Australia vs. Russia: Boxer vs. Judoist

Tony Abbott, the Australian Prime Minister, and opposition leader Bill Shorten shocked senators of the green continent with their harsh statements about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Jacqui Lambie, an Australian MP from the Palmer United Party, stated that one should put an end to the attempts to prove who is the "toughest guy" on the football field. They are [Abbott and Putin] are like "hormone affected schoolboys trying to out-macho each other on the footy field," she said. "It's important to act in a mature manner and keep lines of communication open with [Mr Putin]," Lambie added.

Lambie also stated that she only welcomed Putin's visit to Australia for the G20 summit. According to her, she did not believe even for a moment that the Russian president wanted the catastrophe with the Malaysian Boeing to happen.

Mr. Abbott, who promised to "shirt-front" Putin, as well as Mr. Shorten, who did not want the Russian leader to visit the summit in Brisbane, were ridiculed by Australian comedian Jazz Twemlow. "Perhaps he's trying to impress the public, in which case, if this is the image of the Australian public Abbott has, shame on us. How much more machismo does he think we can mentally ingest?" Twemlow wrote on his blog.

The satirical stand-up and writer also said that it would be best to hold the G18 summit without Putin and Abbott, who would be settling personal scores with each other, while others would be discussing most important international issues.

Tony Abbott, a former boxer, is known for his criticism of Russia. In August, he proposed to introduce tougher sanctions against Moscow. Abbott is also known for his attempts to blame Russia for the crash of the Malaysian Boeing 777 in Ukraine, even though the case has not been investigated still.

The Russian embassy in Canberra responded to the statement from Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott of the forthcoming "tough conversation" with Vladimir Putin.

Second Secretary of the diplomatic mission, Alexander Odoevsky, called the head of the Australian Government's immature and reminded that Putin was an expert in judo.

"I know Prime Minister Abbott is a very keen bicyclist. The Russian president does a lot of judo, which is a type of wrestling," Odoevsky said, The Telegraph reports.

"As I understand, shirt-fronting is quite an old fashioned term, which is not widely used in the modern-day game. Also, it is illegal," the official added.

According to Odoyevsky, the Russian Embassy in Canberra continues to receive numerous messages from Australians, who apologize for their prime minister.

Pravda.Ru