The Russian authorities is many issues, however delicate just isn’t considered one of them. Forward of a extremely anticipated summit on the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Alaska on Friday, Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov engaged in some blatant trolling.
Lavrov arrived in Alaska wearing a CCCP sweatshirt. These are the Russian initials for “USSR,” which stands for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (aka the Soviet Union). Specialists say that Lavrov, who has been Russia’s high diplomat for roughly 20 years, knew precisely what he was doing by carrying that sweatshirt. “He wouldn’t do that simply by probability,” former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt stated of Lavrov’s sweatshirt via X.
The Russian authorities is many issues, however delicate just isn’t considered one of them. Forward of a extremely anticipated summit on the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Alaska on Friday, Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov engaged in some blatant trolling.
Lavrov arrived in Alaska wearing a CCCP sweatshirt. These are the Russian initials for “USSR,” which stands for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (aka the Soviet Union). Specialists say that Lavrov, who has been Russia’s high diplomat for roughly 20 years, knew precisely what he was doing by carrying that sweatshirt. “He wouldn’t do that simply by probability,” former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt stated of Lavrov’s sweatshirt via X.
The conflict in Ukraine—a former Soviet republic—is broadly considered as a product of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nostalgia for the Soviet Union and imperialistic ambitions.
A submit on X by the Wall Road Journal’s Yaroslav Trofimov features a video that reveals Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov strolling from a automotive right into a constructing carrying a CCCP shirt.X screengrab
Putin as soon as referred to the collapse of the us because the “best geopolitical disaster of the century.” And, after ordering the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he compared himself to Peter the Great—successfully portraying himself as a righteous conqueror who’s combating to revive management over what he views as Russian lands (a lot of Ukraine was additionally beforehand a part of the Russian Empire).
The Russian president, a former KGB officer, has additionally repeatedly instructed that Ukrainians and Russians are “one folks” and said in June that “the entire of Ukraine is ours.” Putin has falsely claimed that Ukraine, which gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, isn’t an actual nation and was created by Russia.
Alongside these strains, Lavrov’s selection of apparel garnered a good quantity of consideration when it comes to the message it appeared to ship about Russia’s mentality heading into the Alaska summit between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of the U.S. Military in Europe, advised Overseas Coverage that Lavrov’s CCCP sweatshirt means that Moscow is taking the assembly “significantly” however “not when it comes to attaining a peaceable settlement.”
Russia views the summit as “one other alternative to flaunt that they haven’t any respect for this U.S. administration,” Hodges added.
Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, posted on X that Lavrov was “trolling Trump” along with his sweatshirt. In the meantime, former Lithuanian international minister Gabrielius Landsbergis posted, “‘Simply give us half of Ukraine and we promise we are going to cease’ says negotiator carrying USSR sweatshirt.”
In one other transfer that could possibly be seen as an effort to troll Ukraine and the West, the Russian journalists’ in-flight meal en path to Alaska was apparently chicken Kiev—a dish bearing the title of the Ukrainian capital (albeit with its Russian spelling).
Ukraine and its supporters have been nervous in the lead-up to the assembly, worrying that Putin doesn’t genuinely need peace and that he’ll try to control Trump into embracing a framework for a peace settlement that’s dangerous for Ukraine. Trump has additionally downplayed expectations for the summit, however as he traveled to Alaska on Friday, he advised reporters aboard Air Power One which he desires to see a cease-fire “today.”
Hodges stated he has “very low expectations for this so-called summit,” including that Trump’s threats of “extreme penalties” for Russia if there’s no cease-fire settlement “ring hole, because the president has carried out this already 5 or 6 instances, with none precise penalties for Russia, and Putin is aware of this.”
“Trump’s method is of a businessman from the late Nineteen Nineties working an actual property deal in Manhattan,” Hodges stated.
Trump is about to fulfill with Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, round 11:30 am native time (3:30 pm ET). If the assembly is constructive, the pair are anticipated to carry a joint press convention on the finish of the summit. The assembly was beforehand billed as a one-one-one between Trump and Putin however will now reportedly be three-on-three. Trump can be joined by U.S. particular envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Putin will reportedly be joined by his aide Yuri Ushakov and Lavrov.
This submit is a part of FP’s ongoing protection of the Trump administration. Observe alongside here.
