Russia’s Foreign Ministry hit back at the United States on Saturday after its Secretary of State Anthony Blinken ridiculed the deployment of Russian troops in Kazakhistan in the wake of massive anti-government protests.
According to BBC, Kazakhistan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev made the request for assistance after protesters stormed the mayor’s office in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, and overran the city’s airport.
However, Blinken, while addressing reporters at a State Department briefing, warned that “one lesson of recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it’s sometimes very difficult to get them to leave”.
“It would seem to me that the Kazakh authorities and government certainly have the capacity to deal appropriately with protests to do so in a way that respects the rights of protesters while maintaining law and order,” Blinken said. “So it’s not clear why they feel the need for any outside assistance. So we’re trying to learn more about it.”
‘Self-inflicted jab’
In a statement, Russia lambasted Blinken, saying he “tried to make a funny joke today about the tragic events in Kazakhstan”.
“A boorish attempt, but then again not his first one so no surprise there. The head of State Department ridiculed a totally legitimate response of the CSTO to the call of the leadership of Kazakhstan in order to provide assistance in ensuring security (the UN Security Council has already been fully informed on the matter) with such a snide remark,” the statement added.
In its “history lesson” to the US top envoy, the Russian foreign ministry said: “When Americans are in your house, it can be difficult to stay alive, not being robbed or raped.”
“Mr Blinken’s jab turned into actually a self-inflicted one as the entire 300 years of American statehood (not just the recent history) teaches us the abovementioned lesson,” the statement added as it listed a number of military operations by the US military.
“Indians [Native Americans] of North America, Koreans, Vietnamese, Iraqis, Panamanians, Yugoslavs, Libyans, Syrians and many other unfortunate peoples who had the bad luck to see these uninvited guests at their doorstep have a lot to add,” the foreign minister quipped.
