Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's plane was denied refuelling in Rio de Janeiro due to sanctions: he will fly to the meeting with Brazilian President as a 'fellow traveller’, Deutsche Welle reports, citing the Aero Telegraph portal.
The Russian Foreign Minister, who attended the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, was unable to immediately fly from there to the capital to meet with Brazilian President Lula da Silva.
The reason was that the government Il-96 flying Lavrov was running out of fuel, and the Brazilian operator refused to refuel the aircraft because of the risk of being subjected to secondary US sanctions.
According to media reports, the Brazilian side eventually offered Lavrov to fly to the meeting with da Silva as a 'fellow traveler’ on the plane of Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. It is assumed that this will allow Lavrov to arrive on time for the meeting, and the Russian plane will pick him up later after refueling elsewhere.
In December, media reported that the Brazilian president had invited Putin to the G20 summit, but did not guarantee that he would not be arrested.
