Russian first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy did a bit of light trolling of Biden’s press secretary over her new name for the Russian Federation, coming up with a couple alternative names for the United States and the United Kingdom.
“It must be a foe of United American Emirates and the British Confederation!” Polyanskiy tweeted, responding to a clipped video featuring Jean-Pierre’s flub.
The Russian diplomat wasn’t the only one to notice the new name for the Eurasian nation. “I guess the two countries merged when nobody was looking,” one person quipped, implying the ‘People’s Republic of Russia’ may be a reference to Russia and China. “The woman is a prophet. The People’s Republic of Russia is acquiring contours in the world’s imagination,” another joked. “The People’s Republic of Russia’ has already happened. It beat them to launching satellites and people to Space. It beat them at the Olympics,” another chimed in, perhaps referring to the Soviet Union, officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. “Maybe she’s seen the future,” another person wrote. “Diversity at a cost of qualifications,” another suggested, most likely referring to the Biden administration’s constant reminders that Jean-Pierre is the ‘first black, first openly gay, child of immigrants’ press secretary.
Russia, officially the Russian Federation, emerged on the world stage in December 1991, after the leaders of the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian republics of the USSR met to dissolve the Soviet Union. Before that, it was called the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The ‘federation’ part of Russia’s name signals its status as an agglomeration of 89 federal subjects, including oblasts, autonomous republics and districts, and major cities that function as regions.
There was never a country called the “People’s Republic of Russia.” However, a “Russian People’s Republic” and a “Russian National People’s Republic” have popped up in online fantasy roleplaying games.