Official communications from both sides suggest teenagers trying to wind each other up
Shaun Walker in Moscow
Official messages coming out of Moscow have become more acerbic in recent weeks. Photograph: Martin Rogers/Workbook Stock
There was a time when working out what countries really thought required parsing texts and reading between the lines to get to the point, hidden behind a myriad of diplomatic niceties.
No longer – at least when it comes to Ukraine. With Russia-US relations in a thorny patch over events in the country, and a keen use of social media by both sides, such detective work is no longer required. Now, the official communications from each side read more like two teenagers trying to bait each other in the school playground.
The latest incident came when the Twitter feed of the US embassy in Moscow tweeted a news story on Tuesday evening claiming that pro-Russian protesters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv had broken into the local opera house, mistakenly believing it to be the town hall.
"Real Kharkiv residents know the difference," tweeted the US embassy in Russian, essentially repeating the accusation voiced on Tuesday by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, that the protesters in east Ukraine are sent from Russia and organised by Russian security services. The embassy added the hashtag #isolatedRussia, but misspelled the name of the country in Russian.
On the Russian foreign ministry's official Facebook page, the response was quick and stinging. "Dear colleagues, before spreading your spam, it might be a good idea to learn how to spell the name of the country in which you are working," said the message. "We will be happy to consult you if in future when preparing your agitational material you have any questions or doubts."
The official messages coming out of Moscow have become increasingly acerbic in recent weeks.
Last week, Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, advised US officials angry over Crimea to stop their "childish tantrums" and accept that the peninsula was part of Russia. Ryabkov suggested that US politicians "should get more fresh air, do yoga, eat healthily, maybe watch some sitcoms on television" in order to calm down.
The British embassy in Moscow and the Russian embassy in London have also engaged in back-and-forward Twitter feuds in recent weeks, and the London embassy has put out a number of official press releases in idiosyncratic English and a bemused tone. One tackles 15 attitudes widespread in Britain about the Crimea issue, all of which it says are wrong, while another accuses the EU of misogyny for including women on the list of sanctions, and suggests that it has turned a blind eye to neo-Nazis in Kiev.
In a slightly confused comparison, the embassy complained about violence from the Ukrainian nationalist party Svoboda, which forms part of the interim government in Kiev: "As is known, the British sense of style doomed Sir Oswald Mosley's guys. Does the same sense put up with the sight of Svoboda thugs, armed with baseball bats, roughing up … [people] who disagree with them? We have not seen London's reaction to that."
The new Ukrainian government has also found little time for diplomatic niceties, and after Russia insisted that Kiev should introduce a federal system of government to quell unrest in the east of the country.
"It's not necessary to lecture others," read the response from Kiev. "It would be better for the Russian leadership to start bringing law and order to its own state. Russia has so many problems as it is."
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