Vladimir Putin’s state media has mocked Liz Truss’ decision to wear a Thatcheresque fur hat in Moscow, despite there being a ‘thaw’ in the Russian capital.
The Foreign Secretary flew to the Moscow to meet her counterpart Sergei Lavrov last week amid rising tensions over the threat of an imminent invasion of Ukraine.
During tense talks, Ms Truss delivered a tough message that the Kremlin must step back from a ‘disastrous’ invasion.
She also warned that Kiev must not be ‘bullied’ and demanded Russia back up claims it has ‘no plans’ to breach its neighbour’s border with ‘actions’, though discussions are believed to have been largely unproductive.
In a joint press conference following the discussions, Mr Lavrov launched a series of barbs, dismissing ‘ultimatums and moralising’ from the West and comparing their conversation to a ‘deaf and a mute’.
Mr Lavrov also accused Ms Truss of lacking knowledge about basic geography.
And Russian state media has now mocked pictures of Ms Truss strolling through the capital donning a fur hat and coat, despite the city being in the middle of a thaw.
The photographs have drawn parallels with Margaret Thatcher’s attire during her visit to Moscow in 1987.
Russia’ state mouthpiece, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, said Ms Truss was ‘clearly ready for a cold atmosphere’.
However, it added: ‘She got off the plane wearing a fur coat and fur hat, even though there was a thaw in Moscow when our English guest arrived.’
Temperatures in Moscow are understood to have been above freezing, warmer than usual for February.
Liz Truss (left) has been mocked by Russian media for posing for pictures similar to those taken of Margaret Thatcher (right) during her visit to the country in 1987
The Foreign Secretary during a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden last week
Ms Truss is on a two-day visit to Moscow, and took part in a wreath-laying ceremony earlier
Liz Truss (left) told Sergei Lavrov (right) to ‘stop the Cold War rhetoric’ and de-escalate the crisis
Ms Truss’ trip to Moscow was the first by a Foreign Secretary in four years.
It is not the first time she has drawn parallels with Mrs Thatcher, either.
Ms Truss was photographed with her head popping out of the turret of a Challenger 2 tank last December, mimicking a pose forever linked to the party’s first female leader.
It comes as a review of picture-sharing platform Flickr shows that more than 700 pictures of the Foreign Secretary have been uploaded since Ms Truss took up the role, The Guardian reports.
It is equivalent to more than four a day, or a picture every five hours on the job, amid concerns over ‘Instagram diplomacy’ and the use of taxpayer funded Government photographers to show the best sides of politicians.
Ms Truss yesterday warned the Kremlin that invading Ukraine would lead to ‘a protracted conflict with an appalling human toll’.
In a letter to all MPs, which has been seen by The Mail on Sunday, Ms Truss said that she had told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during her diplomatic shuttle to Moscow on Thursday that the UK ‘stands fully behind Ukraine and its right to self-determination’.
The Foreign Secretary wrote of her four hours of talks: ‘I urged Russia to desist from its brazen aggression towards Ukraine, withdraw its troops massing on the Ukrainian border and engage in meaningful talks based on the proposals put forward by Nato. Russia is self-evidently not under a security threat.’
Her words were echoed by US President Joe Biden, who in a phone call with Mr Putin warned that the consequences of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine would be ‘swift and severe’, and that America and its allies ‘will respond decisively and impose swift and severe costs’.
A spokesman for the White House said Mr Biden was ‘clear with President Putin that while the US remains prepared to engage in diplomacy, in full coordination with our allies and partners, we are equally prepared for other scenarios’.
Ms Truss’s comments were revealed as the first British families began to arrive back in the UK.
Thousands of British, American and other European citizens have been told to get out of Ukraine while they still can because there will be no military evacuation in the wake of a Russian attack.
However, Melinda Simmons, the British Ambassador to Ukraine, made clear that the embassy would remain open and that she would be staying in the capital, Kiev.
It is not the first time the Foreign Secretary has drawn parallels with Mrs Thatcher, who died in 2013 aged 87
She was photographed with her head popping out of the turret of a Challenger 2 tank last December, mimicking a pose forever linked to the party’s first female leader
Liz Truss (right) told Sergei Lavrov (left) today that Kiev must not be ‘bullied’ and there would be ‘massive consequences’ for invasion
British Military Attache to Russia Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, and Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov pose for a photo prior to the talks in Moscow on Friday
It comes as Russia’s ambassador to Sweden said Mr Putin ‘doesn’t give a s**t’ about the risk of Western sanctions if his country were to invade Ukraine
In an outspoken interview yesterday, Viktor Tatarintsev told the country’s Aftonbladet newspaper that ‘the more the West pushes Russia, the stronger the Russian response will be’.
He claimed Russia had become more ‘self-sufficient’ amid the threat of sanctions and accused the West of not understanding his country.
His comments came as it emerged that commercial flights to and from Ukraine face being grounded from tomorrow, while some airlines have already cancelled flights until further notice.
Although many of the 6,000 Britons in Ukraine have already fled, some are stranded in the country as they wait for passports to be issued for their newborn babies.
