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Alleged talk between 'Russian ambassadors' posted online is a 'hastily
cooked up story' - FM sourcePublished time: April 04, 2014 20:27
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An alleged recording of two "Russian ambassadors" posted online is a
"compilation of sounds, subtitles and photos" which was cynically cooked up
to distract attention from recent scandals, a source in Russia's Foreign
Ministry told RT.
"It is impossible to comment on some compilation of sounds, subtitles and
photos, which also include [a picture of] an outstanding Russian
ambassador, Yury Dubinin, who unfortunately departed this life in 2013," a
source in the ministry's press service told RT when asked to comment on the
"leaked conversation" which appeared on YouTube. "[This is] a brutally and
cynically cooked up story made in haste that gives out a clumsy attempt to
divert attention from the recent public scandals over the statements by
Western diplomats on Ukraine."
The comments are in response to a recording that surfaced online. Made to
look like a leaked phone conversation, it was claimed to be a private talk
between two Russian ambassadors - envoy to Eritrea, Igor Chubarov, and his
counterpart in Zimbabwe and Malawi, Sergey Bakharev.
In the beginning, there is a five-minute recording of two male voices
discussing Crimea. The first voive, labeled as "Chubarov" in subtitles,
congratulates the other person on the fact that Zimbabwe ("your country,"
he says) "demonstrated very right understanding about the situation in
Ukraine." Zimbabwe was one of 11 countries which voted against a resolution
submitted by Ukraine to the UN denouncing the referendum in Crimea.
The two voices, using plenty of swear words, then start discussing which
parts of the world Russia "would annex."
"We've got Crimea, but that's not f***ing all, folks. In the future, we'll
damn well take your Catalonia and Venice, and also Scotland (which the
person pronounces as "Scotsland" in an attempt for a pun) and Alaska," says
one of the voices.
"At first stage we will," the second one replies.
Shortly after the recording surfaced on YouTube, deputy spokeswoman for the
Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, posted a comment on her Facebook
page saying that she had no idea who was talking on the tape, adding that
one of the pictures - labeled "Bakharev" - is indeed deceased ambassador
Yury Dubinin, who died in December 2013.
Since the crisis in Ukraine began last November, there have been several
scandals involving leaked private phone conversations of top Western
officials.
In one of the much talked about clips, Victoria Nuland - Washington's top
diplomat in Europe - is heard saying "F**k the EU" while speaking with her
counterpart, American ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyat, to dismiss the
EU's handling of the Ukrainian crisis.
Later, in a leaked phone conversation, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine
Ashton and Estonian foreign affairs minister Urmas Paet discussed that the
snipers who shotat protesters and police in Kiev were allegedly hired by
Maidan leaders
Received on Sat Apr 05 2014 - 06:55:01 EDT