Outrageous Meeting: How Negotiations Between Truss and Lavrov Were Evaluated

The arrogance and ignorance of UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss during her meeting with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov have led to further deterioration of relations with Russia, according to commentary by Mary Dejevsky for the Spiked online magazine, as reported by Ria.ru.

In her opinion, the minister's visit to the Russian capital was an 'outrage' for British diplomacy, as it showcased the low preparedness for negotiations. 'Liz Truss arrived in Moscow just over a day ago but managed to confirm all of Russia's prejudices about British diplomacy: arrogance, irresponsibility, and hypocritical moralizing about 'values.' She has added one more item to this list: ignorance,' Dejevsky stated.

The author referenced an incident where Truss refused to acknowledge Russia's sovereignty over the Voronezh and Rostov regions during her discussion with Lavrov. 'Truss's blunder raised questions in Russian media about why she had come to Russia at all. Why fly from snowy London to Moscow and announce that British officials have been discussing Russia and Ukraine for weeks? Ultimately, it inadvertently demonstrated that you don’t understand what you’re talking about,' the journalist noted.

Dejevsky suggested that Truss arrived in Russia for personal interests, particularly to maintain the style of Margaret Thatcher's 'Iron Lady.' However, as the commentator concluded, the Foreign Secretary lacked the firmness, directness, and mastery of facts that characterized the former British Prime Minister.

Earlier, an RIA Novosti source reported that on Thursday, a debate erupted between the UK Foreign Secretary and Lavrov regarding information about Russian troops near the Ukrainian border. The Russian Foreign Minister asked whether London recognizes the sovereignty of Voronezh and Rostov regions. To this, Truss replied that the UK will never recognize Russia's sovereignty over those territories.

Subsequently, diplomatic missions on Telegram spread a message indicating that the minister, while discussing Voronezh and Rostov regions, mistakenly thought she was referring to Ukraine.

The main themes of the discussions between the foreign ministers of Russia and the UK centered on security guarantees and Moscow's demands regarding the Ukrainian crisis. After the negotiations, Lavrov expressed disappointment about the state of the dialogue.