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Potatoes Kerry Gave to Lavrov Sent for Experimentation

Two Idaho potatoes given as a gift to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have been sent to southern Russia for examination.

"At the request of one of our farming organizations, I agreed to send the spuds to Kuban where they will be experimented upon," Lavrov said at a press conference Tuesday, at which he discussed more pressing issues in Ukraine and Syria.

Kerry presented the tubers to Lavrov during talks held in Paris last week where the two diplomats attempted to arrange this week's planned Syrian peace conference. In return, the U.S. diplomat and his delegation were given a pink fur hat.

The secretary of state had joked that Lavrov promised to eat the potatoes rather than make vodka out of them, though Kerry may not have known of their scientific interest.

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