They’re Not Sending Their Best! Russian Pranksters Absolutely PUNK Hapless OSCE Secretary General
Poroshenko wants to drink poison and rise from the dead like Babchenko did. The OSCE Secretary General wasn't even surprised to learn this. While the first part is yet another prank, the European official's reaction is anything but.
Anastasia Efimova knows what Vovan and Lexus discussed with Thomas Greminger as they posed as Nikol Pashinyan.
Despite the tradition, the OSCE Secretary General called the pranksters personally. Once he found out the phone number that Vovan and Lexus had shared with the officials, Thomas Greminger picked up the phone, planning to talk to Armenia's PM Nikol Pashinyan, or so he thought.
Vladimir Kuznetsov a.k.a. Vovan, a prankster: "We've pranked Boris Johnson along with some other European politicians, whom we'll post about later. The next day, we received a phone call from the OSCE Secretary General at the phone number that we had left with them. We were wondering how he had found this number, and it turned out it was going around".
Taking advantage of the situation, the Ukrainian pranksters decided to discuss the Minsk Protocol. On behalf of the Armenian PM, they announced that Kiev was obviously breaching the treaty. And despite the traditional OSCE official narrative, the OSCE SG expressed complete understanding.
- I just want to know for me personally who's to blame for stopping the process.
- I think that the Minsk Protocol has a series of mutual political conditions and security guarantees. I believe there's currently not enough political will to fulfill either condition. I think Kiev lacks the necessary will to take actions to meet the political conditions.
However, Kiev has no time to fulfill their obligations. All their resources are directed towards the Arkady Babchenko special mission. The pranksters mention the needlessly murdered and resurrected journalist in their conversation with the OSCE Secretary General. The officially published suspect sketch strangely resembles the Armenian Prime Minister: "40-45 years old, 175-180 cm tall, average build, beer gut".
Aleksandr Asafov, political expert: "Obviously, the special SBU mission, which has no explanations or justifiable means, is just a sham. It seriously jeopardizes Ukraine's reputation, faulting it in its recent allies' eyes. This damage to the reputation will, of course, remain unnoticed by Ukraine".
Making the situation totally absurd, Vovan joins in on the conversation between Lexus and the SG. Pretending to be Groysman, the Ukrainian PM, he shares Poroshenko's ludicrous plans. He said that the latter wants to be poisoned like Skripal, and rise from the dead like Babchenko. However, Greminger wasn't even surprised to hear that.
Vladimir Kuznetsov:"We told him that soon, probably this week, President Poroshenko was to be poisoned or killed, then, in a couple days, he would come back from the dead. His response was that it sounded rather insane. I was posing as Groysman, and said, "I agree, I try to talk him out of it, but he won't listen. Perhaps you can convince him".
Meanwhile, the real, non-fictional story where the OSCE could really influence Petr Poroshenko is the arrest of Kirill Vyshinsky, the editor-in-chief of RIA News' Ukrainian office. The SG has confirmed that the Representative on Freedom of the Media for the OSCE had contacted the Ukrainian President, but it seems he received no response.
"I think this brings us back to the issue of freedom of the press. I believe it's necessary to respect all criticism, it's definitely counterproductive for Ukraine's international reputation. They throw journalists in jail to keep them quiet, but I don't think Ukraine wants the international community to see them this way".
"Do you propose for me to advise my friend Prime Minister Groysman to set him free?"
"I think this will get a positive reaction from the international community. I think this may surprise many people, and I'd definitely suggest this. I think the international community will like this".
Then again, it seems that the international community doesn't fully understand what Ukraine wants. The SG plans to figure it out during his mid-July visit to Kiev. He claims to be interested in a serious conversation; just how mutual this interest is yet to be seen.
Anastasia Efimova, Vesti.