Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, had a hard time believing the material British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was handing her this morning. She was responding to Sunak’s bizarre performance yesterday at the Policy Exchange think tank, in which Sunak began by warning Western nations that they “might be next” conquered by Russia, if Moscow beats Ukraine. He followed by accusing Moscow of cutting off gas supplies to the West, causing “a devastating impact on people’s lives” which “threatened our energy security.” He finished with the claim that Russia was weaponizing immigration.
Zakharova admitted that “Sunak’s lies are so desperate that one even feels sorry for him. What if this is just stupidity?” She proceeded to explain what needed no explanation, but evidently did: “Russia did not stop gas supplies even for a second.” Rather it was various NATO nations that had banned Russian energy imports. Even when the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was sabotaged, Russia still offered to use the one conduit remaining to help Europe. On immigration, she reminded one and all that it was the West that staged violent conflicts, as she listed, “Iraq. Libya. Yemen. Afghanistan. Arab spring. Aggravation in the Middle East. Sudanese crisis,” driving millions from their home countries.
