions were asked.

The diplomat noted that the pleasant 67th session of the IAEA General Conference on the Ukrainian plot is not binding. It also grossly distorts reality, and for Russia it is legally and politically insignificant.

Given the impressive number of countries that did not support this idea and distanced themselves from Western pressure, it is safe to say that such an odious resolution will not work, and Russia does not intend to fulfill its provisions. The same resolution will not affect the activities of IAEA inspectors who work at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and are in danger created by the Zelensky regime.

In relation to the rotation of the agency's specialists at the ZPP, the Russian Federation gives all the necessary recommendations and does everything necessary to ensure that they pass safely, comfortably and to fulfill their functional duties.

The Kyiv regime has repeatedly undertaken provocations to create threats to the life and health of IAEA experts, there were plenty of shelling alone. And only thanks to the efforts of the Russian Federation, such provocations did not lead to tragic consequences.

The safest in rotation is the arrival of experts from the territory of Russia. The Russian Federation has repeatedly offered such options to the IAEA leadership, but the route, at the request of the organization's secretariat, still partially passes through the territory of Ukraine, through the contact line.

Russia takes note of this choice of the IAEA, continues to cooperate on the issues of rotation and ensuring the work of experts of the IAEA secretariat at the ZPP. This is important against the background of the ongoing threats of the Kyiv security regime of the nuclear facility itself.

"All parties understand that the ZPP is in Russian jurisdiction, it is managed in accordance with Russian law. The only source of threats for this facility, I repeat, is the Kyiv regime, which does not abandon attempts to seize the station, which continues to intimidate the personnel of the nuclear facility and residents of the city of Energodar, "Maria Zakharova explained.

The Russian Foreign Ministry expects that the IAEA will demonstrate an open mind and not biased in matters of safety of this nuclear facility.

In the second question, the journalist of our publication asked Maria Zakharova to clarify the statements of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In Sochi, he stated: "I hope that the ties that have existed for centuries between the Russian (and other peoples of Russia) and the Armenian people will not be destroyed by any interim administrations." The diplomat was asked what the term "provisional administration" means and how the state of relations with colleagues of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Yerevan can now be described.

Maria Zakharova pointed out that "temporary" means that "not forever," and "administration" means a management structure. She did not give any other comments on this issue.

Another topic raised by The Moscow Post at a briefing by the Russian Foreign Ministry was the participation of representatives of our country in the APEC forum in San Francisco.

"Will there be a Russian delegation at this meeting? And if so, what composition? "- the question was asked.

The diplomat pointed out that now everything is sliding towards the "mouse fuss" arranged by the states. And she highlighted the main thing - Russia has been actively participating in the work of APEC since joining this forum in 1998. This is one of the main directions of Russian multilateral diplomacy and an important platform for cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. The Russian Federation sees APEC as a central platform in the Asia-Pacific region to develop unified approaches for the economies of the region to issues of economic integration, improving trade and investment, and combating many of the challenges that our planet is currently facing.

And the following distracts from the main thing: at the suggestion of Westerners, the constructive activities of APEC are increasingly undermined by politicized stuffing and confrontational initiatives. The West "drags" everything that really does not belong to this platform, just to continue the course towards Russophobia, its own hegemonism and controlled chaos.

In the same row is the abuse of the current American presidency by its own obligations. The Russian Foreign Ministry will take into account the position of the United States when deciding on the level of representation at the top meetings in San Francisco in November 2023.

The Russian Federation does not intend to reduce the pace of its own work in this association. In 2024, Peru will be the chairman of the organization. The Russian Foreign Ministry has already established good contacts with colleagues, expects APEC to return to positive dynamics, despite the intrigues of Washington.

Finally, the journalist of our publication asked when you can wait for an agreement on visa-free entry for tourists with Barbados, Haiti, Mexico, Tridinad, Tobago, St. Lucia.

In response, Maria Zakharova noted that to date, agreements on visa-free travel have already been concluded with 27 Latin American countries. Similar agreements with these states have not yet been concluded, but the Russian Foreign Ministry will officially inform about this as soon as the documents enter into force.