When Russia’s top diplomat said the Ukraine war “was launched against us,” the crowd burst into laughter.
“Come on!” was yelled by an audience member at the G20 summit in India. at Sergey Lavrov throughout the occasion.
He was responding to a question about the future of Russia’s energy strategy.
At a conference in India on Thursday, Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, stated that the war in Ukraine “was launched against us,” eliciting laughter from the audience.
Lavrov led a session in the “Raisina Dialogue 2023” series as a speaker at India’s G20 Summit in New Delhi. He took questions from the audience while having a conversation with India’s Chairman of the Observer Research Foundation, Sunjoy Joshi.
Lavrov was questioned by one audience member: What impact has the war had on Russia’s energy strategy, and does it signal a privilege toward Asia? And if it does, how will India be included?
Lavrov began, “You know, the war, which we are trying to stop, which was launched against us, using…” before the crowd’s loud laughter interrupted him.
Lavrov tried once more, but was cut off by more laughter and a “Come on!” shout. “…The Ukrainian people, uh, of course, influenced…” from the masses.
He continued by stating that Russia’s energy policy has been influenced by the war and that they “would not rely on any partners” going forward.
Contrary to what Lavrov claims, Russia invaded Ukraine without warning in February 2022, igniting the most extensive military conflict in Europe since World War II.
The fake claim that neo-Nazis run Ukraine is just one of the many justifications that the Kremlin has offered for the invasion. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, is Jewish and went through the Holocaust without his family.
Russia has also laid the blame on NATO, claiming that the conflict was started by the alliance’s expansion. However, Ukraine is not a member of NATO and was not on track to become one when Russia invaded.
Most experts agree that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to restore Russia’s imperial power by ordering the invasion of Ukraine. While defending Russia’s assault on Ukraine, Putin has compared himself to Peter the Great, describing the fall of the Soviet Union as the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century.
In order to justify Russia’s brutal campaign to subjugate its neighbor next door, the Russian leader has falsely claimed that Ukraine is not a real country.
Before becoming a part of the Soviet Union, much of Ukraine was under the control of the Russian Empire. However, the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians who voted for independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 demonstrated that they did not want to be subservient to Moscow.
Russia has been widely accused of war crimes and has been slammed for its invasion of Ukraine.
