Lavrov Dismisses Claims of Minister Mihajlovic About Abusing Serbia’s Friendship

Moscow (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)

Russian Foreign Ministry has criticized Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic over her statement about Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and dismissed claims about Moscow attempting to abuse its friendly relations with Serbia.

Commenting on a recent statement of Zorana Mihajlovic, about Lavrov abusing the fact that Belgrade had not imposed sanctions on Russia and attempting to show that Serbia was supporting Russia’s attack on Ukraine, although it had voted in favor of a U.N. resolution condemning the invasion, the Russian ministry stated that Mihajlovic was “obviously poorly informed” about the reality of the two countries’ relations.

“The assessments and statements of Russian officials provide neither a cause nor the right to anyone to blame us for insinuation, or attempts to ‘abuse’ the traditionally friendly and true relations with Serbia, which are undoubtedly built on equality, respect and mutual understanding,” Lavrov’s ministry has stated.

Russia and Serbia have absolute mutual understanding of the current topics on the international agenda and, in its contacts with Serbian partners, it openly presents its views of the situation in Ukraine, the Russian ministry has stated.

“We respect Belgrade’s wish to maintain a balanced and, more importantly, independent line in these difficult times. Such a balanced approach is reflected in the Serbian leadership’s reserved stance regarding the western sanctions (against Moscow). Naturally, this is a sovereign choice that the West cannot accept and, unlike us, is attempting to exert pressure on the Serbs,” reads the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry.