Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has denied Western allegations that a recent Russian mission sending aid to Ukraine had no consent from the Ukrainian government and has tried to turn the tables on the West by saying Western nations had not sought the go-ahead from Baghdad for sending aid to Iraqi Kurdistan.
“We have been getting all sorts of accusations and insults from Washington and Western European capitals: How can you deliver humanitarian aid without the consent of the Ukrainian government? There was consent – they wrote a note to us that they were willing to accept that aid, – but afterward they started playing all sorts of logistic, organizational and other Jesuitical games,” Lavrov said during the Seliger 2014 youth forum.
“On the other hand, when humanitarian aid is airlifted to the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, – which also needs that aid, – no one asks the Iraqi government,” he said.
“There are questions being asked in the Iraqi parliament: Why are aircraft from two large European countries landing with humanitarian aid for the city of Irbil in Iraqi Kurdistan when we know nothing about this?” Lavrov said.
Moreover, the West sends aid to the Syrian opposition without the approval of the government in Damascus, he added.
