Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov caused a stir at a press conference in New Delhi after making a deadpan, darkly humorous remark to a journalist whose mobile phone repeatedly disrupted the proceedings. Lavrov was in mid-sentence when a phone in the press gallery started ringing loudly as he was addressing the media on the sidelines of the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting. The senior diplomat, clearly annoyed by the distraction, told the reporter to leave the room, saying it was either him or the phone. As the disruption carried on, Lavrov issued a pointed, sarcastic warning to the journalist, telling them if they did not give up the phone security would “take out a gun.”
The dramatic exchange quickly went viral on social media, sparking a wave of online debate about whether the comment was a tense rebuke or a classic example of Lavrov’s dry, diplomatic humor. The interruption did not delay the resumption of the press briefing. Lavrov also touched on a range of important regional and international issues, including Russia’s growing “privileged strategic partnership” with India and the steady rise in Russian crude oil supplies to New Delhi, despite the ongoing Western economic sanctions.
