MINSK. April 4 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has a record of states involved in illegal weapons trade, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Friday.
"Via secret channels, we offer facts and make more complaints about other states than are made about us," Ivanov told a news conference in Minsk.
Jeering off reports about successes by Iraqi troops allegedly armed with Russian weapons, he said: "We have received good publicity in Iraq as regards the advertising of our armaments."
He also dismissed claims that Russian companies have been smuggling weapons to Iraq.
"If we're talking about Russia violating any sanctions, there's nothing to comment on. It comes as no surprise that such unsubstantiated accusations are being voiced. We've been used to them for a long time, and are only ready to seriously discuss specific facts and evidence," he said.
"As regards Iraq, there's never been any" such evidence," the minister stressed.
"Many states have supplied weapons to Iraq on a legitimate basis. We aren't saints, nor can other countries be saints, but there must be facts and evidence. Unsubstantiated accusations only emerge when they are needed," Ivanov concluded.