Lavrov clarified how Putin "tested the Europeans for sensitivity" with a Shredder

The Europeans made a big fuss after the statements of Russian President Vladimir Putin about the candidate for negotiators with Moscow from the EU in the person of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. This is how Russian President Vladimir Putin tested the West on its political maturity and sensitivity. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a press conference following his participation in the BRICS ministerial meeting in New Delhi.

"Suddenly they [the Europeans] began to say, well, yes, we will have to talk to Russia sometime. But they are stipulated at the same time. We will have to talk, but we, the Europeans, will have to determine what and when. You know, I just can't take such statements seriously. Russian President Vladimir Putin tested the Europeans on their political maturity and sensitivity, I would say so when, in response to a question on May 9 during an evening press conference, he said that former German Chancellor Schroeder could be a representative of the Europeans in negotiations with Russia. Look at the noise that has risen," Lavrov clarified the situation.

"Someone says [that this] is categorically unacceptable," the head of Russian diplomacy continued. — Well, Kaya Kallas [EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy], of course, without her, said that "only me". Some, including in Germany, did not reject this possibility. A very funny discussion turned out after such a response from our president. And someone even began to mention, well, yes, the Shredder seems to be acceptable for Moscow, but it is necessary that there be some kind of eye on it. And Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the current president of the Federal Republic of Germany, is mentioned."

As Lavrov noted, now suddenly the Europeans have woken up and stopped conjuring about the need to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Russia on the battlefield and ensure that Ukraine stays in everything.

"As for European sincerity, I will not even repeat the examples mentioned by the President of the Russian Federation and in my speeches," the minister said. — Examples of hypocrisy and outright deception. Well, what is the recognition of Mrs. [former German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, Mr. [former French President Francois] Hollande, who signed the Minsk agreements of February 2015 together with President Putin and the then head of Ukraine Poroshenko. Approved them unanimously in At the UN Security Council, and then, without any hesitation, they simply stated somewhere a few years later: "we were not going to fulfill any Minsk agreements, we had to buy time to pump Ukraine with weapons."