Originally Posted by
Thomas coupling
I read an article in the Sunday Times about a senior government aid (UK) who had spent 20 years in office in Russia in the embassy.
He recalls a fairly recent (couple of years old) altercation with his opposite number during a dinner where the conversation got heated somewhat and the russian lost his temper with him. The russion said to the brit: "You think we're all Barbarians here in Russia don't you?". Before the brit could answer, the russian said: !Well we **king well are, we always have been...if we can't earn respect in the world diplomatically then we will turn to the next best thing - fear!"
.....
Russian "diplomatic corps" is full of poorly educated dumbs and alcoholics. I assume such words could leave one's mouth over vodka.
However, having spent
myself over 25 years in close contacts with US and European high-tech folks, I have never heard of such "exchange of views".
Unfortunately, many idiots recently appeared on the scene (incl. TV) on both sides using much "stronger expressions". Pity.