Ukraine crisis: the basic weapon Russia uses to deflect, belittle rivals
- Russian officials respond with sarcasm, diplomatic snarks as West accuses Moscow if preparing for invasion
- Laconic quips are designed to make Russia and its all-powerful president look more cool-headed than the panicky West
“Wars in Europe rarely start on a Wednesday”.
That’s how a top Russian diplomat brushed off speculation in the West that Russia could invade neighbouring Ukraine as soon as Wednesday, February 16.
As the US and other Nato members warn of the potential for a devastating war, Russia is not countering with bombs or olive branches – but with sarcasm.
It’s a tool that officials in Moscow have long used to belittle their rivals and to deflect attention from actions seen as threatening to the West or Russia’s neighbours. Laconic quips dovetail with the Kremlin’s domestic agenda by making Russia and its all-powerful president look more cool-headed and clever than countries in the panicky, democratic West.
In a Facebook post, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova asked the “mass media of disinformation” in the West “to reveal the schedule of our ‘invasions’ for the upcoming year. I’d like to plan my vacations”.