Russian FM Lavrov miffed over closure of airspace during his Serbia visit
Jun 06, 2022
Moscow [Russia], June 6 : Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday called the situation surrounding the closure of airspace during his visit to Serbia as "unthinkable."
Serbia's neighbouring countries had closed their national airspace for the aircraft of the top Russian diplomat, who was expected to pay a visit to Belgrade, Sputnik news agency reported.
"Of course, the unthinkable happened, and I understand the interest you show in our assessment of these outrageous actions. A sovereign state has been deprived of the right to pursue foreign policy. Serbia's international activities in the Russian direction have been blocked," Lavrov told reporters.
According to the Russian news agency, Moscow has received a lot of questions about "the reaction to the unprecedented decisions that were taken by some NATO members" that "impeded the implementation" of the visit.
Lavrov noted that Moscow has not yet heard official explanations from the countries that refused to allow the plane of the Russian delegation to fly over their airspace.
He added that Russia will never take reciprocal measures that will further hamper relations between people.
Against this backdrop, he said Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic has been invited to visit Moscow in the near future.
"We have invited Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic to pay a visit to Russia in the very near future. I hope that the plane on which he will fly -- regular or special -- will not be subjected to another shameful punishment by Brussels and its clients, which have lost all decorum," the Russian foreign minister said.
