Evening with Vladimir Solovyov (№ 420113)

Now unilateral non-legitimate sanctions are being multiplied against our country, which are launched on the basis of arbitrary attribution, at the discretion of the European Union. Dialogue based on facts is preferred to unfounded accusations in the spirit of Highly likely and the presumption of innocence has been replaced by a presumption of guilt. Just by definition. Even now, our British colleague recently said that what happened in Belarus could not have happened without Moscow's knowledge. So this mentality continues to apply to all situations. And in general, there is interference in the internal affairs of Russia and the states allied to us. Apparently, this is what the rules-based order on which the West increasingly wants to rely, departing from the universal norms of international law, should look like. In fact, according to our assessment, the entire policy of the European Union in the Russian direction is linked to the implementation of the Minsk agreements, which require, among other things, a direct dialogue between Kiev and Donetsk and Lugansk, and which the Ukrainian leadership openly sabotages with the support of Brussels. Let me remind you that President Zelensky bluntly stated that we do not like the Minsk agreements, but we want them to remain in force, because as long as they are in force, sanctions against Russia will remain. That is, the European Union now essentially agrees that the unity of Ukraine, peace in the Donbass is sacrificed by Kiev to the preservation of anti-Russian sanctions. We know. that there are many in Europe who are aware of the counter-productivity of such a course against our country, and we hope that common sense will eventually prevail and we will be able to begin to develop a new balanced model of relations based on the principles of international law. Russia is invariably open to such equal and honest cooperation. This does not mean that we will leave without reaction new unfriendly steps, attempts to talk from a position of strength, interference in internal affairs. Such attempts are being prepared, and this is already being openly discussed. But the answer is sure to follow.