PERM, Russia, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Russia's Foreign Ministry blamed a "misunderstanding" for the three-hour delay in flight takeoff for a U.S. congressional delegation.
"We regret the misunderstanding and inconveniences for the senators," the ministry said.
"The flight of the U.S. Air Force airplane carrying the senators and their assistants was delayed at the Perm airport by border officials who had to look into relevant formalities and the flight's status," the ministry said, Novosti reported.
The delegation, visiting nuclear weapons-related facilities in the Siberian city of Perm, was detained until the U.S. State Department got into the act.
The delegation, led by Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was held up after officials refused permission for its plane to depart.
