Photo: Alexander Scherbak/TASS

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Esquire magazine,
what the world situation is tougher now than during the cold war, and to calm down during the negotiations to help him to thoughts of his beloved football team “Spartak”

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Esquire magazine that calm during difficult negotiations to help him thoughts on his favorite football team “Spartak”. “I constantly think about “Spartak”, — said the Minister, answering a question about what helps him calm down when negotiating partners “not hear”.

Lavrov explained that diplomats from different countries are hard to criticize each other in public field, but to maintain cordial relations outside it. “Diplomats can talk to each other publicly the harsh words, fiercely defend the interests of their countries… and then sit together and drink,” — said Lavrov.

According to him, the situation in international relations is tougher than it was in the midst of the cold war, because the conflict between the “two empires” — the “Western” and “Soviet” was unfolding in the territories of third countries, but “never directly”, and the public rhetoric was softer. “Then both camps did not cross the borderline. Today there are no rules anymore,” — said Lavrov.