A war of words is happening on Twitter between the foreign ministries of Australia and Russia.
It all started when The Australian newspaper reported that Foreign Minister Julie Bishop intends to use this week’s NATO meeting in Wales to rally G20 members against Russia.
Ms Bishop is reportedly trying to have Russian leader Vladimir Putin excluded from a G20 event in the Queensland city of Brisbane later this year.
On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry took to Twitter to issue this response to Ms Bishop.
#Lavrov: The Australian FM’s idea not to invite Russia to the G20 summit is not surprising but he should not lose sight of its principles
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) September 2, 2014
Whether or not their pronoun choice was a typo or deliberate dig is unknown, but Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was quick to point out the Russian error.
@mfa_russia You should know that Australia FM @JulieBishopMP is not a “he”. Fairly basic.
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) September 2, 2014
And that’s when Australia’s ambassador to Russia chimed in – Paul Myler took no prisoners with his take on the current political climate.
@carlbildt @mfa_russia @JulieBishopMP Thanks Carl! Borders, genders - all a bit confusing right now!
— Paul Myler (@PosolAustralia) September 2, 2014
Things are heating up.
