Moscow (CNN) Russians don't know whether to laugh or cry at the political chaos unfolding in the United States.

In fact, they have been doing lots of both.

Sergey Lavrov, the wry Russian foreign minister, allowed himself a quip when asked whether the sudden dismissal of the FBI director, James Comey, would overshadow his talks this week in Washington.

"Was he fired?" Lavrov asked reporters, sarcastically.

"You're kidding, you're kidding," he exclaimed.

Perhaps it was an ill-judged attempt to lighten the mood, but it also revealed the extent to which Russian officials are reveling in their US rivals' current mess.

Critics frequently accuse the Kremlin of wanting to discredit US politics. That work seems to be proceeding without them.

That ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, dubbed a key Russian spy by US officials, is at the center of allegations of collusion between Trump associates and Russian officials that Comey was investigating before he was dismissed.

The optics, as we now call what stuff looks like, were bad.

Ambassador Kislyak and President Trump / Посол С.Кисляк и Президент Д.Трамп pic.twitter.com/Ckkx2YL9KX — Russia in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) May 10, 2017

An official Russian photographer recorded a grinning President Trump warmly shaking the ambassador's hand, and the picture was then posted online by the Russian Foreign Ministry for the world to see, along with the other official snaps of the US President chatting with the Russian foreign minister.

Cue an angry and mocking online rant from Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova.

JUST WATCHED Tapper: Russia is mocking the American people Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Tapper: Russia is mocking the American people 02:07

"Do you know what would happen if the official photos were not published?" she asked in a Facebook post. "They would be presented as secret evidence of collusion between the Russians and Trump," she joked.

At home in Russia, Kremlin-controlled media have also been having a field day, with cartoons ridiculing the political farce in Washington.

One editorial on the state news agency, RIA Novosti, scoffed at how Comey "continuously made up stories about Russkies, but never found anything."

Behind all the mocking, though, the Kremlin may be concerned about what Trump's unexpected moves mean for them.