Some in Russia believe Gaddafi's lies: Robert Gates

US defence secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday that some people in Russia seem to believe what he termed Muammar Gaddafi's "lies" about civilian casualties in Libya.

"We've been very careful about this and it's almost as though some people here are taking at face value Gaddafi's claims about the number of civilian casualties, which as far as I am concerned are just outright lies," Gates told reporters after talks with Russian defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov.