Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Zakharova Holds Weekly Press Briefing

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Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko at Kiev airport - Sputnik International
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Russian Foreign Minsitry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova is holding a weekly press briefing in Moscow.

On Russian-Georgian relations

"We've had different stages in our relations. Unfortunately, at the moment Russia and Georgia do not enjoy bilateral relations. But love between the peoples of the two countries will allow us to overcome the disagreements in our relations," Maria Zakharova said.

New gov't in Turkey

How might the new Turkish government affect relations with Russia? "I would say the priority is the direction in which the government moves. We noted not new faces, but political course. We'll see what they will do," Zakharova said.

OSCE police mission in Donbass

"We cannot agree with this statement. We don't have an agreement regarding the OSCE special police mission in Donbass," Zakharova said.

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Ukrainian troops continue to shell Donbass. To prevent violations, the OSCE proposed the creation of a demilitarized area in the region. Moscow supports this decision. Moscow also doesn't mind if OSCE observers will carry light weapons for self-defense.

"We are not against these [OSCE] observers being able to carry light weapons for self-defense," Zakharova said during her weekly briefing in Moscow.

She said this would help to deter ceasefire violations along the line of contact, as well as the OSCE's proposition of establishing demilitarized zones along that line.

"The problem is Ukrainian troops try to capture so-called gray zones on the line of contact and constantly bombard rebels and civilians. To solve this problem, the OSCE proposed establishing so-called demilitarized zones on the line of contact and station OSCE observers there. Russia supports this approach," Zakharova said.

According to the Minsk agreements, all measures should be discussed with Donetsk and Lugansk.

On situation in Afghanistan

"The fact that the Taliban leader was killed is unfortunately viewed as a possible cause for the strengthening of radical forces in the region," Zakharova said.

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The terrorist attack in Kabul that was carried out on May, 25 confirmed this, she added.

Moscow has called information that contacts have allegedly been made between representatives of the Russian Federation and the Taliban in Afghanistan to be “fantasy,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

"We've seen a lot of speculations and fantasies that were unfortunately published in quite serious analyses on some sort of contacts from Moscow, from Russia with these figures [leaders] from the Taliban movement. To call this anything more than fantasy, insinuations, hoaxes, or anything else would be inappropriate," Zakharova said during her weekly briefing.

On situation in Nagorno-Karabakh

Moscow insists on peacefull solution in the region.

On pardoning Savchenko

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"The Savchenko case has nothing to do with the Minsk agreements; it's a myth. The only way to implement the Minsk agreements is through direct dialog," Zakharova said.

Kiev's aggressive statements following Savchenko's release have soured hopes that the Minsk agreements will be implemented, she added.

NATO expansion

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"There is no place on the map where NATO has not expanded its activity. The activity is not a problem. The problem is that NATO is not becoming more active in pursuing credible threats. However, it increases its activity in those areas where real threats don't exist," Zakharova said.

"NATO officials say the alliance's activity is a response to Russian aggression; we cannot remain indifferent to such statements. NATO should focus its attention on the real threats," she added.

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