MOSCOW, November 30. Russian Foreign Ministry official representative Maria Zakharova in joked compared Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking under number 17 at the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with the legendary hockey player Valery Kharlamov, who took to the ice under the same number.
Speaking on the “60 Minutes” program on the “Russia 1” channel, Zakharova ironically called Poland, the three Baltic republics and the Kiev regime “the hockey anti-five.” These states pointedly refused to participate in the meeting because of Lavrov’s invitation to it.
Olympic champion, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, forward of the CSKA hockey team Valery Kharlamov (right) during the game
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«You won't believe it, but it coincided: Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov speaks at the Council of OSCE Foreign Ministers as number 17. Yes, that same «legend number 17″ who will resist this pseudo-boycott on the part of the aggressive five» , — the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry explained with a smile.
The meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OSCE, which includes 57 countries, is taking place November 30 — December 1. Participants are expected to discuss security issues on the continent amid the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, as well as the question of the next chairman of the organization.
Soviet hockey player Valery Kharlamov, wearing number 17, gained worldwide fame by scoring two goals in the first match of the USSR-Canada Super Series in 1972 in Montreal. The Soviet team won with a score of 7:3. In 2013, the premiere of the biographical film “Legend No. 17” took place.