Rude Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov snaps ‘I know the way, don’t show me!’ at G20 official

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today snapped “I know the way, don’t show me” at an official at the G20 summit after trying to lead him to a photocall.

The ill-tempered Russian minister took out his frustrations on the unsuspecting official, whose job it was to get Lavrov to pose for a photo with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

As the official approached Lavrov, the rude Russian official rejected his help, snapping, “I know the way, don’t show me.”

The official immediately apologized to Lavrov and quickly walked away from the foreign minister as he climbed the stairs to Jaishankar with a frown on his face.

Lavrov later met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi and spoke about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including Beijing’s proposal to end the conflict.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the meeting of G20 foreign ministers in New Delhi, India, on Thursday

Afterwards, Russia’s foreign minister said the G20 talks would not result in a joint statement on the war in Ukraine – and that host country India would publish a summary instead.

“The statement was blocked and the outcome of the discussion will be described in the summary that will be discussed by the Indian presidency,” Lavrov told reporters after the talks in New Delhi through an interpreter.

Discussions about the joint statement broke down on several counts, including Russia’s push for an investigation into last year’s sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline, Lavrov said.

Russia and Western countries have exchanged allegations of responsibility for the explosions in September.

But so far, investigations by the Swedish, Danish and German authorities have failed to pin the blame on any one country or actor.

“We talk about manners. Well, our Western counterparts have gotten really bad with it,” Lavrov said after Thursday’s talks.

‘They don’t think about diplomacy anymore; they now only act in blackmail and threaten everyone else.’

India’s foreign minister admitted that there was no consensus on the war in Ukraine because there were “differences that we couldn’t reconcile because different sides held different views.”

Ukrainian soldiers from the 80th Brigade fire targets with a mobile howitzer outside Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Tuesday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, top center, walks past Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, blurred at bottom right, during the meeting of G20 foreign ministers in New Delhi on Thursday, March 2, 2023

India, which has refused to condemn the Russian invasion, would have liked its G20 presidency to focus this year on issues such as poverty reduction and climate finance, but Russia’s war with Ukraine has so far pushed other agenda items aside.

At the meeting in New Delhi, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Lavrov sat in the same room for the first time since July.

The United States has accused China of considering supplying arms to its Russian ally, and Western delegates will use top foreign ministers to discourage Beijing from entering the conflict.

But Russia issued a strongly worded statement after a meeting between Lavrov and Gang.

“There was a unanimous rejection of attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, to impose one-sided approaches through blackmail and threats, and to oppose the democratization of international relations,” the Russian newspaper said. Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Last week, India was forced to issue a compromised presidential summary at the end of the meeting of G-20 finance ministers after Russia and China objected to a joint communiqué that used language on the war in Ukraine was retained, drawn directly from last year’s summit of G-20 leaders. statement in Indonesia.

Host nation India had called on all members of the fractured Group of 20 to build consensus on issues of deep concern to poorer countries, even as the wider East-West divide over Ukraine cannot be resolved.