Confusion grows over Russian FM Lavrov’s injury

MOSCOW

ussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is seen with a bandaged hand as he arrives for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012. NATO foreign ministers are expected to approve Turkey's request for Patriot anti-missile systems to bolster its defense against possible strikes from neighboring Syria. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Russian Foreign Ministry denied today reports in the Turkish media that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had broken an arm or a wrist in a fall yesterday, saying instead that the minister was suffering from a "slight sports injury."
 
Lavrov is suffering from a "slight sports injury" which will have no impact on his work, officials said today in a case oddly similar to the health problems of President Vladimir Putin, Agence France-Presse reported.
 
"We are talking about a slight sports injury which has not affected the minister's timetable," a spokesman told the RIA Novosti news agency without giving further details.
 
Turkish media had reported that Lavrov has broken his arm after falling down the stairs in the hotel in which he is staying during an official visit to Istanbul. According to reports, Lavrov was taken to a local hospital for treatment, which included the placing of a cast on his arm.
 
Reports that Lavrov had been hospitalized "were pure imagination,” the Russian official also said.
 
Lavrov arrived today at NATO headquarters to meet with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. The photos taken when Lavrov was entering the headquarters showed him with a cast on his arm and a swollen lip.