Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was laughed at on stage at an international conference after he claimed Russia was the real victim of the war with Ukraine.
Speaking at the G20 Summit in New Delhi, Lavrov said the war “was launched against us [Russia].”
Visibly shaken by the laughter, Putin’s minister struggled to get back on track to deliver his message as he continued to hear chuckles from the audience.
It comes after Russian artillery looked to complete the encirclement of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Friday, which would be Putin’s first major victory in half a year.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during the Raisina Dialogue 2023, in New Delhi, IndiaAnushree FadnavisThe veteran minister was asked by a member of the crowd: “How the war has affected Russia's strategy on energy, and will it mark a privilege toward Asia? And if it does, how is India going to feature in it?”
Lavrov started to reply: “The war, which we are trying to stop, which was launched against us using the…”
At this point his was met with a loud collection of laughter and groans from the New Delhi crowd.
Regaining his composure, he continued: “...The Ukrainian people, of course, influenced the policy of Russia, including energy policy.”Lavrov also said Russia "will not let the West blow up gas pipelines again" and said that Moscow would no longer rely on the West as an energy partner.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during the Raisina Dialogue 2023, in New Delhi, India
Anushree Fadnavis
Moscow has suggested that Western countries were responsible for the blasts that damaged the Nord Stream pipelines in September, an assertion they have dismissed, and has called for an international investigation.
The foreign minister added that findings into the explosion left Germany “humiliated”, saying that Russia will now ignore Europe and America and instead focus their energy policy “towards reliable partners, credible partners. India and China are certainly among them.”
India has insisted it remains a neutral country in the war, choosing not to vote in United Nations discussions over the conflict.
Lavrov also accused the United States of hypocrisy after the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Russia cannot be allowed to wage war with impunity.
The pair met for the first time in person since Russian forces invaded Ukraine over a year ago.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards his plane at New Delhi Airport to depart for Washington, D.C. from New Delhi, India
Olivier Douliery
"If we allow with impunity Russia to do what it's doing in Ukraine, then that’s a message to would-be aggressors everywhere that they may be able to get away with it too," Blinken told the Raisina Dialogue strategic affairs forum.
Speaking at the same strategic affairs forum after Blinken, Lavrov said it was "double standards" to question Russia's action in Ukraine when the United States cited a "threat to its national interest" to justify military intervention in various parts of the world, including the war in Iraq, air strikes on Libya, and the bombing of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo conflict in 1999.
He went on to ask why Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky was not being asked about negotiating an end to the war.
"Everybody is asking when Russia is going to negotiate...the West is continuously saying that it is not time to negotiate yet because Ukraine must win in the battlefield before any negotiations," he said.