- 6/19/2025
In this powerful episode of the Sanchez Effect, Maria Zakharova, the outspoken spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, joins Rick Sanchez for a no-holds-barred conversation on the global stage’s most pressing questions. She boldly asks: “Why is Iran being bombed?” — and challenges Israel’s claims about Iran’s nuclear program, questioning why the world hasn’t seen the evidence 🕵️♀️.
Zakharova also speaks candidly about Donald Trump, calling him the first U.S. president in decades to speak unfiltered truths, and reflects on how Russia now protects European culture more than the West itself 🎭📜. The episode delivers a mix of wit, deep insight, and sharp critique — offering viewers a rare perspective that Western media won't touch.
#MariaZakharova #SanchezEffect #ForbiddenNews #RTInternational #IranBombing #IsraeliStrikes #NuclearClaims #MiddleEastTensions #TrumpTruth #UnfilteredPolitics #CulturalPreservation #RussiaAndTheWest #Geopolitics #EuropeanHeritage #RickSanchez #UncensoredVoices #SharpInsight #RussiaSpeaksOut #BreakingTheNarrative #GlobalConflict #StayInformed
Zakharova also speaks candidly about Donald Trump, calling him the first U.S. president in decades to speak unfiltered truths, and reflects on how Russia now protects European culture more than the West itself 🎭📜. The episode delivers a mix of wit, deep insight, and sharp critique — offering viewers a rare perspective that Western media won't touch.
#MariaZakharova #SanchezEffect #ForbiddenNews #RTInternational #IranBombing #IsraeliStrikes #NuclearClaims #MiddleEastTensions #TrumpTruth #UnfilteredPolitics #CulturalPreservation #RussiaAndTheWest #Geopolitics #EuropeanHeritage #RickSanchez #UncensoredVoices #SharpInsight #RussiaSpeaksOut #BreakingTheNarrative #GlobalConflict #StayInformed
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hi everybody, I'm Rick Sanchez and we are coming to you live from one of the most beautiful
00:28cities in the entire world. It's a summer day as you can see behind me here in St. Petersburg.
00:35This is one of the most economic forums, one of the most important economic forums in the
00:41entire world. It's called the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, International Economic Forum
00:48to be exact. And there are some 170 people here. There's foreign ministers, economic
00:54ministers, men and women of industries, heads of state, all here discussing the economies
01:01of their countries, respectively, as the world changes. Because obviously many of us know
01:07now that the world is not led anymore by just one faction, but rather by what is often called
01:14the Global South. Those are the folks that are primarily represented here on this day. It's
01:20a very important news-making event and we are going to be talking to many of those newsmakers,
01:28including Maria Sohavara, who is the Director of Information for the Foreign Ministry of Russia.
01:34By far one of the most important voices, the voice of the Foreign Ministry of Russia. So
01:41she's going to be joining us here in a little while. Lots to talk about, as well as the news
01:45that's taking place around the world. This is the Sanchez Effect. Let's do it.
01:58Before we talk to Maria Sohavara, I wanted to talk to you about some of the things that are taking
02:02place around the world right now. It's almost impossible to step away without seeing just how
02:08important this situation that's developing between Israel and Iran is at this point. Something
02:16happened, though. Something happened over the weekend that I want to start with. The G7 was held in
02:21Canada. It was hosted by Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada. Mr. Trump shows up and the first words out of
02:29Mr. Trump's mouth are the G7 needs to turn into the G8 and Russia needs to be included once again. We
02:38have this on tape. I want you to see it. Here it is. The G7 used to be the G8. Barack Obama and a
02:46person named Trudeau didn't want to have Russia in. And I would say that that was a mistake because I
02:52think you wouldn't have a war right now if you had Russia in. And you wouldn't have a war right now if
02:56Trump were president four years ago. But it didn't work out that way. But it used to be the G8.
03:03And now it's, I guess, what's that, nine years ago, eight years ago and switched over. They
03:08threw Russia out, which I claimed was a very big mistake, even though it wasn't in politics.
03:13Then I was very loud about it. It was a mistake in that you spend so much time talking about Russia
03:19and he's no longer at the table. So it makes life more complicated. But you wouldn't have had the war.
03:26It's fascinating to hear him say, you spend all your time talking about Russia. Why not just have
03:31them at the table? If you're going to be talking about them, why not talk to them is the point
03:35that he's making. And how did that go over? Like a lead balloon. As a matter of fact,
03:40while he was then being asked questions by reporters about that statement that he made,
03:46some of the other heads of state apparently were flustered, frustrated, angry. Mark Carney kind of
03:52shut it off and immediately interrupted. Mr. Trump then left. In fact, I think, Gene,
03:57we have that video. I want to show it to you. This is Donald Trump getting on a helicopter,
04:03and he's flying away before the G7 actually concluded, while Mr. Trump is arguing that maybe
04:11it should be turned into a G8. Maybe we should just include Russia and China, as a matter of fact.
04:17I think the point he's making, if you're going to talk about these countries, why not talk to them
04:22at the same time? Well, that, again, did not go over well with some of these leaders. One of the
04:27persons that didn't go over well is Starmer, obviously the prime minister of the UK, who was,
04:33here's another video I want to show you. This is Starmer being asked by a reporter from the BBC
04:38about his potential involvement or his country's potential involvement in Iran. And the reporter's
04:45getting at something very important here because so many UK citizens were affected by the war in
04:50Ukraine. In fact, look, 4% decline in wages since the war in Ukraine in UK and an 11% increase in
05:00inflation. So the citizens of UK are paying for the decision that their leaders have made in Ukraine.
05:06So this reporter asks Starmer, are you worried that this is going to be a punishment again
05:14on the citizens of the UK? Here's what he says.
05:16How worried are you about the economic impact of the conflict back home on people's bills?
05:23Well, I'm always concerned about the impact of economic, of international issues back on
05:30people back at home. Yet another shock.
05:31Well, you saw with Ukraine the direct impact it had on energy bills and on the cost of living equally
05:37with this conflict with Israel and Iran. At a time of conflict globally, there is always going
05:42to be an impact domestically. You can see the effect it's having on the economy, particularly the
05:47price of energy. And you fear that sort of knock on for people?
05:49Well, of course I do. I don't want to have that impact on the lives of people
05:54in the United Kingdom. My job is to insulate and safeguard and mitigate that risk
06:00to everybody watching this, everybody across the United Kingdom.
06:03You know, what I found fascinating about that comment, maybe you did too, was he's admitting
06:10to it. He's saying yes. He volunteered the information when he says, look, you know,
06:16our involvement in the war in Ukraine has led to people in the UK having to pay the price because
06:24of their economy and their living conditions. He's admitting to this. And then one would think,
06:29and maybe this is just my observation, one would think that as a head of state of the UK, he would
06:34say, the most important thing for me is the well-being of my citizens. But instead he's saying,
06:39well, you know, if the citizens have to suffer a little bit because of these decisions that we made,
06:44then so be it. Even though you have to ask yourself, what has Iran ever done to the UK?
06:51I understand the friction between Iran and Israel, but the UK? And finally,
06:58the same situation is taking place in the United States, by the way. And I want you to know
07:02that this is an argument that a lot of people are bringing from the MAGA perspective and even being
07:07critical of Mr. Trump because he, they believe he's being sucked in by these folks who want him
07:14to essentially create another Iraq, but this time in Iran. Listen to this conversation. This is Tucker
07:20Carlson, who you know, I know well, uh, talking to Ted Cruz about why would you want to go into Iraq?
07:29And then he asks him, tell me a little bit, pardon me, Iran. Tell me a little bit about Iran. Tell me
07:35about the population of Iran. Tell me about the demographics of Iran. Watch this. It's startling.
07:40How many people live in Iran, by the way? I don't know the population. At all? No, I don't know the
07:46population. You don't know the population of the country you seek to topple? I don't sit around
07:52memorizing population tables. What's the ethnic mix of Iran? They are Persians and predominantly Shia.
07:59Okay. No, it's not even, you don't know anything about Iran. So actually the country. Okay, I am
08:04not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran. You're a senator who's calling for the overthrow of the
08:09government and you don't know anything about the country. No, you don't know anything about the
08:13country. You're the one who claims they're not trying to murder Donald Trump. No, I'm not saying
08:17that. You're the one who can't figure out if it was a good idea to kill General Soleimani and you said
08:20it was bad. You don't believe they're trying to murder Trump. Yes, I do. Because you're not calling for
08:24military strikes against them in retaliation. Okay, we're carrying out military strikes today.
08:29You said Israel was right with our help. I've said we Israel is leading them, but we're supporting
08:34them. Well, this you're breaking news here because the US government last night denied the National
08:39Security Council spokesman Alex Pfeiffer denied on behalf of Trump that we were acting on Israel's
08:44behalf in any offensive capacity. We're not bombing them. Israel's bombing them. You just said we were.
08:49We are supporting Israel. You're a senator. If you're saying the United States government is
08:53at war with Iran right now, people are listening. And we're also joined by somebody who
08:58in her own right is as important as any of the people who are here. Maria Saharova is a director
09:04of information for the foreign ministry of Russia. It's a real honor and a pleasure to have you here.
09:10Thank you so much for joining us.
09:11Good afternoon. Actually, I would like to correct you, although I'm flattered by this presentation of my
09:22humble figure. But the most important person here is just arriving. That's the president of the Russian
09:28Federation, Vladimir Putin. And it's not quite the title he gave to himself, like many Western leaders.
09:36I think that's the title given to him. That's the way he is perceived by people all over the globe.
09:44Hundreds of millions, millions of people perceive the president of Russia this way, thanks to his work,
09:51thanks to his stance, thanks to his consistency and his knowledge of history. I've been listening to
09:57your reports, to your coverage, to fragments of Tucker Carlson's interview with an American senator who
10:05doesn't know how many people live in Iran, although he calls for bombing it. And I don't know the name of
10:10that senator, and I don't care, actually. But the whole world knows the name of the president of the Russian
10:16Federation Federation. And they understand that their hopes are with Russia. So we're looking forward to
10:23President Putin's speech here, to his meetings with lots of international guests. Probably, you don't
10:29know, but you are in the center of global isolation. This is why thousands of people from all over the
10:37world are walking around here. Well, you just wait. If you're offered some isolation, don't refuse.
10:45Well, you know, it's funny. I'm glad you mentioned President Putin, because he's in an interesting
10:50situation. He has loyalties to Iran. While the rest of the world sanctioned Russia, punished Russia,
10:57most would argue unnecessarily, Iran became a friend. And Russia has been a friend to Iran,
11:04like Russia's a friend to China, Russia's a friend to India and South Africa and Brazil.
11:09Mr. Trump calls Mr. Putin and says, I want you to help me with this situation in Iran.
11:15It's a tough place to put Mr. Putin in, isn't it?
11:18Well, let's, well, let's break the situation down. Right now, Israel is bombing Iran, and the Western
11:30world keeps saying that Israel, they think, has the right to do it. The West seems to have forgotten
11:38in an instant about human rights, about children, obviously in the midst of hell. The Western community
11:46seems to have forgotten the journalists that are supposed to be protected. They don't, they pretend not
11:52to see bomb strikes against TV stations, they don't see bomb strikes delivered against nuclear facilities.
12:01But maybe you know, let me ask you, what has Iran done wrong? What is it being bombed for? There has
12:08to be a very specific answer to this question, a very specific one, obviously, because when you park a
12:15car the wrong way in Manhattan, say, a cop turns out, dishes you a fine, produces photos, and when you
12:23appear in court, you are shown what you did wrong, and you can appeal that. Right now, Iran every day
12:33suffers bomb strikes and response to them. So what is it being bombed for? If we're talking about human
12:41rights, there are experts there who are staying there who say they haven't seen violations there.
12:48Israel say they don't like the regime in Iran, the political regime. Can I ask you a question?
12:55Were there different regimes? There were different regimes in Iran, and people didn't like them as well.
13:03But the most important, if we're talking about civilized countries and about democracy and international
13:10relationships, whether you like a regime or you don't, if it doesn't attack you,
13:18and if it doesn't do or say anything that, from the point of view of international legislation, create
13:26a direct threat to people or a state, you have no right to change that regime. You have no right
13:33right to say that since you don't like it, it has to be destroyed. So I just, I would like to see an
13:42answer to this very simple question. There has to be one, obviously. What has Iran done wrong?
13:47But that's their second story. Their first story was, we have to go in because they're this close
13:55to being able to weaponize their nuclear system, and they're going to have weapons of mass destruction.
14:00Now, I should add, and I know you're thinking this, that Mr. Netanyahu has been saying that for
14:07something like 25 to 30 years. Do you think there's enough evidence that they were this close to having
14:13nuclear weapons?
14:14The thing is that several countries in the world have already got nuclear weapons, but have not
14:27recognized that officially. So I wonder, is Israel going to bomb them as well? Israel included, because
14:35these are logical questions that, well, beg for answers. Is Israel going to bomb other states as well?
14:41Or are other states that de facto have nuclear weapons that are going to get bombed again?
14:48There are states who have acknowledged the ownership of nuclear weapons. That's five states,
14:54permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia, China, US, Britain and France. These countries
15:00legally have nuclear weapons. There are, however, other states that do possess nuclear weapons,
15:07but keep mum about it. But everybody knows they have nuclear weapons. Is this now an excuse?
15:18And as you said, they're not just about to get nuclear weapons. They already have them. They already
15:23possess nuclear weapons. As Israel is said to possess nuclear weapons. Is this an excuse to start bombing them?
15:31Am I right? There are international institutions. There's the IAEA. There are lots of international
15:43bodies, watchdogs and regulations and documents that regulate these issues. It's not a matter of
15:50somebody trying to solve this issue on their own. It's a matter of international legislation.
15:56But legislation has to be approached with specific facts at hand. The IAEA already said
16:06that they have not a single fact proving that Iran had violated any treatments, conventions or regulations.
16:16So the question is, we have heard multiple statements from Israel that they have proof that Iran is one step
16:26away from creating weapons of mass destruction. Why can't they just show the documents to anyone?
16:35Just like for three years, the Kiev regime and Zelensky backed by the same Western countries that are
16:41currently backing Israel. For several years, Zelensky had said that Russia and Russian leadership
16:51personally abducted Ukrainian children. They said a million or 1.5 million Ukrainian children.
17:01And then they decided that this figure was so crazy that it's not worth repeating. And they started saying
17:0720,000 Ukrainian children stolen, abducted. But not once have we seen a list of those children,
17:17not a single name. And during the talks in Istanbul, they passed a list of 339 names. Not 339,000,
17:27339 kids that had not been abducted at all.
17:32You know that very well. You live in America. How many kids in America are currently missed by their
17:42parents? They're missing. And parents don't know where they are. And considering that for 10 years,
17:50there's been a terrible domestic war. Of course, there are children who cannot be located by their
17:58parents, unfortunately. They were saying things they didn't, they couldn't prove. We're going to talk a
18:06lot about Ukraine because there's so much to say. Let me ask you one final question about the situation
18:12with Iran. I'm going to ask you this question as an American. I'm an American citizen. I love my country.
18:18But we're starting to get a sense in America. Sorry to say, just to clarify this session,
18:23what part of your country do you love more? I'm sorry. I need to ask this. The spirit and the
18:31heart of the American people. Oh, something in between. Yeah. Okay. Something that is great
18:38about the people, not the government, not the government, not the people who lead. But here's
18:42the feeling we're getting. Oh my God. Here's the feeling we're getting in America. Here's what it is.
18:46There is something bipolar in this saying, you know? Loving your country? No, loving America. Because
18:53it's not joined together right now. No, it's not. I'm sorry to say this, but I've spent there several
19:00years and I was watching how it was collapsing. And now it's, I'm sorry, in a deep, deep trouble,
19:07because it's divided. It's divided not into political parties or political movements, but I mean,
19:13the society is divided. It's like crash boom bang. I'm sorry to say this. Your English is fantastic.
19:22I'm sorry. Don't we? I think this is exactly what we need to do is these conversations are rich and
19:29they're real. And the point I was going to make is as an American who has an admiration for my people,
19:35my country, the place that gave me an opportunity as an immigrant who came there from Cuba, I'm upset.
19:42And so are many Americans that suddenly our foreign policy is being dictated by a country about this
19:47big called Israel and some man named Netanyahu, who seems to be my new president, I guess.
19:54Does it bother you to see America being led by the nose by Israel so often? And by the way,
20:00I would argue, Maria, that it's not just Iran. It's Iran. It's Syria. It's Iraq. It's Afghanistan.
20:08It's Yemen. These are the reasons we go into these countries, because some small country
20:12in the Middle East says you have to do this for us. My take.
20:16If we step back a little, I'd like to say you said that people in the United States,
20:28people who make decisions in the U.S. have no idea of the countries or nations they're dealing
20:33with or countries they're about to bomb. Well, let's not say attack, but they're about to liberate.
20:42Let me give you specific examples. 2014, I was there at those negotiations,
20:48the Russian-American negotiations. The delegation was headed by Minister Lavrov and by John Kerry on
20:54the American side. A very dramatic event. A regime is changing in Ukraine. The legal regime is being
21:02ousted with Nuland, Deputy State Secretary, handing out cookies or whatever that was to protesters.
21:11Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, France, Poland, the Baltic States demand the crowd, the people
21:18to overturn the government. That was a madness and chaos and collapse. And against that background,
21:25the negotiations are taking place. There's Mr. Kerry sitting there, reading out some documents,
21:31and Minister Lavrov is trying to tell him to look not as much at the papers, but to listen about the
21:40facts that are on the ground, that are really taking place at the moment. So he tells him about the history
21:46of Ukraine. He starts telling him about what's going on there, about what Ukrainians are, what Russians are,
21:52and what the Kievan Rus is. Six months passes, and that's enough for the regime in Ukraine to be overturned,
22:05Crimea to go to Russia by way of referendum. And there's shooting breaking out. The Kiev regime
22:13shoots at people in Donbass and rolls tanks in there. There's another round of talks with Kerry. And what
22:22does Kerry say? He says, Sergei, addressing Minister Lavrov, now I know much more about Ukraine than six
22:31months ago. Well, what kept you from looking into that right away? How about reading a book, watching a
22:40movie on what you do? Not because it doesn't befeat people occupying such high positions to be so
22:48unqualified. I'm not talking about Kerry right now, because it means people's lives. And you and your
22:56family may find yourself in a similar situation. You can have loads of money. You can have a very high
23:03office. You can live anywhere. But life can take a very sharp turn. You were yelling at me a little
23:11while ago, so maybe I'm going to give it back to you now. You ready? Maybe. And I know what you're
23:16saying, and you're absolutely right, Maria. The U.S. and NATO were doing military exercises in the Black
23:23Sea in front of the Russians who were just taking their families to go bathe in the beach. They were
23:29militarizing Ukraine. They did a coup for a regime change. They did a lot of horrible, awful things
23:36that nobody in the world knows enough about and they should know. Do you ever think that maybe,
23:43and I know it's your job and you do a very good job, why weren't you able to convince the rest of
23:49the world, look at what they're doing. Of course we have to react. Did you ever think that maybe
23:55the game plan, the strategy for you and for Russia needs to change so that you can get more people
24:00to see the truth? Pardon me for asking. No, I like the tough questions.
24:11But let me give it all back to you. The answer is very simple because the world media
24:15are occupied, as simple as that. They're occupied by those who have loads of money and loads of political
24:23influence. So the American mass media are not objective, they're not transparent,
24:30they're not credible, they are a way of retranslating a political agenda. American media is employed by
24:40a lot, American media employs lots of amazing journalists, amazing education, great professionals,
24:47professionals, but eventually they all have to make a choice. Either they continue to fight and then
24:55they end up like Tucker Carlson, unemployed, or they have to mutate to suit the agenda they have to pursue.
25:03You have read American newspapers, obviously. I spent three years in New York and every day my job was to
25:13open newspapers. I had a stack of five newspapers every day. By the way, Christian Science Monitor was
25:23one of the decent publications, and every day it was like a lottery. Maybe this day I'm lucky to see at least
25:32one publication on Russia. And later I realized that the American mass media, the TV, the newspapers,
25:40radio, they pursue a policy that I personally... And later I realized when documents surfaced about USAID,
25:54I realized that they call this policy strategic silence. And Russia, let me tell you frankly,
26:04I worked there in 2005 till 2008. Russia had two kinds of news. The first kind was criminal news,
26:13Russian mafia, terrorist attacks, mafia rumbles, people killed in the streets. And the second kind of news
26:22was freaks, like a woman living with 150 cats in her apartment. It's not what I call freaks.
26:34That's the sort of people the American media called freaks. And that, given the fact that since
26:432005, 2008, Russia built plants, factories, lots of museums, theaters, we made tons of interesting films,
26:54very good cinema. Nothing of that was ever covered. There were two or three
27:04stories about the American museum exhibition, This is Russia, or Russia, or This is Russia. There was one
27:12piece of good news in American media. It was 2005. And there were two more articles in US newspapers about
27:23Russian opera stars, Russian opera stars who came to Carnegie Hall, and ballet, ballet stars, ballet performance
27:32in ballet theater in the center of Manhattan. This is it.
27:37So nothing else ever made it to the US media. No good things about young people, about elderly people,
27:47about nature. Nothing. I think that's an agenda. You know, Russia tried. We tried hiring American PR agencies.
27:56We spent lots of money, zero. And when we asked, why don't you do something that would be visible?
28:07The answer was, if you hadn't hired us, there would be more bad news about Russia.
28:13We tried. Guilty. Guilty. We established Russia today. We established media outlets in all languages.
28:23They were blocked in a deliberate policy. And the last answer to your question.
28:30Could we have made people understand how things really were? Ninety years ago,
28:37could we have made people in the US understand, in the US, in Germany, Italy, and France, about the monstrous phenomenon of fascism?
28:50No, because there was Goebbels propaganda in place, which had the whole Europe enthralled with stories of
28:59the Great Third Reich. And the United States of America wouldn't allow truthful information
29:09about processes developing in Central Europe. And in the territory of the United States of America,
29:15there were meetings and rallies and conventions of Nazi parties. And the UK would salute,
29:25using the Nazi salute. This is the answer. It's been almost a century, but the mistakes are being made.
29:35All the same, there's neo-Nazism emerging in the center of Europe. It's emerging as a terrorist cell in
29:44Ukraine. And the ideology of Nazism is penetrating, infiltrating the NATO, the European Union, other
29:51countries. And nobody seems to notice anything. There is a little bit of room for optimism.
29:55And I'll tell you where I see some optimism. I think Mr. Trump generally likes Russia. I think
30:01Mr. Trump wanted to do business as a businessman in Russia by putting a hotel here. I think Mr. Trump,
30:09and I've heard him say this on many occasions, respects the fact that Russia has 150 to 160
30:16million potential consumers who love American products and would buy American products,
30:21if America would only want to do business with Russia. I think Russia, just in my small time here,
30:26and I'm not an expert on Russia, represents what America says it wants to be, clean, green,
30:33pro-family, economically viable. The things that I hear America say they want to be is what I see in
30:42Russia today. So I'm wondering if Mr. Trump sees that and has said that during the G7 just this
30:50weekend to people, does that make you feel like there's at least a starting place where we can
30:57start to build some kind of understanding and we can get to that? If he can somehow resist all the
31:05people who are going to be in his ear telling him, no, Mr. Trump, they're bad. Do not become friends with them.
31:10I can't wait to hear you. You started with the word optimism, that you feel there's room for optimism.
31:21I can say, yes, I'm optimistic too, even despite the fact that the administration is changing in the
31:28White House. But I feel extra optimistic due to the fact that at last there is a person in the White House
31:36who speaks not about other parts of the world, who solves problems of people on other parts of the
31:47globe. But for the first time in decades has said the truth to the American people and the world that
31:57America needs to solve a colossal number of problems of a colossal scale. That's something that's been
32:07concealed from the people of the United States for decades. I wouldn't call them Democrats.
32:16The Democratic Party in the United States is no more democratic than any other party. I think that
32:25has very little to do with democracy. They're representatives of liberal dictatorship,
32:31the ultra-liberalism. They've been hiding the most important thing, that America is in one hell of a
32:38crisis, economic, existential, and political. And now a person has come who had everything. He had money,
32:45fame, popularity, creature comforts, great family. He had everything that he made for himself.
32:55He has been a president before. He could have rested on his laurels just living for himself.
33:01But he ran for presidency the second time, not for money, not for fame, but exactly to do the right
33:10thing, to try to save his own country. And this makes me extra optimistic because I see a man who said
33:19two truthful things to his people. Number one, that America is in deep trouble. And the second,
33:31is that there are no three, 10, 25, or 85 genders. There are only men and women.
33:39Anybody can feel the way they want to. If they want to identify as a table
33:45or as three dogs at once, okay, you can get treatment for that or you can continue identifying as that.
33:52But there were two genders created, men and women. These are two basic states of a human. And everything
34:03else is just deception. So when I heard the president of the United States say two things
34:11that had been long concealed from the common Americans, that's when I felt that things might
34:20take a turn for better. Not even for better, but at least towards some normal, normalcy.
34:28I heard Mr. Putin recently say, as the president of Russia, that he can't see how you can negotiate with
34:37terrorists after the terrorist attacks that took place in Russia. Given that he is saying something
34:46like that, does that not bode well for the possibility of being able to come up with some negotiation to end
34:53the war in Ukraine? Of course, of course. You understand what he meant. He meant that we can't talk to
35:04terrorists, we can't concede to terrorists, although they are making their last attempts, desperate attempts
35:12to intimidate. Or they just do terrorist attacks while out of desperation. We can't
35:23concede to them. We can't agree with them. It's inadmissible. And well, it's textbook stuff. And Russia
35:30has been for all of that. And there's the negotiation process is underway. And Russia has been showing
35:36goodwill. We have responded to negotiation propositions in 2022. We held those talks.
35:47It wasn't us who finished those talks. Ukraine did that upon direct order from Boris Johnson.
35:55Now we are in talks and there are specific results, although Zelensky says these are not results at all.
36:02And he said that two rounds of talks didn't lead to anything. There was an exchange of prisoners of war.
36:09But that's the essence of the Zelensky regime. He doesn't care about people.
36:16Do you think Zelensky does not want a peace deal? De facto does not want a peace deal? Do you believe that?
36:23Based on what you've heard him say and what your knowledge is of the man?
36:26Do you want me to consider Zelensky as a normal person? He's a person soaked with hatred to people
36:41of different nationality. He's a person who has been for a long time addicted to drugs. Sorry,
36:49but I have to say that. He's a person who has been, well, spoiled by unlimited power
37:00by his Western curators. How do you want us to see him? How do you want us to analyze him?
37:08In fact, I don't care what he wants. I know what my country wants. I know what my people want.
37:14And I want what people want, who had been asking Russia for many years to come and defend them,
37:25who had given their voices, who had voted during referendums, who had asked, pleaded Russia to come
37:31and defend them, and to stop this madness, which had started long before Zelensky. This is what matters
37:38to me. This is what matters to all of us as a country. And as for what Zelensky sees in his
37:50drug dreams, well, I think that's up for him and Macron to discuss.
37:53I have to ask you about EU and NATO and the whole European feel and reaction to Russia.
38:01With the exception of maybe Slovakia and Hungary,
38:03I hear most European countries sound very angry about Russia all the time and filled with a hate
38:11that seems, I'm not sure where it comes from, but I look at their numbers, right?
38:17I can say where that comes from.
38:22It's a whole range of feelings related to, well, jealousy.
38:27You are a Christian, aren't you?
38:32You probably listen to sermons, you read the Bible, the Old Testament, and I think
38:43it won't be news to you that one of the biggest scenes eating at a man's soul is jealousy and envy.
38:51Remember what started the first crime, the very first crime on earth.
39:01Well, the fall from grace was there was Adam and Eve, but the first crime on earth started with what?
39:07Cain and Abel, two brothers, one killing the other because of what?
39:17He didn't have where to live or didn't have anything to eat.
39:21No, that was because of envy, envy stemming from jealousy.
39:28Because one sacrifice had been accepted by God and the others hadn't.
39:37So two brothers brought up in one family and one kills the other because of jealousy.
39:44They are jealous and that's the foundation of their hatred.
39:48What they're jealous, a vast country that has never attacked, that has never initiated a world war.
39:59Huge country, fields, meadows, forests, immense resources, the entire periodic table, oil and gas.
40:08And we're not claiming to become masters of the world, but we are ready to trade with everyone on equal terms.
40:18We're ready to share.
40:19We don't segregate people in classes or races or skin colors.
40:25We say that people are equal.
40:28We said that when we were the Russian Empire.
40:30We said that when we were the Soviet Union.
40:32We are Christians, we've always been like that.
40:36Although there are nations who confess Islam and Judaism.
40:41But in the Russian Empire, there was no slave trade.
40:46We talked about that in the Soviet Union as well.
40:49How can they forgive us for that?
40:53They've always been fighting for resources.
40:56We have plenty of resources.
40:57And we're not becoming an empire in their sense of the world.
41:03It must make you angry when you hear, especially knowing how much NATO has encroached on Russia,
41:10when you hear all these stories that I hear all the time from the UK and Germany and France and
41:16Macron, that you, your country is about to take over Poland.
41:21When you're done with Ukraine, you're going to take over Poland and then you're going to take a
41:24bunch of other countries over and soon you want to take over.
41:26I really love your question.
41:29Why can't you make people understand on whose side truth is?
41:43In the end of 17th, sorry, in the end of the 18th, beginning of 19th century,
41:50in the country, in the country, then known as the Russian Empire, the entire aristocracy spoke French.
41:58They worshipped all things French. France to Russians was...
42:03They mentioned the gallomania, an addiction to all things French, even the laws of the Russian Empire,
42:19late in the 18th century, were published in French. Can you imagine that?
42:23Really? Yes, yes, exactly. And then they were translated for the common people to read them.
42:33Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.
42:35Of course.
42:36Know that, of course.
42:38Part of it is written in French.
42:41I mean, originally.
42:45Of course, our ancestors worshipped France once.
42:52It dominated as a culture.
42:53And how did that end?
42:56Napoleon attacked us.
43:00Can you imagine that France didn't know that the Russian Empire, the Russian elite,
43:06are so fond of all things French? The culture, the language, the art.
43:10They knew that perfectly.
43:12And then in the beginning of the 20th century, we have another addiction.
43:19We are addicted to ideas of Marxism originating from Germany.
43:25The ideas of progress, of Marxism.
43:28How did that end?
43:30We were attacked by Hitler.
43:33And the last thing, you can discard that as an accident.
43:38The 20th century, especially after the 1980s, we completely embraced the Anglo-Saxon culture,
43:45the pop culture, the mass culture.
43:47Everybody speaks English.
43:50There's American movies everywhere.
43:53American movie stars coming over to Russia.
43:56So who hits us with the hybrid war?
43:58The Anglo-Saxons.
44:01So it's not because they don't know us or that we are bad at telling them the true situation.
44:08The moment we start deviating from our own roots, from our own history, from our own national
44:14interests, we always get hit by those we seem so close to.
44:19Yeah, it's fantastic and fascinating to think that there's this long-term relationship.
44:25We are in St. Petersburg.
44:27This is as European a city as I've ever seen with my own eyes.
44:30Yeah, we will keep Europe for Europeans for their future.
44:36When and if some from European Central and Western European countries and citizens would
44:43like in the future to know more about their roots, they could come to St. Petersburg.
44:49Yes.
44:50Because they're ruining their culture beyond repair.
44:54It makes no sense.
44:55I need to change the subject a little bit because something happened today that I think is important.
44:59You know, RT is becoming one of the most powerful voices in the world of news and it's happening
45:06with hundreds of millions of people all over the world who are trusting RT for whatever the reason
45:11that they choose.
45:12One of the new countries coming on board is Chile, a very large and important country in Latin America.
45:19I happen to be from Latin America, as you know, I'm sure.
45:22I was born in Cuba, emigrated to the United States.
45:25Russia's starting to play a big role in Latin America.
45:29Just how big a role do you think?
45:31And why is it necessary?
45:33Well, I'm scared by the fact you're saying Russia is beginning to play a role in Latin America,
45:40especially you coming from Cuba.
45:42I'm sorry.
45:44Cuba received a lot, received a classical lesson in sovereignty, not a lesson not only for Cuba,
45:50but for the whole world.
45:52But they withstood, they stood for justice and they they came out strong.
46:01I just like to mention why out of the entire socialist block Cuba was one of the few countries to
46:08to persist despite the American blockade.
46:13They have never they had never given up God and socialism in Cuba was going forward.
46:19But at the same time, there were no attempts at least.
46:24I haven't heard of any attempts to give up religion or to ban religion.
46:28They didn't go against God.
46:35They didn't speak against God.
46:42That was never the case.
46:43And I think that helped Cuba retain,
46:50retain what they held sacred.
46:53I think there's no new role for Russia in Latin America.
46:56Russia has always been there a hundred years ago in 20th century.
47:00And now it's been there in different capacities,
47:03but it's always been there retaining one important characteristic.
47:08We have always been there with peace,
47:11peace, friendship, cooperation, mutual help.
47:15We never tried to overturn regimes there just because we didn't like them.
47:20We always supported their fight for sovereignty.
47:22We always supported the native ethnicities fight for freedom.
47:28We always helped them with education, technology, science, and so on.
47:36Indeed, the 1990s were the time we couldn't pay as much attention to international issues.
47:44We concentrated on our own problems and issues.
47:47And now we come back there with new propositions, with new ideas.
47:51But that was a different Russia.
47:52That was the Russia of your father, who was one of the finest diplomats this country had,
47:57working in places like China.
47:59The new Russia is a Russia that seems to me to be less interested in ideology and philosophy
48:07and more interested in business, more interested in transactional relationships.
48:11That's the kind of thing that Russia is doing, not just in Latin America, but in Africa as well.
48:17Am I wrong?
48:21Yeah, that's a large-scale question indeed.
48:26Well, I don't understand.
48:27You say Russia is focusing less on ideology and philosophy and more on business.
48:33Well, let's face it, we tried to be very pragmatic.
48:37We tried to build our relationships on the base of business, pure business with Western Europe,
48:43for example.
48:44How did that end up?
48:46It ended up with the Nord Stream being blown up.
48:51Of course, this was…
48:52Do you think Biden did that?
48:55He said it himself.
48:57He said it himself.
48:58He made himself guilty.
49:01And I'll never forget how he and Nuland said they will destroy this project.
49:08Six months ago, six months later, it was blown up.
49:14And we realized, and so has the whole world, that without defending one's national interests,
49:19without having a clear understanding what those national interests are,
49:23you're going to have a hard time building a business.
49:30So, apart from businesses, apart from business projects and transactions on the international
49:36arena, Russia has been defending the traditional values that were suppressed over the last decades
49:44by the liberalism that Biden and Macron push forward, exterminating national identities,
49:54turning men and women into quadrobbers.
49:58I wouldn't say Russia doesn't do philosophy right now.
50:03I think it does, only on a different level.
50:09You can't build a multipolar world without a philosophy foundation beneath it.
50:16It's going to be a colossus on clay legs.
50:20So, philosophical foundation of international processes of our own position in the world is there,
50:25of course.
50:25Our ideology, well, it's not probably written down in a few lines, but Russia's philosophy
50:36is that of traditional values.
50:40There's a very common human understanding of those values that are easy to formulate,
50:46love, cooperation, friendship, mutual support, mutual respect, things that seem to have been
50:54completely forgotten by Western leaders.
50:56You won't hear a public speech where they would talk about friendship, about common outlook,
51:03common world outlook.
51:06It used to be common in the 1980s, but it's not now.
51:09So, of course, we propose business, we propose joint projects and nuclear energy and space exploration.
51:17But we also suggest to think about the world of the future and its philosophy.
51:23Let's think about what the planet is going to be like in decades.
51:30In that sense, we have a lot to propose.
51:32You are passionate.
51:34You are fiery.
51:36You believe truly.
51:37I'm married.
51:40I'm married.
51:40Good for you.
51:41Don't propose me.
51:42I'm not, but I'm really taken aback by you coming to this interview.
51:47And the first thing you said, and I should share this with those of you watching us,
51:51the first thing she said is, ask me anything.
51:55No limit.
51:55No limit.
51:56Absolutely.
51:57I'm not coming here with rules.
51:58There's nothing you can't ask.
51:59There's nothing we can't talk about.
52:01I'm in this business.
52:01I'm in, I'm in, I'm in, uh, first of all, I, my background, uh, is, uh, faculty of international.
52:08By the way, I'm married too.
52:13Sorry.
52:14My deep regrets.
52:19So, uh, first of all, my background, I graduated Moscow State Institute for International Relationship.
52:26Uh, and my specialty is international information journalism.
52:29So I do respect journalists.
52:31It's just not a common words.
52:34Uh, it's my deep feeling to this profession.
52:37I know that this is a profession.
52:38It's not like come and go thing.
52:40It's not like, uh, about Tik Tok or tweets or something like that.
52:43It's about profession and about people who dedicate their lives to this profession
52:49and could rescue their lives and even rescue the lives of their families just to bring the truth to the world.
52:57This is my first, um, pillar.
53:01Secondly, I'm in this information international so-called business for many years.
53:06I'm, uh, doing this job of, uh, official, uh, spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
53:14for at least 10 years.
53:16And I have all questions you can imagine, tough, uh, silly, smart, whatever, you name it.
53:24And, uh, I, even if this are very serious and very deep and very so-called tough questions,
53:33I always respect if they are asked in a respectful manner with the only goal to get the truth
53:42and to understand what is going on.
53:43Hmm.
53:45Well, I want people to know that as a journalist working in Russia, unlike what people believe in the West,
53:52nobody tells me what to say, nobody writes my scripts.
53:55I write my own stories.
53:56Of course, we collaborate on ideas.
53:58You should double his salary.
54:02Can I tell you the truth?
54:03You know my background.
54:04I worked at CNN.
54:05I worked at Fox.
54:06I worked at NBC.
54:07I worked at, I even did some stories for the BBC.
54:09I've worked at Univision.
54:11I'll tell you that in working at all of those places, some were good experience,
54:14but for the most part, they probably have more of a handle on my independent narrative
54:19than they do working here.
54:21So that says something, I think.
54:22That's worth listening to.
54:24It's not perfect, but it's important.
54:26And that's why when I interviewed you, when I interviewed Mr. Medinsky and others, I always say,
54:33did you tell me what I can ask you and what I can't ask you?
54:35And I want people to know it's not true.
54:37Yes, because there is a difference between a journalist, correspondent or moderator and a parrot.
54:44These are two different things.
54:46You shouldn't just repeat something you've got in written or you've got in your ear.
54:53You should, you know, you should translate your own thoughts, your own vision.
54:58You should get your own, I don't know, your emotion about this.
55:02Of course, you're communicating with, I, the only thing I hate about journalism,
55:08I mean, today's journalism, nowadays journalism, this ear thing.
55:13When you are talking to a man or a woman and you are dealing with a human being,
55:19with emotions and thoughts, and they get their information, not from their brains,
55:23but from the mic or from the earphone or something, screen and reading,
55:28and they're not just reacting on what you are saying or telling them,
55:33they're just reacting what they get here.
55:35And this is terrible, but this is not the journalism.
55:38This is like showbiz.
55:41Yeah, yeah.
55:42Public relations, maybe marketing.
55:43No, showbiz, show business.
55:46This is a show business.
55:47They're not thinking, they're not analyzing, they're just repeating as a role.
55:52You know, they have a text, they read this out and this is it.
55:55This has been a very fun conversation.
55:58Thank you for giving me your time, giving us your time
56:01and giving us what you really think about this.
56:03And you're not shy about saying what you think, not even a little bit.
56:07No, I'm not.
56:11Oh, my goodness.
56:12That is the Sanchez effect.
56:14As you can see, we try and bring it to you raw and real.
56:17And we try and bring it to you in such a way so that it has no corporate spin
56:21or any political masters.
56:23It's what we do.
56:24We're so happy you've been there for us.
56:26Thank you so much.
56:27I'm a Sanchez.
56:28You know, you shocked me with this question.
56:30Why should I be shy?
56:31I have an honor to represent Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia,
56:36this great country with this great history, with great people who are struggling in our
56:41days for what is important, not only for them personally, but for their families and their
56:46relatives, their grandpas and grandmothers who just brought their lives that we might live.
56:52Why should I be shy?
56:54I should be insistive.
56:55I should be, of course, respective, but there should be passion in it.
56:59Yeah.
57:01Tell Mr. Lavrov he's next.
57:04I will.
57:08Maria, you're a delight.
57:09Thank you so much for a wonderful and real conversation.
57:12Thanks so much.
57:13I'll be looking for you right here.
57:15This is the Sanchez Effect.
57:16And I am Rick Sanchez.
57:18And I did enjoy this conversation.
57:20And I hope you did, too.
57:21We'll see you next time.
57:22We'll see you next time.
Recommended
21:34