Russian ambassador to India Denis Alipov on Sunday expressed regret over his light-hearted remarks about Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov that had raised a few eyebrows and said he only meant that Lavrov was much admired.

On Friday, a journalist asked Alipov about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to skip the G20 summit and referred to how he is popular among Russian women and that it would have been nice if he had come to India.

Alipov said: “Lavrov is married, by the way. But he is coming. He is a womaniser, by the way.”

“I’m sorry that my words had a scandalous tang to some... I meant is that Minister Lavrov is popular among women as a gentleman,” Alipov clarified on X.