When only pizza & vodka will do: Lavrov treats tired journos to US-Russian snack after Syria talks

When John Kerry and Sergey Lavrov managed to finally wrap up the talks on Syria, they celebrated by bringing journalists a combo of American comfort food (pizza) and Russian bonhomie (vodka), symbolizing qualities that may well have helped reach the deal.

Some 13 hours after the start of the marathon Russian-US negotiations, Lavrov emerged to offer the reporters five boxes of pizza pie and two bottles of vodka.

“The pizza is from the Americans, the vodka is from us,” the Foreign Minister exclaimed, to the amusement of the journalists.

It later turned out that the unexpected pizza treat was Kerry’s indulgence for the protracted nine-hour “pause” in the talks, caused by consultations with Washington, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova revealed on Facebook. She added that some, presumably Western, journalist suggested they might as well add some vodka to wash it down with. Lavrov was only too happy to oblige, as the delegation “had some with them.”

Zakharova joked that if the US side continued to delay after that, she “can’t vouch for Geneva.” Luckily, the press conference soon commenced.

Some then wondered if the quintessentially Russian drink and typical American comfort food had actually helped influence the outcome of the talks.

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