MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that arming Libyan rebels was a "crude violation" of a U.N. Security Council resolution that imposed a comprehensive arms embargo on Libya from February.

"We asked our French colleagues today whether reports that weapons fromFrance were delivered to Libyan rebels correspond with reality," Lavrov told journalists.

"If this is confirmed, it is a very crude violation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1970, which was adopted by consensus."

France on Wednesday became the first NATO country to openly acknowledge arming rebels seeking to topple Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, defending the move as a necessary measure to protect civilians.

Lavrov's comments came a day before he was expected to host French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe in Moscow.

(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Writing Alissa de Carbonnel; editing by Thomas Grove)