New Delhi (dpa) – This probably won’t happen to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov too often:
When he again blamed the West for the war in Ukraine – in English – at a conference in India’s 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 is being waged against us, where Ukraine is being used…».
Youtube video with laughter at 28:55
After a brief pause, to the laughter of the audience, he then added hesitantly that (the war) had affected Russian politics, including energy policy. Russia will never again depend on partners in the West. Instead, they want reliable partners in energy policy, India and China certainly among them.
Lavrov named the war that way
It is remarkable that Lavrov describes the war this way. So far, the Kremlin has avoided this and is talking about a “military special operation”.
At the end of a 30-minute conversation broadcast by news website Firstpost at the Raisina conference, the moderator said goodbye to Lavrov and asked if he could promise that the next conversation would take place at a less treacherous time. “The Americans will surely suggest some questions that you can use,” said Lavrov, standing up, smiling and walking off the stage laughing. A multilateral geopolitical and economic conference, organized by a think tank and India’s Ministry of External Affairs, is held annually in New Delhi.
Laughter at Lavrov’s appearance caused a great resonance in social networks. Lavrov became a joke, world powers were only laughed at, it must have been a shame, according to the reactions.
India has strong economic and military ties with Russia and wants to remain neutral. Most of the equipment of the Indian Armed Forces comes from Russia. Recently, the South Asian country with the second largest population after China abstained at the UN General Assembly in a vote on a resolution on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The resolution contained demands for peace and Moscow’s withdrawal.
