Paul Myer trolls Russia on Twitter after Julie Bishop called ‘he’ online

FIRST Canada had a crack at Russia online, now an Aussie diplomat has done the same, reminding the country ‘borders, genders — it’s all a bit confusing right now!’

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop speaks at a joint press conference at the foreign ministry building during the eighth meeting of the Singapore-Australia Joint Ministerial Committee (SAJMC) held in Singapore on August 22, 2014. Officials from Singapore and Australia on August 22 said the two countries will enhance bilateral intelligence sharing to combat the growing threat posed by returning jihadist foreign fighters in Syria. AFP PHOTO/ROSLAN RAHMAN

FIRST Canada had a crack at Russia over its failure to remember where its borders are.

Now an Australian diplomat has chimed in after the Russian Foreign Ministry referred to Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop as a ‘he’.

MORE: Canada is trolling Russia online

It all started when Russia’s official Foreign Affairs Twitter account tweeted a comment from Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov criticising Julie Bishop for canvassing opinion on whether Russia should be invited to the G20 Summit in Brisbane in November.

#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

Whether or not the slip was intentional, it was picked up by Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt who chimed in, saying Russia should know that Julie Bishop is not a ‘he’ at all.

@mfa_russia You should know that Australia FM @JulieBishopMP is not a “he”. Fairly basic.

— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) September 2, 2014

Next came the Australian ambassador to Russia Paul Myer, who said there were no hard feelings as it’s tough to keep track of borders and genders at once.

@carlbildt @mfa_russia @JulieBishopMP Thanks Carl! Borders, genders - all a bit confusing right now!

— Paul Myler (@PosolAustralia) September 2, 2014

It comes after Canada’s NATO delegation tweeted a handy reminder to Russia over where its borders are, in a post that is pinned to the top of their page and has been retweeted more than 42,000 times.

Geography can be tough. Here’s a guide for Russian soldiers who keep getting lost & ‘accidentally’ entering #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/RF3H4IXGSp

— Canada at NATO (@CanadaNATO) August 27, 2014

We’re not sure about you, but we like this new world of Twitter-based diplomacy.