Lavrov Says Borrell Told Russia to Get Out of Africa

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told him that Russia should leave Africa.

"As Josep Borrell told me, ‘You'd better not work in Africa at all, because Africa is our place.’ That's exactly what he said," Lavrov recalled on Saturday at a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

The Russian foreign minister pointed out that it would be better to synchronize the actions of both the European Union and the Russian Federation in terms of the fight against terrorism, not only in Mali, but in the Sahara-Sahel region as a whole.

"And to say ‘I'm here first, so you get out of here’ is, firstly, insulting to the Government of Bamako, which invited external partners. Secondly, that's no way to talk to anyone at all," Lavrov told journalists at the UNGA.

Earlier this week, Lavrov and Borrell met on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Mali. They also touched upon relations between Russia and the EU and covered the issues of the Iran nuclear deal and the Middle East settlement.