Dear Editor,
The Russian Foreign Ministry posted on its Facebook page for April Fools’ Day the following farcical Russian Embassy answering machine message:
“You have reached the Russian Embassy. Your call is very important to us.
– To arrange a call from a Russian diplomat to your political opponents press 1
– To use the services of Russian hackers press 2
– To request political interference press 3 and wait until the next election campaign
Please note your call will be recorded for service quality assurance”.
The purpose of this joke is to satirize the fake accusations against Russia about so-called interference in the US presidential election.
Humour remains the proper way to counter false statements and fake news in Western media based on a Cold War mentality and other phobias.
Ironically, the Russian Foreign Ministry had to answer a phone call from Associated Press and CNN journalists in Moscow to confirm the message was a jest. We hope that this April 1 joke will help people in other countries to understand the realities.
Yours faithfully,
Aleksei Illiuviev
Press Attache
Russian Embassy in Guyana
