Russia’s ‘deaf and mute’ insult to Truss
In extraordinary press conference, Putin ally taunts her over Ukraine – then she tells him to step back from brink or face huge sanctions
LIZ Truss shrugged off Russian barbs last night as she warned the Kremlin to step back from an invasion of Ukraine or face swingeing sanctions.
In a tense encounter in Moscow, the Foreign Secretary faced accusations from her opposite number Sergei Lavrov that she was ‘deaf and mute’ during their negotiations.
In scenes caught on camera, he abruptly stalked off at the end of a press conference, leaving Miss Truss standing alone. State media also attempted to smear the British politician, branding her ‘clueless’.
But she later brushed aside the criticism, saying: ‘When people resort to personal attacks it shows they have not got an argument to make.’
The Cabinet minister told Mr Lavrov to prove Russia does not intend to invade Ukraine by pulling an estimated 130,000 troops back from the border with its neighbour. And last night she published details of tough new sanctions that could directly target cronies of Vladimir Putin who have flooded the UK with Kremlin-linked cash.
The move came as Boris Johnson gave a bleak assessment of the situation in Eastern Europe. The Prime Minister, speaking at Nato headquarters in Brus
‘Stand on the edge of a precipice’
sels, said: ‘I think... we stand on the edge of a precipice and things are as dangerous as I have seen them in Europe for a very, very long time. It is up to Vladimir Putin to disengage and de-escalate and the way forward is diplomacy.’
The PM said British intelligence assessments of Russian intentions were ‘grim’, with senior figures in Whitehall fearing an attack within days.
Mr Johnson said President Putin must not be allowed to ‘bully’ Eastern Europe. As 1,000 British troops were put on standby to assist with a potential humanitarian catastrophe in Eastern Europe, the PM said Russia would face ‘severe’ Western sanctions if it invaded its neighbour, including the possible blocking of the lucrative Nordstream 2 gas pipeline to Europe.
And he warned that Ukraine’s large army ‘will fight – there will be bloodshed’. Miss Truss is the first Foreign Secretary to travel to Moscow for more than four years. During two hours of talks, Mr Lavrov repeatedly insisted that Russia had ‘no plans’ to invade Ukraine – prompting Miss Truss to demand proof of Moscow’s benign intentions.
Speaking later at a fractious press conference, Mr Lavrov said: ‘I’m honestly disappointed that what we have is a conversation between a mute and a deaf person. It’s as if we listen but we don’t hear.
‘Our detailed clarifications fell upon deaf ears. It is pretty much like they are saying Russia is waiting for the ground to freeze and become as hard as stone so that our tanks can easily roll over Ukrainian territory. It seems our British colleagues had the very same kind of ground today. The facts, the many facts that we gave them simply bounced off.’
Miss Truss said troops on the border should be ‘moved elsewhere’ and added: ‘We need to see those words followed up by action.’ Instead, Russia stepped up its apparent preparations, with huge military exercises in Belarus, the Black Sea and near the Ukraine border.
Current sanctions can only be imposed on individuals known to be involved in destabilising Ukraine. The new punitive package will allow action against anyone involved in activity deemed to be of economic or strategic importance to Russia. Europe minister James Cleverly said: ‘This legislation will significantly broaden the range of people, businesses and other entities that we can sanction in response to any further Russian aggression.’
Tory MP Bob Seely, who has campaigned for action to remove so-called ‘dirty money’ from London, said: ‘This is a welcome step in the right direction but I do worry it might be too little too late.’
Unconfirmed reports on Russian social media last night claimed Miss Truss committed a basic geographical mistake in her talks – thinking the regions of Rostov and Voronezh were in Ukraine rather than Russia. The Foreign Office dismissed the claim, saying the minister had simply misheard Mr Lavrov.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will arrive in Moscow today for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu. n Sir Keir Starmer last night suggested Jeremy Corbyn’s Stop The War Coalition was siding with Russia. The Labour leader said such groups’ opposition to Nato expansion provided support for ‘authoritarian leaders who directly threaten democracies’.
I am disappointed that our conversation was the dialogue of a mute person with a deaf person LAVROV
I certainly wasn’t mute in our discussions earlier TRUSS
When people resort to personal attacks it shows they have not got an argument to make TRUSS LATER TO BBC