As the name suggests, "embarrassment" is a difficult situation that is difficult to deal with. It also has the meaning of embarrassment and embarrassment. However, some people say self-deprecatingly: "As long as I'm not embarrassed, it's you who are embarrassed." This is the new "embarrassment" theory in the humor field. And Russia is a practitioner of this "new embarrassment theory".
After the "Crimea referendum" in 2014, Russia was "politely rejected" by the G7 of the West, and the G8 became the G7. And after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Russia lost its membership in the Council of UN human rights organizations.
As for Russia's relations with Europe, after the energy ties were broken, the European Union sanctioned the country, and politically isolated by the United States and most European countries, there was only one "point of contact" left, the "Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe".
It stands to reason that in the case of being boycotted by so many countries and "not welcomed" by so many organizations, anyone will be more or less embarrassed and embarrassed. However, Russians with strong "psychological qualities" never consider themselves "embarrassed". Moreover, in words and deeds, "go your own way". To put it bluntly, he has never lost "momentum".
For example, in the case of the G8 becoming the G7, according to the West, it is "not playing with Russia", and Russia responds with "it is Russia that withdraws on its own initiative".Regarding the revocation of the membership of the Council of the United Nations human rights organization, Russia said that it "does not want to be in the same stream as the 'human rights pseudo-Taoists' of the West".
As for the New START Treaty, which will expire in February 2026, although Russia has not withdrawn, it has taken the initiative to "suspend implementation". As for the rupture of the "energy tie" with Europe, the Russian side said that without Russia's cheap energy, Europe's economy would be "worthless".
When it comes to the so-called "embarrassment" on the other side, it is either "anti-guest-oriented" in action or "broad and profound" in logic, in short, the Russians have been practicing the "new embarrassment theory" of "as long as I am not embarrassed, it is you who are embarrassed". A few days ago, Russia once again performed this "classic" statement.
As mentioned above, at present, Russia's relations with Europe are reduced to the "OSCE" as a "point of contact". But even so, in the past two days, Lavrov and Zakharova "joined forces" and managed to return to the West the "embarrassment" that the West had created for Russia with the help of the OSCE meeting.
The OSCE currently has 57 members, including the United States, Canada, Turkey and five Central Asian countries in addition to European countries. The OSCE is headquartered in Brussels, and the leaders' summit is held every two years, but the foreign ministers' meeting is held annually. However, at last year's summit of foreign ministers, Russia had already suffered an "embarrassment".
Last year's OSCE Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held in Poland, and the host, Poland, refused to allow Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to attend the meeting, citing Russia's "aggression" against Ukraine. However, this year's host, North Macedonia, unexpectedly invited Lavrov to lead a delegation to the OSCE Foreign Ministers' Summit.
As for the reason why North Macedonia invited Russia to participate in the meeting, it can be said that "there are different opinions". Some people say that North Macedonia did this at the "behest of the United States", because Russia has begun to gain the upper hand on the battlefield in Ukraine, so the United States intends to improve relations with Russia in order to facilitate a decent "compromise".
There is also an opinion that the reason why North Macedonia invited Russia to participate represents the mainstream opinion among EU countries, because most European countries have a "fatigue" of the war in Ukraine. In other words, they don't want to fight anymore and want to negotiate a solution to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. There is also a view that it is Russia that has done the work of North Macedonia in private, with the intention of maintaining communication with the West through this platform.
Of course, on a specific stage, it is also believed that inviting Russia to the OSCE summit is a "conspiracy" aimed at humiliating Russia and "embarrassing" the Russians. This statement is still very marketable, the reason is that over the years, in a specific ** field, "conspiracy theories" seem to be very popular.
Leaving aside the real reasons for North Macedonia's invitation to Russia, and whether Russia's decision to participate in the meeting had a special purpose. But one thing is certain, that is, Lavrov's participation can be described as "twists and turns", and even encountered "embarrassment". Of course, there is also an element of Russia's initiative to "know that there are tigers in the mountains, and prefer to travel to the tigers".
After North Macedonia extended an invitation to Lavrov, Russia then encountered a "difficult problem", that is, if Lavrov attended, his plane would need to fly over several NATO countries. In this regard, Russia has done some work in private, and with North Macedonia's internal "lobbying", Bulgaria and Greece and other countries have finally agreed that Lavrov's special plane can fly through its airspace. However, Bulgaria "temporarily changed its mind" by refusing to allow Lavrov's plane to fly over its territory.
Why, then, did Bulgaria "go back on its word"?The reason is that Lavrov's special plane had Russian *** spokeswoman Zakharova on board. The reason for the incident is that Bulgaria allowed Lavrov's plane to fly over its airspace on the condition that the sanctioned and undesirable Zakharova could not be on board.
Russia turned a deaf ear to this "condition" put forward by Bulgaria, and Lavrov's special plane still flew over Bulgaria's national border as originally planned. As for the reason, some analysts believe that this is Russia testing Bulgaria's courage and bottom line.
However, although Bulgaria is small and weak, it is also a bit "bloody". Therefore, the release of Lavrov's plane was refused without hesitation. In desperation, Lavrov's plane only made a detour and flew from Turkey and Greece to Skopje, North Macedonia.
It stands to reason that "rejection" on the border should be an embarrassing thing, but the Russians never think so. For example, after arriving in Skopje, North Macedonia, Zakharova immediately posted on social **telegram: "Despite the enemy's intrigues, we have arrived in Skopje." See?This is how the Russians returned the "embarrassment" to their opponents.
To put it bluntly, the embarrassment that Lavrov encountered during his trip to North Macedonia this time was obviously not the Bulgarian "refusal to fly" incident. For example, after learning of North Macedonia's invitation to Russia, the foreign ministers of 13 countries boycotted the OSCE ministerial meeting. The three Baltic states even said in a joint statement: "Lavrov's place is in a special tribunal, not at the seat of the OSCE." ”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his trip to North Macedonia ahead of schedule and did not give Russia a chance to create a "chance meeting" between the foreign ministers of Russia and the United States. The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Josep Borrell also chose to leave Skopje before Lavrov arrived at the venue. In response, Lavrov called them "timid".
Moreover, Lavrov was interrupted by "boos" during his speech, which caused Lavrov to stop and say in English: "Please don't disturb me, okay?"”
Moreover, despite the fact that North Macedonia invited Lavrov, its Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani accused Russia of "aggression" against Ukraine in person at the meeting. To a certain extent, Russia is tantamount to being invited to "criticize". Come to think of it, if it were not for the Russians with excellent psychological quality, it would be inevitable that they would be on pins and needles if they were people from other countries. And Lavrov not only did not change his face, but also described the OSCE as "NATO's blind intestine."
Even after encountering so much difficulty, isolation and embarrassment from the Western camp in the activities of the international community, Putin still announced in a speech a few days ago in a high-profile manner: The Russian-Ukrainian war is a victory for Russia, which has become stronger and has restored its status as a "superpower".
Obviously, the Russians have been practicing the "new embarrassment theory" that "as long as I am not embarrassed, it must be you who are embarrassed". It has to be said that the Russians are really "convincing" in their response to the "embarrassing" situation and their "logical" understanding of the embarrassment.