The Foreign Secretary was brutally snubbed by his Russian counterpart during a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in South Africa.
Sergei Lavrov “left his seat” before David Lammy could address him directly, adding that Russia had “learned nothing” from “colonial failures and wars”.
He accused Vladimir Putin of having no “appetite” for peace.
“You know, mature countries learn from their colonial failures and their wars, and Europeans have had much to learn over the generations and the centuries,” Mr Lammy said.
David Lammy at the G20 Foreign Minister’s meeting in South Africa. (Image: Getty)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrives at the event (Image: Getty)
“But I’m afraid to say that Russia has learned nothing. I listened carefully to Minister Lavrov’s intervention just now – he’s, of course, left his seat – hoping to hear some readiness to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty”, he added.
Lammy added that he was “hoping to hear some sympathy for the innocent victims of the aggression; I was hoping to hear some readiness to seek a durable peace”.
He then accused the Kremlin of using “the logic of imperialism dressed up as a realpolitik, and I say to you all, we should not be surprised, but neither should we be fooled.
“We are at a crucial juncture in this conflict, and Russia faces a test.”
David Lammy arriving at the summit. (Image: Getty)
He went on: “If Putin is serious about a lasting peace, it means finding a way forward which respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and the UN Charter which provides credible security guarantees, and which rejects Tsarist imperialism, and Britain is ready to listen.”
The MP for Tottenham went on to say Putin had demonstrated he had no “appetite” for peace in Ukraine.
He added that Moscow’s “war of attrition” must be “resisted by all allies in right-thinking countries.”
