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Russia MP says reporters provoked his abuse of U.S. diplomat

© RIA Novosti . Михаил ФомичевRussia MP says reporters provoked his abuse of U.S. diplomat
Russia MP says reporters provoked his abuse of U.S. diplomat  - Sputnik International
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An outspoken Russian lawmaker who used offensive language in relation to a senior U.S. diplomat said on Friday he had been provoked by Georgian reporters, but would not withdraw his remarks.

MOSCOW, June 19 (RIA Novosti) - An outspoken Russian lawmaker who used offensive language in relation to a senior U.S. diplomat said on Friday he had been provoked by Georgian reporters, but would not withdraw his remarks.

Online editions posted on Thursday Sergei Abeltsev's interview, in which he lavishly used obscene words advising U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon to change his family name to a more resonant one - Condom, a word often used in Russian as a strong insult.

In the interview with Georgian television channel Rustavi-2, he also advised Gordon, who visited the South Caucasus earlier this month, give up politics and run a sex shop at the White House.

"Georgian television journalists provoked me to make an emotional statement," Abeltsev told RIA Novosti.

The lawmaker, who is a member of the ultranationalist LDPR party, said the reporters quoted Gordon as saying that despite Russia's efforts, South Ossetia and Abkhazia would never enjoy independence from Georgia, and ex-Soviet Georgia and Ukraine would join NATO.

"I am a former military officer and cannot allow anyone to talk to us in such a manner and ignore our interests," he said.

The lawmaker said the Georgian channel showed only part of the interview and the statement "was taken out of context," calling it a dirty trick.

He said, however that he would not back down on his words and was prepared to explain himself to the State Duma's parliamentary ethics commission.

Abeltsev once publicly suggested killing former atomic energy minister Yevgeny Adamov to prevent him disclosing state secrets in a Swiss jail, and he has physically assaulted fellow lawmakers in the lower house of parliament.

 

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