Eurovision: Russia Angered Over Vote 'Theft'

Russia has demanded answers over what it claims was an "outrageous" theft of votes from its Eurovision entry last Saturday.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, better known for his comments on the conflict in Syria, turned his attention to the weighty issue of the Eurovision Song Contest during a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart.

Russia's entry - What If by Dina Garipova - finished fifth, but instead of accepting defeat graciously, the country has demanded to know why former Soviet republic Azerbaijan gave it "nul points".

Despite being praised by the country’s national jury, and apparently polling well in the local phone vote, when the live television announcement was made, no points were awarded to Russia.

At a press conference with Azerbaijan's foreign minister, Mr Lavrov demanded an explanation and promised the incident would not go unanswered.

He said: "When 10 points had been stolen from our participant it didn't make us happy, first and foremost from the point of view of how this event was organised.

"We arranged with Elmar Mammadyarov (Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan) that after the public television of Azerbaijan clears the legal way for a genuine explanation - we will then co-ordinate our joint action so that this outrageous incident doesn't go unanswered."

During the Eurovision contest, votes compiled by local phone operators are passed to the national broadcaster, which presents the results via live video link to the competition.

Mr Mammadyarov said an investigation was under way and officials would solve the mystery of the missing Russian votes.

He assured his Russian counterpart: "On all three mobile operators Russia was in second place.

"Where are the votes (for the Russian participant)? How did they disappear? This is a question our public television must answer.

"It will be necessary to understand more - to see how and where the votes that the citizens of Azerbaijan gave to the Russian contestant went."

Russia finished 17 points behind fourth-placed Norway on Saturday, so Azerbaijan's 10 points would not have affecting their final ranking, but Russian national pride is at stake.

Russia gave Azerbaijan's entry its maximum 12 points.

Azerbaijan's ambassador to Moscow, renowned Soviet-era singer Polad Bulbuloglu, told Russian television it was "impossible" that Russia’s entry did not score any points in his country.

The director of public television in Azerbaijan promised to find out what had happened and said he hoped the incident would not affect relations between the two countries.

Jamil Guliyev said: "We fully share their view that Russia performed this year with a beautiful show and a powerful performer.

"We sincerely hope that this case, which may have been initiated by certain interest groups, will not cast a shadow over the brotherly relations of the Russian and Azerbaijani peoples."