The launch of Russia’s special military operation and the accession of the four new regions to the country ended 30 years of attempts by Moscow to build an equal partnership with the West, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
Summing up the country’s foreign policy course in 2022, the ministry said the recognition of the sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), the start of the special military operation, the holding of referendums in the two Donbass republics and in the liberated areas of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions followed by their accession to the Russian Federation were "tough but necessary steps." "At the same time, they ended a 30-year period of honest attempts by Russia to build an equal partnership with the collective West," the Russian diplomats said.
Moscow’s resolute actions helped expose "the true intentions and attitude of Western countries" toward Russia. "By resorting to openly Russophobic rhetoric and acknowledging in public that the Minsk `set of measures’ was just a way to buy time for the Kiev regime and pump it full of NATO weapons, Western leaders declared their intention to deal a `strategic blow’ to our country and remove it from the global arena as a geopolitical entity," Russia’s Foreign Ministry concluded.
World community hails Russia’s struggle against Western neo-colonial practices — MFA
A greater part of the world community supports Russia's approach to the struggle against the Western countries’ neocolonial practices, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a review of the main political results of 2022, uploaded to its website on Thursday.
"The further march of events confirmed that a larger share of the world community welcomes Russia’s approaches, including joint efforts in the fight against the West’s neo-colonial practices," the Foreign Ministry said. "Despite pressures Russia has not departed from its fundamental foreign policy guidelines and continued to promote a constructive international agenda."
"The Russian diplomacy was firmly defending its national interests, relying on the goals and principles of the UN Charter and international law," the Foreign Ministry said.
Moscow spurns Norway’s attempts to hinder work of Russian scientists on Spitzbergen — MFA
Moscow categorically rejects Norway’s discriminatory policy aimed at hampering the work of Russian scientific institutions on Spitzbergen, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a commentary which was spread by the ministry on Thursday.
"Recently, the Norwegian authorities have significantly tightened the conditions for the work of Russian organizations on the Spitzbergen archipelago and in its waters. The measures the Norwegian side is taking, in violation of the principles and provisions of the 1920 Spitzbergen Treaty, already affect all the main areas on which Russia’s long-term presence in the archipelago is implemented in full accordance with international law: [these are] coal mining, tourism, and science," Zakharova said.
"Such a discriminatory approach is absolutely unacceptable. Russia has repeatedly conveyed its position, grounded by appropriate arguments, to the attention of the Norwegian side through official channels," the diplomat said.
Zakharova drew attention to the fact that earlier this month, the Norwegian authorities unlawfully restricted the Russian ship Dalnie Zelentsy from carrying out research work in the archipelago. Moreover, despite the timely notification of the Norwegian side about the call, the ship was actually denied access to the Russian village of Barentsburg. As a result, as noted in the commentary, the further work of the bio-geo station of the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute (MMBI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences has been significantly hampered.
"Given that earlier the Norwegian side successfully coordinated the MMBI studies which are conducted annually, we consider the restrictions introduced this year to be exclusively politically motivated," Zakharova stressed.
"Regular statements by Norwegian officials and military experts indicate that Oslo preferred to succumb to anti-Russian hysteria to the detriment of the fulfillment of its international legal obligations," she concluded.
That means that one of the most important provisions of the Spitzbergen Treaty is being ignored - the right of equal access of citizens of its member states to the archipelago for any purpose and task, Zakharova said.
"We remind you that it is under these conditions that Norway's sovereignty over the archipelago is recognized by the countries participating in the treaty, including the Russian Federation," the diplomat said.
Russia will continue to defend the legitimate interests of its presence in the Spitzbergen archipelago and seek respect for the rights of national organizations. This includes the right of scientific organizations to have unhindered access to Spitzbergen so that they can conduct activities there that are lawful from the point of view of the 1920 Treaty, she concluded.
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