That won’t happen too often to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov either:
When he again blamed the West for the war in Ukraine – in English – at a conference in the Indian capital New Delhi on Friday, he was interrupted by laughter from the audience. When asked about his country’s energy policy, he said: “You know, the war that we are trying to end and that was unleashed against us, in which Ukraine was used…”.
Youtube video with laughter at 28:55
After a short pause, caused by laughter from the audience, he then added hesitantly that (the war) had influenced Russia’s politics, including energy policy. Russia will never again rely on partners in the West. Rather, they want reliable partners in energy policy, India and China are certainly among them.
Lavrov names the war as such
It was remarkable that Lavrov described the war as such. So far, the Kremlin has avoided this and speaks of a “military special operation”.
At the end of the 30-minute conversation broadcast by news website Firstpost at the Raisina conference, the moderator said goodbye to Lavrov and asked him if he could promise that the next conversation would take place in less dangerous times. “The Americans will certainly suggest some questions that you can use,” Lavrov said, standing up, smiling and walking off the stage, laughing. The multilateral geopolitics and economics conference, hosted by a think tank and the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is held annually in New Delhi.
The laughter at Lavrov’s performance caused a great echo on social networks. Lavrov is becoming a joke, the world power is simply being laughed at, it must be embarrassing, according to various reactions.
India has strong economic and military ties with Russia and wants to remain neutral. Much of the Indian Armed Forces’ equipment comes from Russia. Most recently, the South Asian country with the second largest population after China abstained in the UN General Assembly in a vote on a resolution on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The resolution contains the demand for peace and the withdrawal of Moscow.
