By Ben Kerrigan-
Moscow’s response to comments made by UK’s Foreign Secretary to be Russophobic hysteria, keeps the pot boiling hot.
The Russian defence ministry denied the existence of Russian planes in the area of the aid convoy to Aleppo, as Russia’s ministry spokesman referred to Johnson’s speech as ”a storm in a glass of muddy London water”.
Boris Johnson
In his first speech in the Commons, the foreign Secretary- known for several alarming indiscretions- predicted an eventual trial of war crimes for those responsible for illegal killings in Syria, and also asking for demonstrations to take place in the Russian embassy in London. Such protests may be counter-productive, as already stated by Moscow, though more critical is a thorough and honest assessment of what is actually going on in Syria, in terms of establishing the truth and determining a solution to the crisis, capable of spinning matters out of control.
Relations between Russia and the West are at an all time low, with very limited solutions being presented to resolve the matter. Air raids in eastern Aleppo with bunker buster bombs were rife on Tuesday, all the way into Wednesday morning. Humanitarian agencies have expressed serious concerns at the critical state in Aleppo, pointing out that just 11 ambulances and 35 doctors are having to cope with several hundreds of thousands of people under the constant siege of bloody airstrikes.
Russophobic Views
Whether Johnson’s view is actually Russophobic depends on whether all the facts are properly being looked into, and evaluated truthfully and honestly. However, a former M16 chief, Sir John Sowers, told BBC Today Radio programme
” we all have to be a little bit careful and mindful of the security of our embassy in Moscow when we think about calling for demonstrations here in London.
”We all recall what happened to our embassy in Tehran three or four years ago. I don’t think it would happen in Moscow but we need to be careful about the consequences of things that we call for” . This sentiment was somewhat echoed by the ”stop the war coalition, which claimed that the government was fuelling anti- Russian sentiment in an attempt to justify an escalation of British military intervention.
Moscow Spokeswoman
Maria Zakharova
A spokeswoman for Moscow lambasted Boris Johnson’s words, which she said ”had moved to action”. Maria Zakharova said we are certainly ashamed of him. Whether that shame is justified or not is another matter. However, the better strategy is expected of the UK foreign minister, who often speaks before he thinks. Only recently, Johnson was derided in the press for referring to Africa as ”that country”, which was shocking when we consider the fact he attended one of the best private secondary schools in Britain and would have passed geography very well. The eye of media.com received several complaints at the time, and when we contacted Johnson’s office for a comment, we were asked to wait 20 days for a response.
And whilst an elaboration on Johnson’s recent call for a demonstration, for which he is being accused of being Russophobic would have been good, we simply don’t have 20 days to wait for a response.