Australia's ambassador in Moscow has teased his hosts during a row on Twitter, saying both grammar and borders were proving hard for Russia to settle on at the moment.
The diplomatic ding-dong began when the official Twitter account of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs took a potshot at Australia's foreign minister Julie Bishop.
Quoting its foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, the ministry said "The Australian FM's idea not to invite Russia to the G20 summit is not surprising but he should not lose sign of its principles … one of the host country's duties is to facilitate the discussion."
But the use of "he" to refer to Ms Bishop was quickly picked up by Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, who replied: "You should know that Australia FM Julie Bishop is not a 'he'. Fairly basic."
Then the Australian ambassador Paul Myler joined in with "Thanks Carl! Borders, genders – all a bit confusing right now!"
He was no doubt referring to widespread reports that Russia has sent troops into Ukraine to reinforce separatist fighters, as well as its annexation of Crimea earlier this year.
The Twitter spat was a bit of light relief in a tense week - at a summit this week in Wales NATO is expected to outline a tougher military response to the Russian expansionist threat.
#Lavrov: The Australian FM’s idea not to invite Russia to the G20 summit is not surprising but he should not lose sight of its principles — MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) September 2, 2014
@mfa_russia You should know that Australia FM @JulieBishopMP is not a “he”. Fairly basic. — Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) September 2, 2014