If Russia’s invasion of Ukraine wasn’t the violent, genocidal nightmare that it is, it would be hilarious. We’re watching one of the world’s alleged superpowers fail against a much smaller nation. And what makes the whole thing all the more ludicrous are the insane excuses the Kremlin keeps trying to employ for the madness.
At least Russia didn’t follow Biden’s lead and blame their screw-up on former President Trump.
The latest attempt to justify the invasion almost got the Russian Foreign Minister laughed off the stage.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, it has become rare for major international conferences to invite Russian officials. So, when an Indian think tank welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to speak, it made for some awkward exchanges.
This week, India’s Observer Research Foundation gathered academics, business executives, and diplomats from the G-20, or Group of 20 economies, for a conference in Delhi called the Raisina Dialogue.
It didn’t take long for things to get off the rails.
In one exchange, Lavrov received loud applause for accusing the West of having a double standard, noting its heavy criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine despite Western powers having invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. In another, the reaction was less positive.
“The war, which we are trying to stop, which was launched against us using Ukrainian people,” he said.
Before Lavrov could finish his sentence, the audience laughed and groaned — loud enough for the foreign minister to pause and stumble on his words.
The U.S. has announced a new round of military aid to Ukraine as Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was met with laughter at the G20 Summit after claiming Russia was “trying to stop” the war “which was launched against us”. @JamesLongman reports. https://t.co/AghDvk87oP pic.twitter.com/FAXsy1AJfd
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) March 4, 2023
Russia’s aggressive approach to explaining itself has also been a surefire indication of its loss of status within the global community, leading the Kremlin down ever more desperate paths. Just ask the Ukraine ambassador to the United States.
A joker, jester or jerk. A joker is a funny character found in circus while a jester is a person who is employed to entertain his master. “The war that was launched against us,” says bathetic lavrov making fun of himself provoking humiliating audience laughter. Ignominious jerk! pic.twitter.com/RvSGmQZdZp
— Sergiy Kyslytsya (@SergiyKyslytsya) March 3, 2023
The Delhi conference was also the first time Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in person since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago. The two spoke for roughly 10 minutes on Thursday.
Mr. Blinken said at a news conference on Thursday night that in addition to calling for Russia to halt its “war of aggression” in Ukraine, he told Mr. Lavrov that Russia should return to the New START nuclear arms control treaty it withdrew from last month and comply with its terms. And he once again urged Moscow to free Paul Whelan, an American citizen who the State Department says is wrongfully imprisoned on espionage charges.
Does that mean the Biden administration is developing a backbone, or is Biden trying to look strong before he can announce he’s running for re-election?
The weekend ended with possible bad news for the Russians. Per POLITICO:
Speaking at Sunday’s press conference, which was held at the German government retreat in Meseberg north of Berlin, [German Chancellor Olaf] Scholz claimed that China had provided assurances that it would not send weapons to Russia.
(…) “We all agree that there should be no arms deliveries, and the Chinese government has declared that it will not deliver any either,” the chancellor said in response to a question by POLITICO. “We insist on this and we are monitoring it,” he added.
If China was telling Scholz the truth, Vlad Putin will not find it very funny.
Parts of this post were first seen at Liberty Hub.
