In a Dec. 9 interview with AFP, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the Kremlin remains committed in Ukraine to the goals of “denazification” and “demilitarization.” Asked about the prospects of a peace agreement, she stated: “It is necessary to confirm the neutral, non-aligned and nuclear-free status of Ukraine” as well as to “acknowledge new territorial realities, and ensure the rights of Russian-speaking citizens and national minorities living in this country.”
Zakharova, in comments dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, said: “Those professing the Nazi ideology in our day and age will be held accountable as well. Russia is committed to ensuring that the crime of genocide, one of the gravest crimes against humanity, does not go unpunished.”
In her Dec. 6 briefing, she commented on “The Foreign Ministry’s report on the glorification of Nazism and current manifestations of neo-Nazism and racism:” “In February 2022, the Russian Federation launched a special military operation to de-Nazify and demilitarize Ukraine and defend Donbass civilians, and this provided an additional impetus and motive for the collective West to boost its Russophobic agenda. In practical terms, this manifested as an all-out campaign of discrimination against Russians and all things Russian. In 2023, the developments have followed the same course,” she told reporters.
