Alexander Lukashevich

Moscow condemns EU attempts to use Victory Day anniversary for attacks on Russia

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From TASS, March 5, 2015

Children congratulate a Russian WWII veteran on May 9, the Victory Day

Children congratulate a Russian WWII veteran on May 9, the Victory Day

© ITAR-TASS/Stanislav Krasilnikov

 Infographics The US and Ukraine voted against the UN resolution condemning the glorification of NazismThe US and Ukraine voted against the UN resolution condemning the glorification of Nazism
The text of the resolution proposes banning the whitewashing and glorification of the Nazi movement, neo-Nazism and former Waffen-SS members, erecting monuments to them and holding public rallies to commemorate them. Infographics TASS

MOSCOW, 5 March. /TASS/. Attempts to distort the truth about World War II are an insult to the memory of the victims of Nazism and millions of Soviet soldiers who died for the liberation of Europe, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told a briefing on Thursday.

“We condemn the desire of the European Union to use the upcoming VE-Day anniversary for new attacks on Russia,” he said. “We call on the EU to stop playing along with the openly revanchist sentiments of some of its members used in an opportunistic attempt to revise the results of World War II and the decisions of the Nuremberg Tribunal.”

Lukashevich drew attention to the statement by a European Union representative at the UN General Assembly session, adopting the resolution on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, alleging that this event brought not freedom to many European countries, but new crimes against humanity. The Russian diplomat said that EU representatives had made such statements before, in particular, during the November 2014 vote in the UN General Assembly on the resolution against the glorification of Nazism and during adopting the declaration on the 79th anniversary of the end of World War II at a meeting of the OSCE Council of Ministers in Basel in December 2014.

Latvian Waffen SS legion veterans march

© ITAR-TASS/Timur Subkhankulov

 Authorities in Latvian capital permit march of Waffen SS legion veterans

“So the statement made by the EU official in the UN is not accidental,” he said. “In this regard, we express our indignation and strong opposition to this arbitrary and blasphemous pseudo-legal appraisal. We regret that the EU has again done the bidding of some of its members that are obsessed with anti-Russian aspirations and resorted to the absolutely unacceptable interpretation of events related to World War II.”

Lukashevich said that after the liberation of occupied territories by the Red Army “numerous accounts of atrocities and crimes committed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators against civilians of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were collected and documented.”

“It should be emphasised that the principles enshrined in the UN Charter and decisions of the Nuremberg Tribunal are recognized by the UN General Assembly as the principles of international law, so any EU attempts to distort the truth about World War II or the Nuremberg Tribunal decisions are an insult to the memory of millions and millions of Soviet soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Europe, innocent victims of the Nazi regime.”.

http://tass.ru/en/russia/781292

Russia concerned as U.S. military moves into Ukraine, Black Sea

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Xinhua News Agency
March 6, 2015

Russia concerned with U.S. military deployment in Ukraine

MOSCOW: Russia is concerned with arrival of U.S. military personnel on Ukraine soil, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

“Up to 300 U.S. troops reportedly have been deployed to a peacekeeping center in Ukraine’s western Lvov region,” the ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters.

Noting that those U.S. military instructors would train Ukrainian soldiers from March 5 to Oct. 21 on western military hardware operations, Lukashevich said that U.S. military presence in that country has become a fact.

He also highlighted danger of U.S. plans to start massive arms supply to Ukraine despite successful implementation of the ceasefire agreement reached in Minsk, the Belarusian national capital, on Feb. 12 between Ukrainian government and Donbass insurgents in eastern Ukraine.

Moreover, the U.S. Congress has been drafting a bill on allocating one billion U.S. dollars for Ukraine’s army training and armament equipment, according to Lukashevich,

“It seems like Washington decided to take (Ukrainian armed forces) under full maintenance,” Interfax news agency quoted Lukashevich as saying.

Meanwhile, the spokesman blamed the U.S. for its military presence in the Black Sea, as NATO Maritime Command said Wednesday in an online announcement that six NATO warships had arrived in the Black Sea for joint exercises.

“This somehow contradicts the public statements of the U.S. administration supporting political settlement of conflict in Ukraine,” Lukashevich said.

He warned that such actions might lead to “the most serious consequences” for the peaceful settlement of the crisis.

Lukashevich also urged the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe monitoring mission in Ukraine to verify implementation of Minsk agreements, especially to monitor the weapon withdrawal by conflicting parties in the “impartial, well- organized and systemic way.”

 

https://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/u-s-nato-move-military-into-ukarine-black-sea-russia-mildly-perturbed/

Are the six NATO warships in the Black Sea studying Crimea’s defenses in preparation for an invasion?

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Posted on Fort Russ

March 5, 2015
Regnum
Translated by Kristina Rus

Officer of the Black Sea Navy: NATO Exercises in the Black sea – is study of Crimea’s defenses 

Six NATO warships are conducting war games in the Black Sea.

“The Black Sea navy staff is closely monitoring all the activities of the North Atlantic Alliance in the region,” – said the officer of the Russian Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol.

All six ships – the American missile cruiser “Vicksburg” the type of “Ticonderog”, canadian frigate “Fredericton”, the Turkish frigate “Turgutreis, an Italian frigate “Alesia”, the Romanian frigate “Regina Maria” and the German supply ship  “Spessart” – are part of “the second marine group of NATO”.

According to the source, the exercises involve practicing protection against air attacks and torpedo attacks from submarines. The commander of the group, Admiral Williamson, has already stated that the exercises in the Black sea are conducted “at the invitation of Turkish, Bulgarian and Romanian governments” and support “preparedness for any NATO mission, which may be needed to perform its obligations under the collective defense”. At the same time, NATO planned exercises “according to the scenario of the crisis between the two non-Alliance countries.”

“We closely monitor the movements and actions of NATO ships, because regardless of the legend about the exercises, the activities of the ships of the Alliance are aimed at studying the defenses of Crimea“, – said the officer.

According to the source, the recently relocated to Crimea, latest Su-30 and front-line bombers Su-24, which are in constant contact with the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, in particular with 519-m separate division reconnaissance ships, are involved in monitoring the NATO group.

Earlier, an official spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Lukashevich called the entrance of NATO ships into the Black sea “a provocative idea, which will not contribute to the settlement of the conflict in Eastern of Ukraine.”