British foreign secretary derided and mocked in Russia

The German weekly Der Spiegel, had dutifully praised the British Foreign Secretary’s speech under the headline “”Global aggressors” – London accuses Russia and China of campaign against democracy”. The speech contained the usual clichés: Russia and China are “global aggressors” on a “campaign against democracy”.

Of course, Britain promised to stand with Ukraine against the alleged “Russian troop build-up“.

Foreign Minister’s knowledge of history

In the speech text published by the British Foreign Office, there is the following paragraph in connection with the alleged imminent Russian attack on Ukraine:

“Ukraine is a proud country with a long history. It has seen invading powers before – from the Mongols to the Tartars. They have suffered from state-sponsored famine. Their resilience is deeply rooted. If need be, Ukrainians will fight to defend their country.”

This indeed sounds wonderful, but anyone with even the most rudimentary grasp of history would rub their eyes in wonder. Russia (Ukraine did not exist as a state or even a principality at that time) may have been overrun by the Mongols in its time, who penetrated as far as Europe in the Middle Ages, but the Tatars…?

Since Russia attaches great importance to education – also and especially historical education – the speech had a great resonance in Russia, even if it was not what the British Foreign Minister had in mind. Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, reacted to the speech on Telegram.

“British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who recently rode through the Baltics in a tank, said today that Ukraine had experienced many invasions – ‘from the Mongols to the Tatars’.”

Some questions from her Russian colleagues were put to the British diplomat: “How many years have passed between the two invasions, of the Mongols and the Tatars?” and “What educational institution did Ms Truss graduate from?”

Another blooper

How are Western politicians to be taken seriously when they so openly and proudly display their ignorance and lack of education that their speeches on international crises elicit not respect or thoughtfulness but laughter from their counterparts?

At the beginning of the month, Truss once again made a fool of herself with a speech in which she confused the Russian regions of Rostov and Voronezh as being part of Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov was thus subjected to negotiations with this warmongering ignoramus who had accused Russia of deploying troops on the “Ukrainian border”, without her knowing which areas are on that border.

The Russian foreign minister, a career diplomat with many decades of experience, said the meeting could have been broadcast live on television because absolutely nothing was said beyond the usual British slogans. But he added that he had never experienced a meeting like this before.

Lavrov described the talks succinctly as “a conversation between a mute and a deaf”. According to the newspaper Kommersant, when it came to the stationing of Russian troops in the Rostov and Voronezh regions, Liz Truss suddenly announced that London would never recognize these regions as sovereign Russian territories.

PR stunts in a fur hat

For Truss, posing on the Red Square in a fur hat in warm weather was much more important than delivering content: Wearing a fur hat à la Russe, the head of the Foreign Office laid flowers at the grave of the Unknown Soldier. The day before, Elizabeth Truss had strolled through Red Square in the same look. Before the meeting at the Foreign Ministry, the British minister also visited Moscow State University, pretending to want to “improve” relations.

“Our embassy in Moscow is now trying to strengthen ties in areas such as science, mathematics and culture, but strengthening these ties will depend on improving overall Russia-Britain relations,” Truss said.

But during the meeting Truss resorted to threats instead: “A war in Ukraine would be a catastrophe for the Russian and Ukrainian people and for European security. NATO has made it clear that war will have consequences and cause great casualties.”

When Truss spoke about the withdrawal of Russian forces from the border, Lavrov categorically stated that Russian troops could move freely on Russian territory. Then he quipped: “You recognize Russia’s sovereignty over the Rostov and Voronezh regions, don’t you?”

After a brief pause, the oblivious Truss declared that her country would never recognize Russia’s sovereignty over these regions. Deborah Bonnert, the British ambassador to Russia, had to intervene and patiently explained to Truss that these were indeed Russian regions and had nothing to do with Ukraine.

“It’s kind of like Russia waiting for the ground to freeze and turn to stone so tanks can safely enter Ukrainian territory. That seems to me to be the attitude of our British colleagues today, from which the numerous facts that we presented today rebounded,” Lavrov said.

Truss showed the same level of education about the Minsk agreements as for the Baltic states, “on the Black Sea”. She said Russia should implement the ceasefire agreement, despite the fact that Russia is not a party to the conflict. The diplomat also failed to answer the question of why the Chechen separatists who carried out terrorist attacks were supported by Britain, while the Donbass rebels were not.

Beating war drums

Truss also refused to dispute the leak in her Foreign Office that London was running a whole program to “undermine Russian influence”, essentially confirming the information.

The British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and the chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Antony Radakin, also flew to Moscow, and The Times issued their warning: “The defence secretary will fly to Moscow today with a new package of sanctions in an attempt to persuade the Kremlin to step back from the brink of war.”

Twitter has shaped a generation of politicians with short attention spans, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said when commenting on British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’ visit. “Accustomed to expressing themselves in 140-character tweets, the new politicians believe that the entire situation surrounding Ukraine can be captured in two or three tweets, if not just one. That is why the Tatar-Mongols at Truss invaded medieval Ukraine with such crazy ease, Rostov and Voronezh left Russia, and the Baltic States are on the Black Sea.”

The Budapest Memorandum, an agreement signed in 1994 under which Ukraine renounced nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees from the signatory parties, was signed by four countries: Ukraine, Russia, The US and Great Britain.

The implementation of the treaty gives the West a legal basis for intervention and the possibility of organizing a full-fledged military presence in the country, bypassing the NATO charter. The US and UK have relied on this agreement to deploy their troops in Ukraine in an effort to provoke a war.