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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Britain should drop the “Great” from its official name, arguing it is the only nation to formally give itself such a title.
Speaking at a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday, Mr Lavrov asserted: “I think that Britain should be called simply Britain because ‘Great Britain’ is the only example of a country which calls itself ‘Great’.”
His remarks, made during a discussion on colonialism following earlier comments regarding Greenland, were delivered to reporters.
Mr Lavrov’s spokeswoman then offered a question to Ivor Bennett, a correspondent from Britain’s Sky News, with the minister adding, “No offence.”
He cited the “Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,” led by Muammar Gaddafi, as another historical instance of a country adopting the “great” moniker.
“But it no longer exists.”
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is usually called “Velikobritaniya”, or Great Britain, in Russian.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivers his annual end-of-year press conference at the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow. (AFP via Getty Images)
As the U.S. under Donald Trump seeks to reset ties with Moscow and broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, Britain has been granted the status of Russia’s public enemy number one.
On Russian state television, “Perfidious Albion”, a term used frequently by news anchors, is cast as a scheming global intelligence power that is meddling behind the scenes from Washington to Iran in a duplicitous bid to undermine Russian interests across the world.
Britain says Russia is a threat to Europe. Amid the war in Ukraine, Russia and the West have repeatedly accused each other of unfurling espionage campaigns of an intensity not seen since the depths of the Cold War.
At the same news conference, Lavrov said that Greenland was not “a natural part” of Denmark and that the problem of former colonial territories was becoming more acute.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants full U.S. control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, for national security reasons. On Saturday he announced tariffs on imports from European allies that oppose a potential U.S. takeover.
Russia has reacted gleefully to the growing U.S.-Europe divide over Greenland, but has bristled at Trump’s suggestion that Moscow is also seeking control over the island.
Lavrov said Russia had no interest in interfering in Greenland’s affairs and that Washington knew that Moscow itself had no plans to take control of the island.
“In principle, Greenland is not a natural part of Denmark, is it?” Lavrov said.
“It was neither a natural part of Norway nor a natural part of Denmark. It is a colonial conquest. The fact that the inhabitants are now accustomed to it and feel comfortable is another matter.”