Russia did not plan to help France transport troops to Mali - Lavrov
MOSCOW. Jan 23 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described as a misunderstanding reports that Russia would help France transport troops to Mali and said France has already apologized for the incorrect reports.
"When the information you have cited appeared, our French partners apologized for it and said it distorted what we [Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius] discussed," Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday when asked whether Russia could assist France in transporting its troops.
"When my counterpart Laurent Fabius called me, he told me how Paris was viewing the situation in Mali and appreciated the fact that the Security Council supported France's reaction to the Malian government's request promptly and unanimously," he said.
"He asked me whether there is a chance for providing transportation services, to which I answered literally the following: our private airlines, such as Volga-Dnepr, AirBridgeCargo, and SKOL have contracts with various parties, including the French Defense Ministry and the interior ministries of some African countries," Lavrov said.
Lavrov insisted that a decision on such cooperation should be made by these companies. "We did not discuss anything more on this account," he added.
