On Wednesday Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Western countries created the current turmoil in Africa by arming Libyan rebels to topple the Qaddafi regime.
On Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin doubled-down on that criticism by reiterating that the West has sacrificed stability in Middle East and North Africa to their political ambitions.
Alexei Anishchuk of Reuters reports that Putin told foreign ambassadors that the Western-backed Syrian revolution, combined with the Libyan revolution, led to the Algerian hostage crisis that took the lives of 39 foreigners.
"The Syrian conflict has been raging for almost two years now. Upheaval in Libya, accompanied by the uncontrolled spread of weapons, contributed to the deterioration of the situation in Mali," Putin said. "The tragic consequences of these events led to a terrorist attack in Algeria which took the lives of civilians, including foreigners."
It's not entirely clear how funneling weapons to Syrian rebels led to the tragedy in Algeria. Nevertheless, Putin seems to be taking the opportunity to rail against the recent practice by Western nations to ally with radical jihadists to overthrow a sitting leader.
SEE ALSO: RUSSIA TO WEST: We Told You Not To Overthrow Qaddafi!
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