Moscow, (Asian independent) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced the “unprecedented decisions” by three of Serbia’s neighbouring nations to close their airspace leading to the cancellation of his scheduled visit to Belgrade.
The flight ban was imposed by Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro in the wake of Moscow’s continued invasion of Kiev.
The trip was to take place on Monday and Tuesday.
“A country’s freedom of choosing partners, a principle upheld by the West, has been trampled on by the West itself. Serbia, from the point of view of the West, should not have such freedom,” Lavrov said at an online press conference late Monday.
The Foreign Minister said the incident was an attempt to undermine Serbia’s relations with Russia and restrict its foreign policy.
During his daily briefing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov slammed the “hostile actions” toward high-level Russian representatives and stressed that interactions between Moscow and “friendly countries” like Serbia would continue.
In a statement to the media late Sunday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had confirmed that the three countries closed their airspace to Lavrov’s aircraft.
Despite the raging war, Serbia has not imposed any sanctions on Russia yet.
Serbia also heavily relies on Russian gas.
