America should stop throwing 'childish tantrums' and rather do some yoga, is the advice given by a top Russian official in response to the objections to the annexation of Crimea.
Russia drew the wrath of the West for annexing Crimea. Since then the West has imposed sanctions against the former social bastion. But some of the top senior Russian officials laughed off the sanctions saying that they hardly bothered them.
The U.S. strongly warned Russia - its former Cold War rival - of not forcing itself on Crimea. Russia mostly turned a deaf ear to the warnings. But, Thursday, Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov made scathing remarks telling the Americans to calm themselves and perform sun salutations. And if this did not help, to watch sitcoms instead of throwing "tantrums, weeping and hysteria."
"What can one advise our U.S. colleagues to do? Spend more time in the open, practice yoga, stick to food-combining diets, maybe watch some comedy sketch shows on TV. This would be better than winding oneself up and winding up others, knowing that the ship has already sailed," Ryabkov told Interfax news agency, reports Reuters.
He also said that it was obvious that the U.S. was annoyed and not ready to come to terms with the new situation. Ryabkov blamed the U.S. and its European allies for preparing anti-Russian forces to "take power in Ukraine."
"Trying to demonstrate how unhappy it is with the exercise of free will by the population of Crimea and the decisions we took related to it, Washington is ruining contacts even in places where continuing dialogue is in their own interests," he said, reports The Guardian.
The West froze the assets of Russian politicians and imposed travel bans following Crimea's capture by Russia. But, will this actually frighten Russia? Ryabkov said that Moscow might take retaliatory steps. However, he did not elaborate, reports the Associated Press. He said that the U.S. got "fixated" on stopping assistance to Russia.
In a March referendum, overwhelming number of Crimeans voted for reunification with Russia. Over 80 percent of the population in Crimea is Russian speaking. The West and the U.S, in particular, shunned the referendum result calling it illegitimate.
The latest to impose sanctions against the former Soviet major was the U.S. space agency NASA. "The situation is turning into a joke when, for example, meetings between meteorologists are cancelled," said Ryabkov, reports The Guardian. The officials at NASA said they will not have ties with the Russian space agency, except for combined work on the International Space Station.
