State Dept. Spokesperson: Russia Has ‘Not Been Following Their Hashtag with Action’

Of all the things that could possibly help along the current crisis in Ukraine, anyone think a hashtag’s gonna do it? No? Anyone? Well, there is apparently a war of hashtags brewing between Russia and the State Department, inviting a fair bit of derision over this rather… unconventional diplomacy.

Here’s what happened: the State Department has been using the #UnitedforUkraine hashtag, and so the official Twitter account for the Russian foreign ministry decided to hijack the hashtag for itself, because passive-aggressive diplomacy is the best kind of diplomacy. So State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki shot back on her own Twitter account, expressing the hope that Russia will “live by the promise of [the] hashtag.”

#Lavrov: Moscow to block distortion of Geneva accords on #Ukraine http://t.co/v6VzgqJHge #UnitedForUkraine

— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) April 25, 2014

The world stands #UnitedforUkraine. Let’s hope that the #Kremlin & @mfa_russia will live by the promise of hashtag

— Jen Psaki (@statedeptspox) April 24, 2014

The reaction was, um, not good.

Is this how we won WWII! Put out a hashtag and the mean old Japanese and Germans just said we surrender! #Stupid @statedeptspox @mfa_russia

— JoeC (@TiredOfTyranny) April 25, 2014

@statedeptspox @mfa_russia "Mr Gorbachev. Retweet this tweet!" #LesserAmerica

— mitrebox (@mitrebox) April 25, 2014

@statedeptspox Don’t hashtag or we’ll hashtag your hashtag with more hashtags.

— Scott Lofquist (@ScottLofquist) April 25, 2014

So if another country retweets @statedeptspox, will that be considered an act of war?

— Ben Howe (@BenHowe) April 25, 2014

Russia has intercontinental missiles, but we have the promise of the hashtag! @statedeptspox

— Phineas Fahrquar (@irishspy) April 25, 2014

Today Psaki addressed the flak she’d been getting overnight.

"It's wacky Friday in here," said @statedeptspox of some of the questions she was getting about her #UnitedforUkraine tweet last night.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) April 25, 2014

She also said, “I was highlighting the fact that they have not been following their hashtag with action.”

Watch the video below, via Fox News:

[photo via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac