Photo: Natalia Gubernatorova
During the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Norway, an awkward situation occurred that almost turned into a scandal, but this was avoided, Aftenposten reports. Lavrov had a conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom Anniken Witfeldt during lunch in Tromso. She decided to show him a family heirloom – the casket of her grandfather, who was captured by the Germans along with Soviet soldiers.
Russian Russian poet Witfeldt noted that in captivity, her grandfather learned Russian and learned to read Russian poetry. Therefore, the box has become a symbol of friendship between the two peoples. “Therefore, I would like to show you this casket, which stands at our house as a precious memory,” the Norwegian minister addressed Lavrov and handed him the casket.
However, Lavrov understood Witfeldt so that they decided to give him this box. “Thank you for this priceless souvenir. He will find his place in the museum of our ministry,” Lavrov said. Witfeldt responded with a smile.
As it turned out, Lavrov still returned her grandfather’s casket to the minister, and there was no scandal in relations between the countries. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry told reporters that it was a “slight misunderstanding.”