Former Russian ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin has planted two poplars near the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels in a farewell gesture.
Symbolically enough, a poplar, or “topol” in Russian, brings up associations with Russia’s modern intercontinental ballistic missiles Topol-M.
On Friday, Rogozin said he was considering planting a tree within the perimeter of the alliance’s headquarters. “I decided to leave something good in memory of my work in NATO… NATO is the right place for a poplar, I guess,” Rogozin said in his Twitter micro blog.
However, NATO replied that planting a tree within the headquarters perimeter “is not possible,” so the tree will have to be planted nearby, a source close to the alliance said.
In response, Rogozin planted two trees in the perimeter of his former residence. “As NATO did not welcome my polar… I decided to plant two trees at once,” Rogozin quipped in his Twitter later and attached a photo featuring the process of planting.
“To the left is just a topol [poplar] and to the right it is topol-m [poplar-m],” Rogozin commented.
Rogozin’s followers have already posted facetious comments, suggesting that the trees were planted “under the screen of night” and there will be “hubbub” in the morning.
In late December, President Dmitry Medvedev appointed Rogozin deputy prime minister responsible for the defense industry.
Medvedev said Rogozin would have extensive powers to “straighten things out” and “slap [some people] on the wrist.”
