‘Adversarial Relationship With The Truth': State Department Responds To Lavrov’s Misleading Remarks

Washington D.C./07.03.23/Turan:  The State Department on Monday reacted to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at a New Delhi event that the war in Ukraine was “launched against” Russia, which drew laughter at a major conference of Indo-Pacific officials, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"We’ve heard similar statements, outlandish statements like this, from Russia before," Spokesperson Ned Price told a daily press briefing when responding to TURAN's questions.  "I think it is clear from the reaction in that room the fact that the world is under no illusion about how this started, about who is responsible, and perhaps most importantly of all, who could end it if they – if Russia sought to seek an end to this war today, tomorrow," Price said.

A clip of Lavrov claiming Ukraine was to blame for Putin's invasion has gone viral on social media. “The war, which we are trying to stop, was launched against us, using Ukraine," Lavrov said, as the crowd began to guffaw.

Asked whether there was a second thought after Secretary Antony Blinken's meeting with Russia's top diplomat who is is denying basic truth, Price said the following:

"We’ve observed Foreign Minister Lavrov over the course of the past year. I think the Secretary has used the term that the foreign minister has an adversarial relationship with the truth. We didn’t engage with Foreign Minister Lavrov because we necessarily trust what he has to say or what he has said, for that matter. We engaged with Foreign Minister Lavrov just as we’ve engaged through other channels and through other counterparts because it’s in our interests to do so."

According to Price, the U.S. is "clear-eyed" about the potential for any sort of change in the Russian posture on this. "The point of this brief encounter was not to seek to effect a reversal in the near term over these core issues that matter a great deal to us and to the rest of the world, but it’s in our interests to engage in diplomacy and to make clear where the United States stands," he concluded.

Alex Raufoglu