9 Dec 2014 13:19

Russian Foreign Ministry tends to view incident with Russian plane in Nigeria as "technical"

MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) - Moscow believes that a recent situation in which a Russian airplane carrying French military helicopters was impounded in Nigeria was a technical incident and will not affect Russian-Nigerian relations.

"In our opinion, this incident was of a purely technical nature and it will in no way affect the step-by-step development of friendly relations between Russia and Nigeria," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, published on its website.

"The situation surrounding the detention of an [Antonov] An-124 helicopter with a Russian crew in the city of Kano, northern Nigeria, was resolved on December 8 largely thanks to the efforts of the Russian Embassy in Lagos," the ministry said.

The ministry said the Nigerian authorities had given clearance for the Russian plane to leave after further checking its documents and cargo.