Russia's Foreign Minister has called for Great Britain to drop the word "great" from its name in a mocking rant.
Vladimir Putin's close ally Sergei Lavrov unleashed the scathing attack during a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday, saying it was the only country to ever bestow the title of "great" upon itself.
Mr Lavrov said: "I think that Britain should be called simply Britain because 'Great Britain' is the only example of a country which calls itself 'Great'."
His barb came amid a conversation on colonialism after the topic of Greenland was brought up by reporters.
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After the comments were made, Mr Lavrov quipped to a British reporter: "No offence."
He drew a comparison between the UK and Muammar Gaddafi's former Libyan state, which was known as the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
"But it no longer exists," Mr Lavrov added.
The remark appears deliberately calculated, given that Russians commonly refer to the United Kingdom as "Velikobritaniya" - Great Britain.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov unleashed the scathing attack during a press conference in Moscow
|GETTY
Mr Lavrov weighed in on the escalating row over Greenland's future, declaring that the Arctic territory represents "a colonial conquest" rather than being organically Danish.
His remarks came as President Donald Trump kept up his case for US control over the island.
Though the Putin ally carefully sidestepped any direct commentary on Washington's territorial ambitions.
He did, however, have time to swiped at Nato, which he said was "being put to the test".
"What is it really worth?" he added.
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Mr Lavrov boasted that Nato was 'being put to the test'
|GETTY
Moscow has been keeping close tabs on the transatlantic feud as Mr Trump's Arctic adventurism rumbles on.
The US President has claimed that Denmark lacks the military capability to protect Greenland from potential Russian or Chinese aggression.
The island's position beneath a flight corridor connecting the US and Russia renders it a strategically significant location for aerial defence systems.
But this growing rift within the West carries potential consequences for the Kremlin's own aspirations in the High North.
Mr Putin previously said that the President had 'serious plans regarding Greenland'
| REUTERSRussian officials have bristled at Mr Trump's assertion that Moscow poses a threat to the Danish territory.
The Russian Embassy in Belgium accused Nato last week of attempting to carry out "accelerated militarisation of the North".
Mr Putin previously said that the President had "serious plans regarding Greenland" with "long-standing historical roots".
The Russian leader declared in March 2025 that the issue "concerns two specific nations and has nothing to do with us".
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