Canada & Russia Are Feuding On Twitter Because Of 'Kindergarten-Level Russophobic Libel'
Canada's manners were called into question. 👀
Canada's seat in the United Nations. Right: Russian deputy representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy.
There is a Twitter feud happening between Canada and Russia that started because of a letter.
On March 16, Russia's United Nations ambassador Vassily Nebenzia sent a letter to the UN about the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and the country's proposed draught resolution for it.
Then the next day, Canada's UN Mission tweeted photos of an annotated version of it.
"Please see our suggested edits below," the tweet said.
The three-page letter is full of comments, suggestions and edits from Canada's UN mission, with every section of it having multiple changes.
Thank you @RussiaUN for your letter dated March 16.\n\nPlease see our suggested edits below. \n\n#StandWithUkraine #RespectTheCharterpic.twitter.com/0M663R0tUW— Canada Mission UN #StandWithUkraine \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Canada Mission UN #StandWithUkraine \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1647527349
In one part of the letter, the Russian ambassador said, "Like other members of the international community, we are gravely concerned about its deterioration."
Canada's UN Mission crossed out part of the sentence and changed it to, "We are not gravely concerned about its deterioration because we are the primary cause."
That led to Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's deputy representative to the UN, responding with his own comments about Canada.
In a tweet, he called what Canada's UN Mission did "kindergarten-level Russophobic libel."
"It only shows that your diplomatic skills and good manners are at lowest ebb," he continued.
Thank you @CanadaONU for this kindergarten-level Russophobic libel! It only shows that your diplomatic skills and good manners are at lowest ebb and gives an idea why your country\u2019s bid for a non-permanent seat in #SecurityCouncil was voted down twice in 20yrs by UN membership https://twitter.com/CanadaUN/status/1504464863510335488\u00a0\u2026— Dmitry Polyanskiy (@Dmitry Polyanskiy) 1647539538
Polyanskiy also said that the tweet "gives an idea" as to why Canada's bid for a non-permanent seat in the Security Council has been voted down by the UN's membership twice in 20 years.
This isn't the first time recently that Canada and Russia have been at odds with each other.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the country published a list of nations that it called "unfriendly" and Canada is among them for having taken "unfriendly actions" against Russia, its companies and some of its citizens.
Also, hundreds of Canadians have been added to a Russian "black list" which bans them from entering the country.
That includes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Member of Parliament Jagmeet Singh, Defence Minister Anita Anand and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly.
When he found out that he was banned from Russia, Singh shared his thoughts about it and called Vladimir Putin a "tyrant."