Moscow attacks Romania and says it does not need “lessons about democracy”. Peskov: “A candidate won the elections, but became unacceptable because of his desire to dialogue with Russia.”

Europe always criticizes Russia, trying to tell them how democracy should look, but these “lessons” are useless because “I come from the hypocrites,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, in an interview on Wednesday, April 23, to the French magazine Le Point, according to the Russian Agency. Peskov referred to the presidential elections in Romania, from November 24 last year, canceled in the meantime, the poll of which he said that “a candidate won, but became unacceptable because of his desire to dialogue with Russia.”

“The Europeans wanted to teach us about democracy and began to constantly criticize (Russian President) Vladimir Putin,” Peskov said. “We do not need to hear these lessons (about democracy, no) from Europeans. We do not want these hypocrites to give us lessons,” insisted the spokesman of the Russian Presidency.

He invoked the example of withdrawing the candidacy of the banker Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the French presidential elections of 2012, based on “invented accusations”, as an example of this “hypocrisy” of Europe.

“Who gave the lessons? Romania, France, (Republic) Moldova! Do you remember the candidate for the elections in France, the banker who was caught in a hotel in Washington with a woman?” Said Peskov, referring to the sexual scandal in which Dominique Strauss-Kahn was involved.

“And now I escaped Marine Le Pen, who, according to the polls, was quite popular,” stressed the press secretary of President Vladimir Putin. “After that, she did not participate in the presidential elections anymore, right?”, He said, in the interview

Peskov added that “in Romania, a candidate won the elections, but became unacceptable because of his desire to talk to Russia.”

President President Putin's press secretary did not call him, however, on Călin Georgescu, although he obviously referred to him.

“Who condemned Romania for this?”, The Kremlin representative asked.

“It is simple: we do not want to receive lessons from Europeans! We do not want to receive lessons from someone who behaves in a hypocritical way!”, Said Peskov.

In the same interview with the French publication, President Putin spokesman also stated that the Ukraine war would end “instant” if Kiev authorities would agree to withdraw from the territories they currently control and give up the adherence to the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO).

Peskov thus resumed the requirements of Moscow to cease fire, including the full recognition of Russia's claims over the four Ukrainian regions that the Russian army occupies partially, Donansk, Luhansk, Herson and Zaporojie, the status of neutrality for Ukraine and the cessation of any Western military support.

“If Ukraine is submitting weapons and withdraws from these regions, military operations will cease instantly,” Peskov said. “These four regions are inscribed in our Constitution as an integral part of Russia,” the Kremlin representative insisted.

Asked if Russia considers military expansion beyond Ukraine, Peskov rejected the idea. He insisted that Russia has no “territorial problem or claim” towards the Baltic or Nordic states. But Moscow denied that he intends to invade Ukraine just before the beginning of the “special military operation”, which was started in February 2022, The Kyiv Independent noted, in a report made by Peskov in the interview with Le Point.

The Kremlin spokesman also praised the US President Donald Trump as a “powerful leader” willing to engage in dialogue, suggesting that this differentiates Republican from the previous American administration, led by Joe Biden. “Putin appreciates strong people,” Peskov said.