Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov says it is now obvious that plans of the Western countries to defeat Russia fell through.
"The entire Western world has turned against us. However, it is already clear today that plans to inflict a strategic defeat on our country have been thwarted," Antonov said on Friday, at an embassy meeting on the occasion of Diplomatic Worker's Day.
He pointed out that, over the past year, Russia has rebuilt its economy, strengthened its military power and stepped up cooperation with most countries.
"Yes, it’s hard for us. Yes, we live under economic sanctions. They even want to erase the name of our Motherland from the political map of the world," Antonov said.
"Day by day, Russian diplomats feel the desire of the enemies to undermine our centuries-old friendship with the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States [CIS], as well as Asia, Africa, Latin America."
The ambassador emphasized that Russia is determined to work toward the creation of a democratic world order based on equality and respect for international law, where conditions will exist for the fair development of all countries and where national interests will be respected. Antonov said the Russian embassy in the US is part of Russian society and that each diplomatic worker strives to accomplish the maximum possible to strengthen the authority and prestige of Russia.
NATO Planes Regularly Circled Sites of Nord Stream Blasts During Baltops Exercise, Analysis Finds
During the NATO Baltops 22 exercise last summer, US and German navy aircraft regularly circled over the sites of future explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines, according to Sputnik’s analysis of Flightradar24 data.
On Wednesday, investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh published a report saying US Navy divers during NATO Baltops exercises in the summer of 2022 planted explosives to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines, which Norway activated three months later.
According to the report, US President Joe Biden decided to sabotage the Nord Streams after more than nine months of secret discussions with the national security team.
Flightradar24 data analyzed by Sputnik shows that, between June 8 and June 16 of last year, German and US maritime surveillance aircraft P-3 Orion and P-8 Poseidon carried out regular flights over the sites of future Nord Stream explosions.
The military aircraft descended to low altitudes and turned off transponders in almost every flight, so some of their trajectories remained unrecorded.
On June 8, the American Poseidon aircraft circled over the sites of three future explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines northeast of Bornholm Island. The German P-3 Orion aircraft then flew over a future blast site east of the island. On June 9, the Poseidon aircraft flew over the sites northeast and east of Bornholm.
From June 11 to June 15, the US Poseidon aircraft circled precisely over the sites of future Nord Stream sabotage acts every day, often making many turns and loops at low altitude. On June 16, the German P-3 Orion flew over the area.
The minimum flight altitude of US and German military aircraft over the Baltic Sea around the location of the gas pipelines was less than 600 meters (0.4 miles). However, it could have been even lower in those parts of the flights that were not recorded by the open monitoring system.
On September 26, 2022, three of the four strings of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were damaged after an underwater blast. The pipeline's operator Nord Stream AG reported that the damage was unprecedented and it was impossible to estimate the timeframe for repairs.
Germany, Denmark, and Sweden launched separate investigations into the suspected sabotage, with German media reporting trust issues among the three EU nations. The Russian chief prosecutor's office said it had opened an inquiry into possible international terrorism.
Germans Opposing Arms Supplies to Kiev Need to Start Peace Movement, Lawmaker Says
Germans that advocate peace talks and oppose arms supplies to Kiev must organize into a movement for peace, otherwise the situation will deteriorate further and Germany will get dragged deeper into the Ukraine-Russia conflict, lawmaker Sahra Wagenknecht told die Welt newspaper on Friday.
Earlier in the day, Wagenknecht, a member of the German Parliament for The Left Party, and prominent German feminist journalist Alice Schwarzer launched a petition on the change.org portal titled "Manifest for Peace."
In their petition, the pair called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to stop sending arms to Ukraine and initiate peace talks. As of yet, over 75,000 people have signed the petition.
"We urgently need peace movement in Germany, otherwise we will be drawn deeper and deeper into this war, which must be ended. It is necessary to negotiate for this, and not to supply more and more weapons," she told the newspaper.
"If there is no 'Stop' sign and if the half of Germans that, according to surveys, does not want [arms] supplies does not manifest itself more explicitly, then fighters will also be delivered (to Kiev) in the near future."
A couple of weeks ago, it was considered impossible for Germany to be among the first countries to supply tanks, Wagenknecht said. Now, fighter jets and long-range missiles are being discussed, which, according to the lawmaker, will not end the war, but will only lead to the escalation of the conflict.
The lawmaker also said that only the Vatican has so far expressed its desire for peace, while Germany, France, the US and the EU have only been making unrealistic demands. A realistic proposal, according to Wagenknecht, will be a neutral status for Ukraine and the creation of a de-militarized zone in contested regions, followed by referendums on their territorial affiliation.
"If such a proposal had been made, and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would have refused to even discuss it, then it would be possible to talk about a different path. But how can you say that Russians do not want negotiations, if such an offer is not even on the table?" she said.
The lawmaker also announced that a demonstration in support of the petition would take place in central Berlin on February 25.
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