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Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow, June 28, 2023.
"Question: How did Alexander Lukashenko manage to reach an agreement with the Wagner Group on issues unsuccessfully negotiated with the Russian Defence Ministry for the past few months?
Maria Zakharova: You are confusing terms. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko joined in as a mediator to resolve a certain situation that they managed to settle jointly. Do not connect two different things; they are different issues. I do not want to discuss this issue.
The mediatory efforts were focused on a specific episode. I have already mentioned their role and significance. There should be no doubt.
Question: Alexander Lukashenko asked not to call him a mediator. He said he was the same kind of participant as President of Russia Vladimir Putin.
Maria Zakharova: I find it hard to discuss this. If he made this request, it means he did it.
Indeed, the word “mediation” has unfortunately started acquiring a negative connotation in global practice these days because many of those who called themselves mediators turned out to be people or organisations with double standards, to put it mildly. They either failed to actually mediate or did something diametrically opposite. I believe that an actual resolution to this situation should reinstate the true meaning of the word “mediation.”
I respect the position of a person who was directly involved in these developments. However, I would like to show what genuine mediatory efforts are all about. Today, these efforts have become completely opposite in many respects. We see that many people from overseas are eager to mediate in the region, specifically, in the post-Soviet countries near Russian borders even though they are not part of our region. At the same time, they incite tensions and pit warring parties involved in difficult situations against each other. They act deliberately in the opposite direction. Many people therefore do not trust the word “mediation.” It would be great to see this term exonerated in the context of what we have seen, so that people can realise that mediation can and must be something worthy, aiming to achieve a genuine result, displaying a professional approach and emotions like friendship, brotherhood, open intentions and true goals. I am trying to use this word in this context only. It pains me to see how many people wear the costume of a “mediator” when it is nothing more than camouflage concealing questionable goals and objectives.
Question: Experts believe that the Wagner PMC is slowly pushing the French military out of Africa. This also coincides with the policy pursued by Russia to strengthen relations with the African countries and pull them away from “French colonisation.” Does the Foreign Ministry believe that the sudden change in Wagner’s sentiment, which manifested itself this weekend, could lead to an attempt to organise a coup against Russia's African partners as well?
Maria Zakharova: Russian instructors (or whatever you prefer to call them) have not been deliberately pushing anyone out. This is a major misconception replicated from article to article, from question to question, from material to material. They have not been forcing anyone out. France withdrew from Mali and the Central African Republic of its own accord. Moreover, as representatives of those countries say, France didn’t just leave, it abandoned and betrayed them at a very difficult time in their history. I heard such assessments.
You know this popular phrase – if there is a void, something will fill it. To be honest, we sometimes became victims of this approach too, where we left somewhere and abandoned certain connections, contacts, or participation for later, until better times. Then our place was taken. We also have many such examples. One might recall certain betrayals. Someone might have thought it made sense to withdraw and concentrate on something else for the time being because we could always return. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to return.
The current situation is not about someone being “forced out” by someone else. The fact is that the African countries invited Russian instructors when they could no longer use the services of French instructors because they left. When France realised it was losing the market (this was a regular services market for them), its influence (image is important), when the French realised it was collapsing and disappearing forever, they started using mala fide methods such as misinformation. They began denigrating our cooperation on this track – not necessarily interstate ties, just African countries’ interaction with private companies and instructors. It is essential to understand why those instructors are there in the first place.
Question: Could the Wagner Group start a riot in Africa? They operate there too.
🔻Continued in the comments.⏬
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