✉️ President of Russia Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory message to President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping (June 15, 2026)

✍️ Dear friend,

Please accept my heartfelt congratulations on the occasion of your birthday.

Under your leadership, the People’s Republic of China is achieving impressive success in economic, social, scientific and technological development, and is steadily strengthening its position on the world stage. You rightly enjoy high authority both among your compatriots and abroad.

🇷🇺🇨🇳 I fondly recall our recent meeting in Beijing, which fully reaffirmed the positive dynamics of Russia-China ties in all key areas.

The agreements reached are of great importance for further strengthening the relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between our countries.

🤝 We will undoubtedly continue our constructive dialogue and close joint work for the benefit of our friendly peoples and in the interests of building a just, truly democratic multipolar world order.

I sincerely wish you, dear friend, sound health, happiness, well-being and further success in your state activities.

Respectfully,

VLADIMIR PUTIN

#RussiaChina

💬 Russia's High Commissioner for Human Rights Yana Lantratova:

Supplying weapons to the Kiev regime leads to new civilian casualties. We have already seen strikes on the college and dormitory in Starobelsk; the attack on a passenger bus in Yenakiyevo; the destruction of the “Defence of Sevastopol” panorama museum.

✉️ I have sent appeals to:

▪️ UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.
▪️ President of the UN Human Rights Council Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro.
▪️ Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Sophie Kiladze.
▪️ Chair of the UN Human Rights Committee Soh Changrok.
▪️ Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Vanessa Frazier.
▪️ OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu.
▪️ OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ignazio Cassis.

The messages read, in part:

I am compelled to address you in view of the continued supply of weapons to Ukraine by Western governments.

The supply of weapons to the Ukrainian side is leading to an increase in civilian casualties and the destruction of homes, schools and hospitals, as evidenced by recent events — the tragedy in Starobelsk, the attack on a passenger bus in Yenakiyevo, and the strike on the “Defence of Sevastopol” panorama museum.

By supplying weapons to the Kiev regime and controlling the use of these weapons, especially long-range systems, Western governments are becoming accomplices in crimes that violate the norms of international humanitarian law.

I ask you not to ignore the facts of complicity in ongoing war crimes, to publicly condemn them, and to call on the international community to make a fair and objective assessment of what has happened.

❗️ I urge international bodies to protect human rights: not to remain silent, not to treat some victims as more deserving of compassion than others, and not to turn a blind eye to the suffering of children, the elderly, women and ordinary families.

The international community must call things by their proper names. Supplying weapons that are used against civilians is not assistance. It is complicity in crimes.

🎙 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement to the press following talks with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko (Minsk, June 15, 2026)

💬 Sergey Lavrov: We have just concluded a lengthy conversation with President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, who devoted considerable time to discussing the current situation in the Union State.

🤝 We have many plans, and all of them are being steadily implemented. This makes it possible to achieve the objectives set by the presidents of Russia and Belarus, who regularly align their approaches and outline specific areas for further development.

We also discussed international affairs. As is regularly the case during meetings between our Leaders, the focus was on the situation around the Ukrainian crisis – the hybrid, and later hot, war that the West unleashed against Russia after the coup in Ukraine and through the hands of the Ukrainian regime.

This war continues. Everything must be done to ensure that justice prevails. This concerns, above all, the rights of Russian people, which the Kiev regime has been trying to strip them of completely for many years.

We also discussed the role being played by our Western “colleagues” – the US and the EU – in settling issues that go far beyond the Ukrainian conflict and concern the general principles of security both in Europe and globally. We have a shared stance on this issue.

In the current situation, Europeans are clinging to the mistaken belief that Russia is losing and Ukraine is winning. Therefore, they believe they can issue ultimatums in the hope that Russia will accept them. President Vladimir Putin has already spoken about this in his recent remarks at various events.

These are illusory calculations pursued for improper purposes, as was confirmed during the visit by the ambassadors of Britain, France and Germany to the Russian Foreign Ministry. They spoke with Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin. They brought nothing new, but are persistently trying to offer their services, clearly unwilling to remain on the sidelines of the process.

As we confirmed today during our conversation with President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, we remain committed to the agreements reached on August 15, 2025, in Alaska. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that he accepted the proposal put forward by US President Donald Trump. ☝️ We expect the position agreed on the basis of the American proposal to be implemented.

Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov announced that we expect another visit by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the foreseeable future. We expect them to tell us how the US plans to implement the agreements, which are entirely based on their own proposal.

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🇷🇺🇧🇾 #RussiaBelarus

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answer to a media question (Minsk, June 15, 2026)

❓ Question: Do you share the view of President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko that the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine could be ended this year? What needs to be done for that to happen? Will the G7 Summit contribute in any way to the negotiation process on Ukraine?

💬 Sergey Lavrov: Any conflict can be ended quickly. US President Donald Trump has said more than once that all it takes is political will. But life, in a wide variety of situations, proves more complicated than forecasts, so I would not speculate now.

As President Vladimir Putin said, everything is being decided in conditions where the West is not fulfilling its obligations, and where the agreements reached in Alaska are being sabotaged because of the aggressive policy of the EU and Britain. President Vladimir Putin stressed that, under these conditions, everything is being decided on the front line by our military, in whom the entire country has placed its trust.

☝️ As for the Iranian conflict, we hope that everything announced today and confirmed literally an hour ago will materialise.

We hope that this agreement – as stated in Washington, Tehran and Pakistan, with Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif acting as mediator – will be signed this week.

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answer to a media question (Minsk, June 15, 2026)

❓ Question: The West wants to use the Kiev regime against Belarusians. How would you comment on this? How should this be addressed?

💬 Sergey Lavrov: The West is using the Kiev regime against us, and Belarus is our closest ally.

Zelensky keeps saying that Belarus is planning to attack Ukraine, trying to provoke the West. It seems he now feels a sense of complete impunity and wants to seize the moment to show how “tough” he is. Besides, his goals and assessments appear to vary depending on his state of mind.

We have a very clear position. We fully understand the approach outlined by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko: Belarus is our ally, but Belarus is not taking part in the war.

☝️ If they want to drag it into the war, Alexander Lukashenko has already responded to that as well: “They will not like the consequences”.

🇷🇺🇧🇾 #RussiaBelarus

⚡️ On Russia's win in international arbitration regarding the rights of a coastal state in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Kerch Strait

⚖️ Today, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (#PCA) in The Hague issued its final ruling in the 10-year arbitral proceedings between Russia and Ukraine concerning the rights of a coastal state in the Kerch Strait, the Sea of Azov, and the waters of the Black Sea surrounding Crimea.

The dispute was heard by an international arbitral tribunal in accordance with the procedure set out in Annex VII to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Composed of five independent arbitrators from Algeria, the UK, Mexico, Russia, and the Republic of Korea, the arbitral tribunal passed down a unanimous ruling.

🇷🇺 The case, which carries major geopolitical, legal, and historical significance, ended in a decisive victory for the Russian Federation.

❌ Numerous claims by Ukraine which accused Russia of violating dozens of provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea have been rejected.

Kiev’s efforts to challenge Russia's sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula and the adjacent maritime areas have failed. The tribunal dismissed Ukraine’s claims for the return of control over hydrocarbon, fishery, and other resources in the waters of Crimea and the Azov region, as well as any “compensation” or “reparations” from Russia for their use and alleged “damage”.

Ukraine’s attempt, supported by Western countries, to designate the Kerch Strait as “international” with the right of passage for vessels of all countries, including warships, has failed as well. For the first time in history, the legally binding award formally recognised the status of the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov as internal waters forming part of sovereign state territory.

The tribunal rejected Kiev’s request to declare Russia’s assertion of sovereignty over the entire Sea of Azov unlawful (as “aggravation of the dispute”) following the Donbass, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions’ accession to Russia. Nothing in the award prevents Russia from exercising its sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the maritime areas contiguous to the Crimean Peninsula, the Sea of Azov, and the Azov-Kerch waters.

The tribunal dismissed as absurd and cynical Ukraine’s demand for dismantling the Crimean Bridge. The very fact of submission of such a non-starter demand demonstrated inhumane nature of the Kiev regime, which allegedly continues to seek to “punish” Crimeans for their choice in favour of Russia. Ukraine’s claims that the Crimean Bridge obstructs navigation in these waters were found to be unfounded.

Ukraine’s allegations of violations by Russia of obligations concerning the protection of underwater cultural heritage were found to be entirely unsubstantiated and unsupported by evidence.

The tribunal also dismissed all Ukrainian claims regarding alleged environmental damage caused by Russia. It was established that Russia has an effective environmental monitoring system in place.

👉 The only issue on which the tribunal made a “nod” towards Ukraine concerned partial non-compliance with environmental impact assessment procedures in the construction of the Crimean Bridge, the energy bridge, and the gas pipeline across the Kerch Strait.

***

The Russian Side found the outcome of the proceedings satisfactory.

☝️This arbitral ruling represents a significant defeat for Ukraine and the West in the “legal warfare” waged against Russia.

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🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to media questions at a joint news conference following talks with Foreign Minister of Belarus Maxim Ryzhenkov (Minsk, June 15, 2026)

💬 Sergey Lavrov: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the integration processes between Russia and Belarus and of our close allied cooperation in foreign policy. <...> It is a genuinely comradely and candid discussion. There are no secrets between us.

We share a common position. We are allies and remain faithful to our allied commitments. We see the designs of those who are trying to look for any sign of daylight in our approaches or, as the Russian saying goes, drive a wedge between us in order to break us apart. We will continue implementing what has been agreed upon and approved by our peoples, namely, strengthening the Union State across all its dimensions, including the socioeconomic and military-technical spheres.

We focused in particular on foreign policy support of integration processes within the Union State and on strengthening its position on the international stage. We highly praised the progress of implementation of the 2024-2026 Programme of Coordinated Foreign Policy Actions and the ministerial consultations plan for this year.

We agreed to deepen coordination both within the UN and within Eurasian and other integration groups, including the #CIS, the #EAEU, and the #SCO. We will also coordinate our efforts within #BRICS, where Belarus holds the status of a partner country. This year, Russia holds chairmanship of the #CSTO. In this context, we discussed in detail the outcomes of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting held in Kazan last week. <...>

🤝 We are highly satisfied with the outcomes of the talks. We will maintain contacts.

***

• The United States is quite open about its stance. Recently, during testimony before Congress, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the United States cannot act as a mediator because it is siding with Ukraine.

• Yesterday, President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump got on the telephone to discuss this matter among others. President Trump reaffirmed his interest in facilitating the search for fair and lasting solutions to the Ukraine crisis. Let us now observe what concrete steps the United States will take.

• The American 28-point plan was mentioned as well. We continue to have questions regarding it, but we were prepared to use it as a basis once the Alaska agreement entered into force. So far, that hasn’t happened.

• The Europeans have played a largely negative role in this regard. Shortly after the Alaska summit, they scrambled to Washington in large numbers and systematically an incrementally, in a Jesuitical manner, sought to talk President Trump into abandoning the course of action that he himself had proposed and which President Putin had supported during the Anchorage summit. Thus far, they have been successful in doing so.

• As Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov announced, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would come visit us again. 👉 We hope they will clarify Washington’s perspective on the prospects for implementing the Alaska agreement, which will soon mark its first anniversary.

• We hope that the Ukraine issue will not disappear from the focus of the United States. Under President Trump, the United States has put forward many useful initiatives, and we hope the matter will not simply be left to the Europeans so that they can continue pursuing unrealistic plans, especially ahead of the forthcoming G7 summit in France.

☝️ Europe is once again seeking to create problems, as it has done throughout the past five centuries, and perhaps even longer.

• We are fighting for people’s rights, for human rights as enshrined in Article 1 of the UN Charter, which calls for respect for the rights of all people regardless of race, sex, language, or religion.

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#KievRegimeCrimes

⚡️ Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rodion Miroshnik:

💬 Over the past week, more than 250 civilians, including 12 children, suffered from the criminal actions of Ukrainian militants. Every day, the enemy fired over 700 munitions of various types at civilian sites in Russia.

Over the past seven days, Ukrainian punitive forces focused their efforts on disrupting civilian logistics in Crimea and the Kherson Region, including the supply of food, medicine and fuel.

Transport infrastructure, intercity and municipal public transport – including passenger trains and city bus routes – became targets of terrorist attacks.

Alongside these crimes, Ukrainian militants attempted to destroy a cultural heritage site in Sevastopol, once again demonstrating complete disregard for international law.

On June 8-14, Ukrainian neo-Nazi shelling resulted in casualties among 254 civilians: 225 people were injured, including 12 children, and 29 people were killed, including one child.

In total, over the past seven days, Ukrainian militants fired at least 4,976 munitions at civilian sites on Russian territory.