New Delhi: Russian ambassador to India Denis Alipov issued a clarification on Sunday after he called foreign minister Sergey Lavrov a "womaniser". He apologized for his remarks and clarified that he meant Minister Lavrov is "popular among women as a gentleman."
In a post on social media platform X, Alipov said, "I’m sorry that my words had a scandalous tang to some. The only thing I meant is that Minister Lavrov is popular among women as a gentleman. And he’s much admired by men too for his intellect, charisma and wit."
Earlier on Friday, at a press meet hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia (FCC South Asia), he was asked about the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin from the upcoming G20 Summit by a reporter, who claimed to be from Doordarshan.
The reporter questioned, "We are all great fans of Russia. President Putin is very popular with Russian women. If he had come to India it would have been very nice for us, and we would have really enjoyed."
To this, the Russian ambassador had responded by saying, "Thank you for your remarks on Russian men. Lavrov is married by the way, so he is coming…but he is a womaniser".
Meanwhile, PIB Fact Check, the government's fact-check agency, on Sunday said that the reporter who had asked the question didn't belong to the state broadcaster DD News, as she had claimed.
India is all set to host the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10. Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convey his inability to attend the summit and informed him that Russia would be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov had represented President Putin at the previous G20 Summit which was held in Bali, Indonesia.