We Won’t Be Apes

Lavrov concluded his Latin American tour with visits to Chile and Peru. Before that, he inspected the positions of Russia’s allies, Cuba and Nicaragua. Havana and Managua share Moscow’s position on Crimea, and as such, they vetoed the United Nations General Assembly resolution on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which claimed that the Crimean referendum was “illegal.”

Chile and Peru, on the other hand, supported the resolution. In the course of his tour, Lavrov found it necessary to explain a few things to the leaders of those countries. After talks with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that he gave journalists a clear account of Russia’s assessment of the events in Ukraine. “There is no doubt that we have been heard,” Lavrov stated, adding that both Moscow and Santiago have given their support for Geneva’s April 17 statement on Ukraine.

Kommersant asked Sergei Lavrov to comment on his American colleague John Kerry’s interview in The Wall Street Journal, in which it is stated that “the annexation of Crimea was a thought-out, planned” Russian operation and that the only reason Russia “has not interfered in Eastern Ukraine is because of Washington’s imposition of sanctions.”* The head of the Foreign Ministry admitted that he had not had the time to familiarize himself with the secretary of state’s interview, but nevertheless responded, “We never take action under pressure, but rather, we always act in the best interests of the Russian Federation, on the basis of international law, and with complete consideration of the situation.”

“That was the case in our relations with Crimea, and that is the case in anything that has to do with our position on the situation in southeastern Ukraine,” Lavrov clarified.

He went on to note that Kerry’s statement claiming Russia has not sent troops to southeastern Ukraine “really signifies a rebuttal of the oft-cited claim in Washington statements of late, that is, that the southeast is flooded with our saboteurs, spies and armed servicemen.”

Kommersant also asked the Russian minister what he thought of the acting head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Andrei Deshchytsia’s request. Before Lavrov’s flight to Cuba, the Ukrainian diplomat asked for a telephone call with him in order to discuss the situation with the military observers from European countries being detained in Slovyansk. Commenting on this subject, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry repeated three times that Russia stands in support of the liberation of the European officers. At the same time, he expressed surprise that the Ukrainian authorities, which had initially invited the observers to monitor the situation on the border with Russia, instead sent them to Slovyansk. “The Ukrainians who accompanied those officers could not have been ignorant of the fact that the situation in Slovyansk is controlled by vigilante groups,” Mr. Lavrov stated. “In my opinion, they were set up.” Moreover, the minister’s speech suggested that Moscow cannot influence those who are holding the observers.

Chilean journalists were also interested in how Russia would respond to the American sanctions, and whether Sergei Lavrov’s Latin American tour — and especially his visit to Santiago, an ally of Washington — is a part of the response. “You cannot proceed from the logic that if someone is allied with the United States, then he cannot be a partner with Russia as well, and vice versa,” replied the head of Russian diplomacy. He was supported by Heraldo Munoz, who emphasized that Santiago pursues an independent foreign policy — a fact evidenced by the Russian delegation’s visit.

“The U.S. is not concerned with the fate of Ukraine, but rather, with its desire to prove that whatever they decide is how it should be, for everyone and everything. But this logic is obsolete,” Lavrov continued, “and it has engendered resentment and these sanctions which are largely meaningless. But we are not planning to ape our American friends — at this point, we want to give our partners a chance to cool down.” If the U.S. applies “economic levers” against Russia, then, in the words of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow will “continue to work on sorting out the situation.”

The Chilean journalists spent a long time trying to guess what the term “ape” meant in the context of the American sanctions. Kommersant’s source in the Russian delegation clarified: It means that Moscow will not echo every step taken by Washington, but it most certainly does not mean that those steps will be left without consequences.

*Translator’s Note: The John Kerry quotations are very loosely adapted from this article. I chose to translate them as they were reported in Kommersant, since they were so different from the original quotations.