The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, has given an interview to Russia Today. In this interview he reveals a telephone interview he had with his French partner, Laurent Fabius, during Operation Serval in Mali.

“France’s wish was that its contingent in Mali secured the approval of the UN Security Council to fight this terrorist threat. Laurent [Fabius] called me and requested that Russia not oppose […]. I told him: “But it is must be kept in mind that you are going to paralyze the action of the very people you armed in Libya. He laughed and told me, “that’s life”. It must be said that the idiom “that’s life” is not a basis for political action.

Lavrov concluded: “Clearly we have here double standards: two weights being measured by different standards”.