, Columnist
Live From the Oval Office, It's Sergei Lavrov!
Decoding the humor behind the Russian foreign minister's decidedly undiplomatic visit.
Welcome to Russian humor.
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Sergei Lavrov's official job is foreign minister of Russia, but his visit to Washington Wednesday won't be remembered for any diplomatic breakthrough -- just for Lavrov's dripping irony and skill at provoking adversaries. Lavrov's style, which mirrors that of his boss, Vladimir Putin, is often criticized as unfit for a diplomat. But I'd argue that Lavrov knows exactly what he's doing and that the medium is the message here.
In Washington, Lavrov feigned astonishment for a U.S. reporter who asked about Tuesday's firing of Federal Bureau of Investigation chief James Comey: "Was he fired? You're kidding! You're kidding!" The Russian foreign ministry gleefully tweeted out the video: