"This is a sort of a genre experiment – a series of interviews on the sidelines of notable international events. We’ll take you behind the scenes of big politics," Zakharova was quoted as saying in the RT press release.
In the first installment of the project, Zakharova took RT correspondent Ilya Petrenko on a tour of the Foreign Ministry’s Reception House, a stage for major summit meetings. During the tour, Zakharova described the rules of protocol.
"Very often heads of delegations will stand up for a handshake and find themselves in front of their counterpart’s national colors. Some people think that’s a mistake. In fact, it’s a matter of tradition. In some countries the accepted protocol requires that foreign ministers stand strictly in front of their country’s flag. The Americans have it the other way round, and we respect their tradition," Zakharova said.
The first episode of the RT feature focuses on the meeting between Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry. The meeting between the two officials took place last week in the Russian capital, where they discussed specific steps to restore the ceasefire and possible US-Russian military cooperation against terrorist groups in Syria.