“We are not attacking Ukraine”: the phrase of Putin’s foreign minister that demonstrates the parallel reality of the Kremlin

“We do not plan to attack other countries. We do not attack Ukraine”. Her phrase was launched at an almost hour-long press conference in Turkey, after her first meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov did not flinch when he uttered those words, which were echoed around the world by the firmness with which the official expressed the statement that only some Russians could believe.

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As head of the Russian Foreign Ministry during the invasion of Ukraine that Vladimir Putin ordered two weeks ago, Lavrov embodies the Kremlin’s defiant stance with a combination of toughness, sarcasm and diplomacy.

Although Putin runs the country’s foreign policy unhindered, Lavrov conveys Moscow’s message in a direct style unusual for a diplomat.

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Lavrov, 71 years old and who has been in office for 18 years, is characterized by being the face and voice before the world of the Russian account of the conflict: it is not a war, there was no invasion and the bombing of the Mariupol maternal and child hospital in yesterday is almost one fake news.

This morning, in Antalya, Turkey, after the first high-level face-to-face between Ukraine and Russia Since the war began, in which there was no agreement for a ceasefire, each foreign minister has given a separate press conference.

“We have addressed the issue of a 24-hour ceasefire to resolve most of the urgent humanitarian issues. We have not made progress, but it seems that there are other people who decide on this in Russia”, said the Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba. Regarding the humanitarian corridors to evacuate the thousands of civilians trapped in the city of Mariupol, heavily bombed by Russian forces, “unfortunately Lavrov was not in a position to make a commitment,” he added.

Meanwhile, Lavrov said from another room: “We have had confirmation that we have no alternatives. Those who fill Ukraine with weapons must understand that they are responsible for their own actions.”

“We do not plan to attack other countries. We do not attack Ukraine. In Ukraine a situation was created which in turn created a threat to Moscowwe made several calls that no one heard us,” Lavrov said, repeating the official Kremlin line.

An injured pregnant woman walks down the stairs of the bomb-damaged maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 Evgeniy Maloletka – AP

Thus, the foreign minister insists that there is no war or invasion in Ukraine but a “special military operation” for the “denazification” of the former Soviet republic. The same concepts that are read on all Russian news sites, which are prohibited from using the words “invasion”, “offensive” or “war”.

The attack on the Mariupol hospital

At the same conference, Lavrov rebuked a Ukrainian reporter for selling “falsities” about Russian actions in Ukraine, when asked about the attack on a mother and child hospital in Mariupol that left at least three dead, including a girl.

The foreign minister attacked what he described as “pathetic cries about alleged atrocities by the Russian armed forces” and said that the hospital building had been under the control of the Ukrainian ultra-radical forces for days, who had evicted doctors and patients, a version that Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky flatly rejected.

“As always, they lie with confidence,” said Zelensky, who accused Moscow of perpetrating genocide in the war it launched two weeks ago.

In the Kremlin, meanwhile, a new version of events was amassing, something unusual in the communication of the Russian government.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin. (MIKHAIL METZEL / SPUTNIK / CONTACTOPHOTO)

Asked just after the attack yesterday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters that “Russian forces do not fire on civilian targets.” However, today he changed the message and indicated that the Kremlin will examine the incident. “We will definitely ask our military, because you and I do not have clear information about what happened there. And it is very likely that the military will provide some information,” Peskov told reporters.

Other Russian officials took a more aggressive line, dismissing the hospital bombing as fake news. “This is informational terrorism”, Lavrov spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Lavrov’s style

Lavrov is known for not beating around the bush when it comes to defending what he sees as Moscow’s interests, and that style must appeal to Russia’s president, known for his harsh rhetoric.

In 2008, Lavrov responded to a rebuke from then-British Foreign Secretary David Miliband with “who [diablos] are you to give me lessons?”

Like his boss, Lavrov channels the public’s widespread nostalgia for the country’s influence in the Soviet era. He fuels hostility towards the United States, presented as arrogant, conceited, treacherous and determined to dominate the world. And he disparages Western allies as henchmen obeying Washington’s directives to rein in Russia.

After a long diplomatic career, Lavrov is visibly bored with the daily grind. When he appears before the media he doesn’t bother to hide his irritation at naive or provocative questions and often answers with condescension or outright teasing.

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Source: Elcomercio