Intl' Diplomacy: Bearing gifts, reaping the harvest

Gifts exchanged between diplomats provide a great opportunity to subtly convey sentiments that would be too forward or blatant for diplomatic-speak. Take for example Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov's present to his American counterpart John Kerry on Tuesday in Sochi, two baskets, one of potatoes and one of tomatoes, which perfectly encapsulates the stand-off between the two countries. Namely, that it's not a matter of "You say potato, I say potato", but rather "You say potato, I say tomato".