The Russian State Department has rejected proposals made this week in Washington by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova has confirmed Russia’s military plan for Ukraine will not be interrupted or delayed, reports John Helmer.

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“There is no need to talk about what will happen if someone does something [in Ukraine],” Zakharova said. “There is a situation on the ground that we are resolving. Everything. This is not a matter of guesswork, but of our assessment of what is happening. This is based on the situation on the ground and direct political statements from Western politicians. Since Ukraine broke off all negotiations, this issue will be resolved on the spot. Under pressure or on its own initiative, Kiev has banned all government-level negotiations with Russia. So that’s it. The rest is for the military experts.”

Russia has also portrayed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as the successor to the Nazi Wehrmacht and the puppet of the US government. Scholz, according to Zakharova, is one of the Germans who

“lack[s] the spirit to make the right choice, not to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors, for which the German people, among others, paid a huge price… We remember well what German tanks are. These are machines that have become a symbol not only of death and deadly ideology, but of hatred of humanity – a global, existential threat to the entire planet… What do they expect in Germany? That armored vehicles in camouflage cover with iron crosses – symbols of the German armed forces then and now – will drive through our towns and villages? We still remember how it ended. Do they remember in Berlin? The day of the decision on the delivery of Leopards to Ukraine… is also historic because it is the total loss of German sovereignty. Olaf Scholz has forever signed the rejection of an independent German foreign policy. He has given up everything his predecessors had built decades after World War II.”

The full account of the State Department briefing, including reporters’ questions and the officials’ responses, can be read here. The Ministry’s official translation into English has been delayed and is not complete at the time of going to press.

Without naming Blinken or Nuland, Zakharova rejected Blinken’s Jan. 25 proposals, reported here, and Nuland’s subsequent sanctions relief proposal on Jan. 26 in testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee; for that text, click to read.

Zakharova’s following comments are condensed and excerpts of answers to various questions in the briefing. The English translation is unofficial.

“Russia, for its part, has always remained open to the possibility of using diplomatic and negotiating tools. This has been talked about repeatedly. All this has been applied, and all this is blocked by the regime in Kiev under the dictate of the West. The “collective West”, NATO, EU have long since abandoned diplomacy, have chosen a different path and have started creating security threats, inciting, inciting, inflating and simply pushing the European continent towards a global catastrophe. What is happening now is not a matter of Ukraine, Russia or even the European continent. This is a much larger and global matter.”

“You asked about the US decision to supply US tanks. Why are you emphasizing this in particular? It is clear that this position applies to all countries. But only one country stands out. That’s Germany. This is a special story. We still know well what German tanks are. They are machines that have become a symbol not just of death and deadly ideology, but of hatred of humanity – a global, existential threat to the entire planet.

If you read about fascism, nazism and the times of the Second World War, I think it is clear that the SS uniform, the German tanks with the symbols of the Third Reich have become a global symbol of the fall of humanity into the abyss of hatred, horror and murder. From this abyss, all of us – those who lived then and those who were born later – were liberated by the fighters of the Red Army and the anti-Hitler coalition. These were young people who fought at the front and connected with them all who were in the rear. It was the German tanks that became the anti-symbol forever etched in the memory of mankind. Now these tanks, as the Germans assume, will again advance to our country. At least that’s what they were instructed to do.

What do they expect in Germany? That armored vehicles in camouflage colors with iron crosses – symbols of the German armed forces then and now – will pass through our towns and villages? We remember how it ended then. Do they remember it in Berlin?… Everyone has written their name in history in different ways. Germany itself understands very well that Berlin has no moral, legal or ethical right to supply armored vehicles and tanks to kill Russians.”

Zakharova went on to remind the Germans of their planned murder of more than 3 million Russian prisoners of war between 1941 and 1945.

“I want to remind [Olaf] Scholz,” Zakharova said, “I’m not referring to [Foreign Minister Annalena] Baerbock, that seems to me to be pointless (ER: LOL) — and tell him maybe because he doesn’t know: when German prisoners were on the territory of the Soviet Union after our victory, they were not tortured, they were not mistreated in the same way as the Germans did with our soldiers and civilians in German concentration camps. They were fed by those [Russians] who had not had enough for many years, had nothing to eat for themselves. (I speak softly. In everyday life I would say this differently)… I remember well how in 2015, as part of an official delegation, the then-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany [Frank-Walter] Steinmeier arrived in Volgograd.  He repented and bowed his head before the graves of both Soviet and German soldiers who have remained on our land. And he said it should never happen again. You [Scholz] are repeating it now.”

Left: May 7, 2015 — Frank-Walter Steinmeier bows before a memorial to the fallen in Stalingrad. Right: German historian Christian Gerlach’s history of German plans to murder Russians and Jews. “I estimate the total number of deaths among the Soviet POWs at about 3 million (52-53% of 5.7 million in total). Most of those died in Eastern Europe: possibly 1.3 million in Ukraine, 700,000 in Belarus and 400,000-600,000 in Poland.” According to Gerlach’s published research, the German plan to kill Russians preceded the German plan to kill Jews; that the plan was for 30 million Russians to die; and that the German General Staff intended to kill Russians long before they carried out the plan to kill Jews. According to Gerlach, “The murder of Soviet prisoners of war, like Jews, was carried out with hatred and cruelty… The mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war is hardly known today.” Read through these pages 223-34 of Gerlach’s history at the click book.

“The day of the decision on the delivery of Leopards to Ukraine,” Zakharova continued, “is also historic because it has materialized what we have been talking about for a long time – the total loss of Germany’s sovereignty. Scholz has forever signed the rejection of an independent German foreign policy. He has given up everything his predecessors had built up over the decades after World War II. And they succeeded in that.”

Zakharova then addressed Washington’s proposals unveiled earlier this week, dismissing them as “small statements.”

“I don’t know who needs all these gradations to declare what is a plain fact. It seems to me that everyone has long understood what we are talking about – the confrontation with our country, the strategy to isolate it. Previously this was not possible by any means, neither economically nor politically nor financially. Even with calls to end lucrative contracts between private companies. It did not work. So sanctions were imposed and lists and stop lists were drawn up, and the entire international community was threatened, but nothing came of it. We went to the next stage. How else can you call it? Therefore, the “development of relations” will come from all this, from the statement of the real situation “on the ground” – and not from some small statements.”

“Today I heard Washington say that if Russia does something like this or that, maybe certain sanctions or something else will be lifted. Who listens to that anyway? Who needs it? Who pays attention to this anyway? Someone said something, some sanctions. That’s not the point.

Against the background of the fact that heavy weapons are provided, there is no need to talk about what will happen if someone does something there. There is a situation on the ground that we are resolving. Everything.”

“Question: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that Berlin would not object if Poland supplied Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine. Do you think that the delivery of these tanks will somehow change the situation on the ground?”

“Answer: I have said all I could say. This is not a matter of guesswork, but of our estimation of what is happening. It is based on the situation on the ground and direct political statements from Western politicians. Since Ukraine broke off all negotiations, this issue will be resolved on the ground. Under pressure or on its own initiative, Kiev has banned all government-level negotiations with Russia. So that’s it. The rest is for the military experts.”

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