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David Miliband subjected to 'F-word' tirade from Russian foreign minister

by Dave Keating | September 12, 2008 at 03:34 am | 165 views | 2 comments | 4 recommendations

Reports today in the UK claim that when British foreign secretary David Milliband phoned the Russian foreign minister to voice Britain's objections to Russia's actions in Georgia, the foreign secretary went on a profanity-laced tirade. If true, this kind of language would be extreemly unusual between two diplomats.

The Daily Telegraph can disclose that Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, reacted with fury when Mr Miliband and he spoke on the telephone. Mr Lavrov objected to being lectured by the British.

Such was the repeated use of the "F-word" according to one insider who has seen the transcript, it was difficult to draft a readable note of the conversation.

One unconfirmed report suggested that Mr Lavrov said: "Who are you to f------ lecture me?"

He also asked Mr Miliband in equally blunt terms whether he knew anything of Russia's history.

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One Whitehall insider said: "It was effing this and effing that. It was not what you would call diplomatic language. It was rather shocking."