Sputnik: There have been discussions at the forum about how Western media are shooting themselves in the foot, as their reputation and ratings are falling as a result of the fake news they publish. Is there still any potential for a further decline? Or can we already see it?
Maria Zakharova: The danger lies somewhere else. Many Western leaders and heads of state or departments say that it is necessary to support the Kiev regime, because it is a matter of morality, and morality must be defended. Let's see how often in recent years liberal Western regimes have betrayed, changed, and altered this morality on fundamental issues for civilization. Just a couple of decades ago, several European Union countries prohibited divorce altogether. It was simply forbidden.
Same-sex marriage was never even mentioned then. What is happening to the notion of family today? It has largely been ruined as an institution in these countries. What about morality? Have they simply given up on it? The German chancellor said recently that the legalization of drugs in Germany is the calling of our time Therefore, they need to make up their minds whether it is a moral issue or a need of the hour.
The scary thing is that liberal totalitarian regimes have not thought about ethics, morality, or moral sense in any way for a long time. It is solely the present conjuncture of circumstances, purely a trend, merely an opportunity to influence their electorate momentarily. It's purely, by their own admission, the zeitgeist.
Sputnik: Apart from what we have seen in the Western media, on social media, what new methods of information warfare have appeared against Russia? Are there any new formats? What else will we see?
Maria Zakharova: It seems to me that, in general, they have stopped thinking about that these fakes, this anti-information and anti-facts will be disavowed. It does not terrify them. In the past – and again, maybe this is about morality – something made them think about the consequences. Now they do not even consider the consequences.
They shoot themselves in the foot. They hurt their own citizens because it all backfires on them, and they live in some kind of a quasi-world, a world where men and women are lost, they have no idea what to call themselves or their children, not in terms of choosing a name, but in terms of how to identify them, it's frightening. But these are all links in the same chain.
When a lie is told after a lie, it cannot be limited only by, for example, endless "Russia, Moscow, and the Kremlin" scaremongering. These lies, unfortunately… I say this sincerely because we wanted to interact, to cooperate with the Western world... but these lies, they have started to permeate and corrode their entire society. These lies are absolute, they [the West] cannot make up their minds, they modify, mutate, backtrack on their views on some very basic issues, and they lie endlessly, even to themselves. And this is what is dangerous.
Sputnik: Will it be tough when the smoke clears? Hopefully it will be possible to recover, to restore relations, to restore trust, including in the media.
Maria Zakharova: The smoke is not a problem for us. We can see everything very clearly. And, by the way, we are looking to the future. The issue is that the minds of NATO and EU countries' citizens are clouded with media disinformation. Alas, this is true. And now, it's starting to get to them. And what processes will begin there – and have already begun in many countries – that is the question, of course, for them.