Top Russian official calls German foreign minister 'utter and useful fool'

MOSCOW

The deputy head of the Russian Security Council on Saturday called German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock an "utter and useful fool."

"A catchy phrase: 'We are fighting a war against Russia, and not against each other. Isn't it great when Germany's foreign minister is such an utter and useful fool?" Dmitry Medvedev wrote on his English Twitter account.

His tweet was in response to Baerbock who used the phrase at a session Wednesday of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

The German Foreign Ministry said Thursday that providing support to Kyiv does not make Germany a party to the conflict in Ukraine.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova requested that the German ambassador come to Moscow to clarify Germany's status on the Russia-Ukraine war due to controversial statements made by the German Foreign Ministry and its minister.

In a separate statement on Telegram, commenting on calls from Great Britain to send all weapons at NATO's disposal to Ukraine, Medvedev said "the protection of Ukraine ... will not save the decrepit Old World from retribution."

"If the third World War begins, then, alas, it will not be on tanks or even on fighters. Then for sure everything -- (will turn) into the dust," he said.

The British Daily Telegraph newspaper earlier published a report that claimed London may consider deliveries of fighter jets to Ukraine if Russia withdraws troops from the country.