Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Makes Obscene Remark at Embassy Roundtable on Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov cursed at a microphone during an embassy roundtable with foreign journalists on June 23.

This was reported by the independent Russian outlet Meduza on June 23. The Russian Foreign Ministry billed the round table as devoted to resolving the situation around Ukraine.

As the floor was handed to a journalist from Yemen, Lavrov leaned toward his deputy, close enough to the microphone to be heard, and remarked: “No, screw it.” He then asked who would put the next question.

Pro-government Russian Telegram channels claimed the obscenity was aimed at the Yemeni reporter. Meduza noted that it remains unclear what Lavrov was reacting to, and the broadcast recording does not resolve the issue.

The episode was not Lavrov's first crude turn before an audience. In 2022, he told a journalist who had asked permission to pose a question to "go talk to the peacocks." At a 2015 news conference alongside Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, he was recorded muttering a profane insult at someone off to the side.

In recent weeks, he has cast a united Europe as preparing a physical attack on Russia and likened Ukraine's leadership to wartime fascism, while rejecting successive peace overtures as ultimatums. The shift has tracked Moscow's broader turn from negotiation toward justifying an open-ended strike campaign against Ukrainian cities.

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