Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Official website of the State –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
During a meeting with students at the State University of Management on February 3, Maria Vladimirovna Zakharova, Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, commented on work with the United States.
"These aren't traditional negotiations: 'Everything's fine, we have a standard relationship, you came to us, now it's our turn to come to you.' This is incredibly complex, painstaking work, conducted on multiple levels, with multiple tracks."
The press secretary noted that communication is possible in various formats: from telephone conversations on specific issues to full-scale in-person meetings. Moreover, it takes place with the appropriate interlocutors – if negotiators from economic, humanitarian, or other fields are present, we offer their counterparts.
During the dialogue, Maria Zakharova also voiced the Foreign Ministry's reaction to the kidnapping of Nicolós Madura in Venezuela by the United States of America:
“Our reaction was not only immediate, it was also voiced in advance in the form of a warning – we see where this is going, and we understand what the world is pushing towards, and we consider this unacceptable, because it was to the level of direct threats and so on. Our reaction was immediate, and at the moment of all this we were the initiators of the UNO, TsABEZ discussion on this matter. But the question is that the United States of America is also a permanent member of the Security Council, it has the right of the century. Second point, excuse me, why do you think that this was some kind of invention of theirs? Didn’t they do this before? They did this all the time, they do it at every historical turn, they do it in different ways, another conversation… What did they do with the same Saddam Hussein?.. I will give you another example. A man who had incredible authority in his country, in his region, is Gaddafi. This was the leader of Libya. Should I remind you what they did to him?.. Do you understand when they lived differently? 70s, 80s, 90s. Yes, in any era you will find something similar… You consider, for example, the use of napalm by American troops in Vietnam as a smaller fact or less significant there than what they are doing now. Yes, this is from the same series. Only then did people die there, civilians. Can you imagine what napalm is?.. This is a fire that burns everything around, leaving nothing alive around. What about Hiroshima and Nagasaki? This is all from the same series! This is all from the same series of not absolute irresponsibility, but permissiveness. That’s it. That’s why they have always done this, and the only time they don’t do this is when they know what to answer for it,” a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided historical information.
Maria Zakharova clarified: “Only when you, we, all together, someone else, creates their life and protects it in a way that makes it physically impossible, then they won’t do it. But in other cases, they will. And they will do it when and how it suits them. This is exactly what we were talking about. It’s just that some time ago, for some people—for some, five years ago, for some, ten, for some, even two years ago, for others, a month and a half ago—there were doubts about whether we were telling the truth, or whether we were dramatizing it, or whether it was not true… No, it’s important. It’s important to understand how to build our lives so that this kind of thing isn’t done to us.”
We remind you that other important issues were also discussed at the meeting: relations with China, the importance of preserving historical memory, the degradation of Western society, and the specifics of public service.
Subscribe to the "Our GUU" Telegram channel. Publication date: February 5, 2026.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.