One of Russia's major daily newspapers, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, has apologized to Ljubljana's Mayor Zoran Jankovic for a false report it published about Slovenia's position on the status of Crimea, the Ukrainian region that was seized and illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
In an article on September 29, the state-owned Russian newspaper had quoted Jankovic as saying that "Slovenia was one of the first European nations that recognized" Crimea as part of Russia.
Slovenia's embassy in Moscow protested the article, saying that Ljubljana supports Ukraine's independence and its territorial integrity and stressing that Slovenia does not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea.
The Slovenian Embassy said the seizure and annexation of Crimea by Russia was a violation of international law.
On October 31, Rossiyskaya Gazeta published what it called a "clarification" of the report.
It said Crimea was never been mentioned by Jankovic at a series of events in Ljubljana during September known as "Days Of Moscow," nor in an interview with Jankovic conducted by a journalist working for the state-owned Russian newspaper.