Russian Foreign Policy: Differential Respect
The Russians are known to be very punctilious in their diplomatic exchanges. They are not however always respectful. Case in point: yesterday's telephone conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
As the Russian readout makes clear, the phone call took place at the initiative of the U.K. This isn't surprising. The British always follow the Americans. The moment Washington decided to make nice with Moscow, it was inevitable that London would immediately follow its lead. However, if Boris Johnson's government was expecting the courteous, respectful treatment that the Biden administration received, it was in for a rude awakening. While Russia may dislike the United States, Russia respects it as a Great Power and a formidable adversary. Russia does not accord the same respect to the United Kingdom.
Russia refuses to regard the U.K. as a serious power. Russia does not regard the U.K. as an independent actor on the world stage. As Russia sees it, the U.K. either follows the United States slavishly or worse (as has happened in recent years), the U.K. tries to be more Catholic than the Pope. In other words, the U.K. tries to be more hawkish, more belligerent toward the U.S.'s adversaries, than the United States itself. Not surprisingly, Russia refuses to accord the U.K. even the grudging respect it is willing to accord, say, France or Germany. France and Germany at times distance themselves from the United States, particularly on issues that matter to Russia such as Ukraine.
Russia's lack of respect for the U.K. of Boris Johnson is only too apparent from the Russian readout of the phone conversation between Lavrov and Raab. I have attached a Google Translate version of the Russian readout. The U.K. readout, by contrast, is terse and pro forma:
On 17 June, the Foreign Secretary spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.
They discussed a number of issues where the UK and Russia profoundly differ, but also key global challenges such as international security, COVID-19, and climate change ahead of COP26.
The pair agreed to speak again soon.
Clearly, the U.K. got an earful, and did not enjoy it very much.
The English translation of the Russian readout is a little rough, but the gist is clear.
