Years ago, Sergei Lavrov commanded some respect. As a career Russian diplomat he could always be scary, sure, but he was also once known for his humor and intelligence.
Today, Russia’s foreign minister is a disgrace. So hell bent he is on proving his loyalty to Putin in the midst of the murderous invasion of Ukraine that he will make anti-Semitic remarks about Ukraine’s Jewish president, infuriating Israel – whose position on the war has been careful – in the process.
This transformation didn’t happen overnight. In 2014, when Putin seized Crimea and destabilized parts of eastern Ukraine, it was well-known in Moscow that Lavrov and Russian diplomats as a whole were caught by surprise. They’ve been going through a steady decline ever since.
For years now, Putin has degraded his diplomatic class in favor of the security services and, to a lesser extent, his military. I make the distinction between the security services and the military because it is an important one — the invasion of Ukraine was initially bungled precisely because the FSB has an outsized importance in Putin’s court. By contrast, the military was hung out to dry. As for the diplomats, it’s like they don’t even matter.
By acting more hawkish and unhinged, Lavrov is clearly angling for greater influence for himself and his people, much like the joke known as former PM Dmitry Medvedev.
None of it matters in the long run. History will not be kind to Lavrov. Yet there is a good lesson in how working for a corrupt leader ultimately corrupts you too — no matter your intentions.
Lavrov has been a diplomat for decades and served his country long before Putin came to power. He had worked for Russian liberals and watched the liberal dream wither. He has undoubtedly been affected by the mistake of Americans’ post-Cold War triumphalism, as many talented Russians were. But he is ultimately a fabulously wealthy man with agency. And he does not deserve pity.
No matter how elite you are, you are always looking over your shoulder.
The disease of Russia’s security state is one of unhappiness. No matter how elite you are, you are always looking over your shoulder. You destroy lives — and it’s for nothing. There is no great payoff. No grand idea crystallizing in the blood and fire. We could argue that the Kremlin’s ethno-nationalism is certainly one idea, but even that one is so crazy that Putin alone probably sincerely believes in it. The men surrounding him mostly just look scared.
The security state seeks to control people by unmooring them but that tends to go badly when you’re trying to invade a nation of 40 million people who absolutely hate your guts. Behind their angry bluster, Russian diplomats are as lost as Russian soldiers sent behind enemy lines with no realistic plan or logistical support.
Today in D.C., hardly anyone reaches out to the Russian ambassador for comment. And why should they? Everyone knows that the Kremlin makes all important foreign policy decisions alone.
The ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, even fully admits that he hasn’t spoken to Putin since 2017, something he recently told Politico (I don’t want to link to the interview, if only because I am exhausted by Mr. Antonov’s bullshit, and am frustrated that I share a last name with this dork).
While Lavrov is more influential, he’s still a marginal figure, and he acts like he knows it. In his attempts to humiliate others — such as with his odious remark about Hitler’s ethnicity — he only winds up humiliating himself.
I can almost picture him doing what he should have done years ago: ripping his tie off, saying “I quit” during a press conference, and stalking off.
I can almost picture this — but not quite.
Image: Kleinschmidt / MSC
