Russian minister: ‘Who are you to f****** lecture me?’
ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images I somehow missed this story about how Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov allegedly swore a blue streak in a recent phone conversation with David Miliband, the British foreign secretary, on the subject of South Ossetia. According to the Telegraph, Lavrov berated his boyish British counterpart, asking at one point, “Who are you ...
ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images
I somehow missed this story about how Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov allegedly swore a blue streak in a recent phone conversation with David Miliband, the British foreign secretary, on the subject of South Ossetia.
According to the Telegraph, Lavrov berated his boyish British counterpart, asking at one point, “Who are you to f—— lecture me?” The Daily Mail has it as “Who the f— are you to lecture me?” and quotes a Whitehall source saying, “It was effing this and effing that. It was not what you would call diplomatic language. It was rather shocking.”
The Russian foreign minister vehemently denied the report and said he was quoting a European diplomat referring to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, according to Kommersant:
‘F—— lunatic’ were the words that Lavrov quoted in an attempt to convince his British counterpart that it had been Saakashvili that had started the war for South Ossetia.
Lavrov promised that a transcript of the conversation would be posted on the ministry’s Web site, but it has yet to materialize.
More from Foreign Policy


Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America
The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.


The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense
If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.


Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War
Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.


How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests
And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.