Zakharova Unveils West’s ‘Powerful Structures’ Behind Navalny’s Actions

Feb. 9 , 2021 (EIRNS)—In a long interview with TASS on Feb. 8, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova blasted the “powerful structure” targeting Russia including those behind so-called dissident Alexey Navalny.

Referring to the Feb. 1 revelations by RT regarding the 2012 meeting that Vladimir Ashurkov, then head of Navalny’s phony Anti-Corruption Foundation, held with an official of the British embassy, suspected of being an MI6 agent, Zakharova said “we used to be told that this is exclusively a domestic story and no foreign forces are masterminding it, but now we can see that this is not true, it is yet another lie. And the forces and finances behind it are powerful, which is proven by the video footage that was recently disseminated, showing one of the members of these cells affiliated with Navalny meeting with an alleged British diplomat to discuss financing of their activities in Russia,” explaining they discussed huge sums of money to invest in destabilizing Russia.

“What’s most bewildering, abominable and impossible from the point of view of Western mentality is that they were speaking about direct aggression against Russian banks,” Zakharova asserted. “Can you imagine what it means to spread defamatory materials about Russian banks? To the benefit of British banks and the British financial system? And allocation of relevant amounts of money was discussed,” she pointed out.

Zakharova also revealed the role of the large U.S. internet giants and platforms in this plot to destabilize the Russian banking system. These conglomerates are deeply involved in supporting illegal activities against Russia, she charged, and saying, “We just got the evidence now; the whole world received evidence that [they are] interfering in our affairs from abroad in a whole range of spheres.”

The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also had choice words for the European Commission Vice President and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, who made a set of statements during his recent visit to Moscow, which he then contradicted on his return to Brussels. Borrell’s talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Feb. 5 were held in an atmosphere of trust in which both sides acknowledged problems in the relations and ways of resolving them, she said. Nonetheless Borrell sang a different tune as soon as he returned to Brussels. “Just one day later, when Mr. Borrell is back in his EU structures, we see a post in his blog ...about how bad everything was and that things would be still worse in the future. What can it mean? Where was the real Borrell: either in Moscow or when back in the EU structures?” According to a Feb. 6 TASS report, citing a press release the same day by the European External Action Service, while Borrell was in Moscow, members of his team contacted Navalny’s lawyers. During his Moscow visit, Borrell delivered an ultimatum that the EU expects Navalny’s “immediate and unconditional release, along with those arbitrarily detained in recent demonstrations.”