Question: What is the international reaction to the failed insurgency?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: There is no point in retelling everything that has filled the media in recent days. Everyone could see and hear the international reaction. Every adult can appreciate it.

Question: Was support expressed from Russia's allies?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: In numerous calls to Russian President Vladimir Putin, colleagues expressed solidarity, support, and confidence that the situation will be under control and will return to the constitutional field. As it happened.

I also had several telephone conversations at the initiative of foreign partners. Many of them expressed the same thoughts: solidarity, confidence that we will not allow any attempts to undermine the unity of our state, the success of a special military operation . But they asked not to speak publicly about their calls. We try not to do this. We respect their requests.

Question: How do you assess the role of Minsk in resolving the situation?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: The assessments of the role of Minsk were given personally to President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko long ago. Press Secretary of the President of Russia V.V. Putin D.S. A.G. Lukashenko spoke in favor of resolving the situation by peace, in order to avoid a lot of bloodshed, which would inevitably happen if the rebel detachments continued to move towards Moscow. This proposal was supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin. You know the result. It was announced yesterday by a representative of the Kremlin.

Question: There have been reports that the United States has sharply changed its mind about imposing additional sanctions against Wagner PMCs in order not to end up "on the side of Vladimir Putin." Does this indicate a change in the US approach? Earlier there were loud calls to recognize this PMC as a terrorist organization.

Foreign Minister Lavrov: This is not a change in the US approach, but more confirmation that it depends on what Washington needs from this or that external player at this particular stage. Whether it be in the international arena as a whole, or in a particular country. In connection with the Ukrainian crisis, the United States has repeatedly shown complete bias and engagement. They are waging war against the Russian Federation with the hands of the Ukrainians.

A few years ago, on the eve of the signing of the Minsk agreements, such structures as the Azov Regiment were "marked" as terrorist in the US Congress. It was clearly written that American aid to Ukraine should not extend to them. All this is forgotten. "Azov" has long been rehabilitated. Following the “senior comrade”, some time ago, the Japanese Parliament decided to withdraw the Azov regiment from the list of extremist organizations.

Everything lends itself to the very “rules” by which the West lives itself and wants others to too. They have nothing in common either with international law or with the laws of any country, including a Western one.

Question: Can an unsuccessful rebellion create difficulties with our foreign partners?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: Not with partners and friends. With the rest, we don't care. The relations of the “collective West” with us have been destroyed on its initiative. There is none of them. One episode more, one less. I don't see much difference.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said: when and if they come to their senses and turn to us with proposals regarding the restoration of relations in one form or another, then we will see what they will ask for, and what was the role each of the petitioners in unleashing a hybrid war against the Russian Federation.

Question: Is there evidence that neither Ukrainian nor Western intelligence services were involved in the "uprising"?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: I work in an agency that does not collect evidence of illegal actions being committed. We have such structures. I'm sure they already figured it out.

Question: American portals publish reports that after the Saturday events, the leaders of African countries, including the Central African Republic, were seized by panic over the possible cessation of Wagner PMC activity in Africa. How realistic is the stoppage of the activities of a private military company on the African continent? Could this have a negative impact on Russia's image as a stabilizing force in Africa?

Sergey Lavrov: If reports about the “panic” that has engulfed the Central African Republic and the rest of Africa have appeared on American portals, then I strongly recommend that you take into account who they work for and how insignificant it is for them to be carriers of facts compared to the desire to curry favor with its leadership and those who determine the ideology and practical actions of the "collective West".

We have already discussed the role of the Russian Federation on the African continent. The CAR is one of those countries (along with Mali) whose government has formally requested a private military company. It was at a stage when the French and other Europeans abandoned the Central African Republic and Mali, curtailed the presence of anti-terrorist contingents there, closed the military bases that were designed to reinforce the fight against terrorism.

In the conditions when they were left face to face with the bandits, Bangui and Bamako turned to Wagner PMC with a request to ensure the safety of their authorities. In addition to relations with this PMC, the governments of the Central African Republic and Mali have official contacts with our leadership. At their request, several hundred military personnel are working in the CAR as instructors. This work will continue.

I will mention an important aspect. The Central African Republic, Mali and other countries of the Sahara-Sahel region came under direct attack from terrorist groups after all the "fighters for democracy and freedom" represented by France and other NATO members, wanting to eliminate M. Gaddafi (he knew too much about how financed the presidential campaign in the French Republic) unleashed open aggression against Libya. They violated a UN Security Council resolution that prohibited such actions. They ruined the Libyan state, which the entire international community is still collecting “piece by piece” and cannot implement it.

Libya has been turned into a huge black hole. Through it, to the south, into the Sahara-Sahel region of Africa, bandits with smuggled weapons, terrorists of all stripes, extremists, and drug dealers poured in. They are still terrorizing the corresponding countries of the African continent. Let's not forget that those who destroyed Libya and "became famous" for such aggressive adventures against other countries in the region (including Iraq, Syria), turned this country into a "black hole" and in the opposite direction - a huge number of illegal migrants. Now Europe is suffering from them and, as they say, does not know how to get rid of them.

About who and about what "panics". I did not see any panic or any changes in the relations between African countries and the Russian Federation. On the contrary, I received several calls of solidarity, including from many of my African friends. We proceed from the premise that no opportunistic moments can be introduced into strategic relations between Russia and our African partners.

Question: Judging by your answer, I understand that preparations for the Russia-Africa summit are still ongoing?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: Not yet, but it is in full swing. The agenda of the Summit is supplemented by new interesting items, which will be announced soon. I am sure that it will be informative for everyone to get acquainted with these events.

Question: How do you assess the "avalanche" of statements from Western analysts that the crisis around the PMC "Wagner" testified that the authorities in the Russian Federation were losing control over the situation and that a civil war would soon begin?

S.V. Lavrov:They pass off wishful thinking. This is what "swept" our Western colleagues yesterday and on Saturday evening. I got acquainted with how events in Russia are covered. In particular, CNN (if I remember correctly) reported that American intelligence knew about the impending rebellion for several days, but decided not to tell anyone about it. Apparently, in the hope that the rebellion will succeed. Another message from CNN, which sounded just yesterday with reference to American intelligence analysts, prompts me to the same idea. It was said there that it was expected that E.V. Prigozhin’s campaign against Moscow would meet much more resistance and be much more bloody than it actually was. Here is an indirect answer to your question: what were they expecting and why they commented on what was happening exactly as you quoted it. About these “expectations” of precisely this kind and nature - the collapse of the Russian state, quite frankly, according to S. Freud, representatives of the Ukrainian regime, including V.A. Zelensky and his henchmen, M.M. Podolyak and A. M. Danilova. They all lamented that they had not been able to use this situation to "collapse the regime."

Such a representative of European democracy as President of France Emmanuel Macron, who defends the "strategic autonomy" of Europe from the United States and from everyone else, was also noted. But he is not far from the United States. E. Macron said that they are looking at this situation with caution. They say that it is developing rapidly, but the main thing that they saw was the split, fragility and weakness of the regime and the army, which fully justifies their actions to continue military support for Ukraine. Here, even an eighth-grade student will understand the position advocated by E. Macron, who clearly saw in the current development of events a chance to realize the threat (as a mantra repeated by NATO leaders) that Ukraine inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. I mean not only Ukraine, but the entire Western camp, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said, speaking on Saturday: "virtually the entire military, economic, information machine of the West is directed against us." It is clear that CNN, the leaders of the Ukrainian regime and politicians such as E. Macron are part of this "machine".

Yesterday, US Ambassador L. Tracy spoke with Russian representatives, passed on “signals” (they are not secret) that the United States had nothing to do with it, that they hoped that nuclear weapons would be in order, that American diplomats would not suffer. It was especially emphasized that the United States proceeds from the fact that everything that happens is an internal affair of the Russian Federation.

Here, too, you can give some fresh and not very examples, when attempts were made to rebellion and coup d'état in one country or another, the United States each time reacted differently depending on who was in power and who tried to carry out the coup. For example, the sadly memorable 2014: the Kiev Maidan, bloody provocations against unarmed law enforcement officers, a coup d'état against the legitimate president at the very moment when a settlement agreement supported by the European Union was concluded a few hours before. The United States did not show any protest against that rebellion, nor did their European allies. They kind of acknowledged that such a "zigzag" was made by the democratic process, as one of the German leaders said at that time.

In the same 2014, a coup d'état took place in a state called Yemen and its President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia. All these long years in relation to Ukraine, all our attempts to return the situation to a political channel ran into the phrase that V.F. Yanukovych left Kiev, and in relation to the fled Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi, the whole West told us in chorus that no, he is legal President, that he must be returned to Yemen, only then will the settlement process begin.

In the same year, in 2014, there was an attempted coup in the Gambia. As soon as the first reports appeared that the putschists had taken up arms, the State Department immediately declared that the US would never recognize forces that came to power through non-constitutional means.

A couple of more recent examples. The United States categorically refused to call for dialogue between the puppet government of Moldova, when the President of the Republic of Moldova, M. G. Sandu, with her Russophobia, went so far as to “raise” thousands of people to peaceful protests. Remember how the West reacted and said that this was an attempted coup, that it would never support it. At the same time, trials were taking place in Georgia, where the West does not like the current government. There, supporters of MN Saakashvili (who came to power as a result of a coup d'état supported by the West) rose up against him, organizing a "Georgian Maidan", which completely suited the West.

Here are a few examples that where it is interesting for the West to keep the lured power, then there can be no protests by definition. And where the authorities do not reflect the interests of the hegemon, but try to proceed from the national interests of their country and people, there they “trick” all sorts of punks on this authority. These are American "rules" - "American world", as they want to see and strengthen it.

Question: Throughout the past month, statements and warnings from the Ukrainian and American sides that Russia is clearly going to blow up the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant have been heard almost every day. Doesn't such insistence give reason to think that some kind of attack is being planned, the blame for which will be attributed to Russia? Could this provide an excuse for NATO to enter directly into hostilities?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: This is nonsense. This has been commented on many times. We also sometimes add a reference to a certain animal to the word "nonsense". He is like that.

The fact that this is a well-worn threat and the warning has repeatedly popped up in the media space (primarily through the lips of representatives of the Kyiv regime) says only one thing. All these people are trained, including for information warfare, primarily by the Anglo-Saxons, Poles and even the Balts (who have become senior comrades for Ukraine). If the result of these "trainings" is so deplorable and unconvincing, then I feel sorry for the money that Western taxpayers spend on paying salaries to "teachers" who train incapable and insane "students."