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Lavrov says activities of NATO, EU reason behind unhealthy situation in Europe

The Russian top diplomat says some NATO and EU member states seek to raise tensions in Europe

BELGRADE, February 22. /TASS/. Some NATO and EU member states seek to raise tensions in Europe, making the situation in the region unhealthy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday, following talks with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic.

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"We have discussed the situation in Europe," the Russian top diplomat pointed out. "Unfortunately, the situation is unhealthy because some NATO and European Union members seek to raise tensions and move the Alliance farther to the east without taking into account the opinions of other countries, just like it happened in Montenegro and like they are currently trying to do in Macedonia, as well as in Bosnia and Herzegovina," Lavrov added.

"We are committed to all the agreements reached previously and enshrined in the United Nations Security Council’s documents - it particularly concerns the Kosovo issue and efforts to resolve the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina based on the Dayton Agreement," the Russian foreign minister stressed. He noted that Moscow would "counter attempts to undermine the basic principle stipulating that all the issues concerning the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina should be based on the consent of two entities and three constituent peoples."

Lavrov also said that Russia and Serbia had "similar positions on a number of global issues." "This is the key for our further cooperation on the international stage," he concluded.

The United States attempts to squeeze Russia out of European energy markets by offering their liquefied gas, he went on.

"We are aware that a considerable portion of anti-Russia narratives are initiated from Washington and the goal is to establish the US military-political and economic domination," the minister said. "This is done in particular through attempts to drive Russia out of local energy markets and force Europeans to convert to more expensive liquefied gas from the US," Lavrov said.

Such line supported by the EU adversely affected interests of Serbia and interests of other countries, "when Bulgaria derailed implementation of the South Stream," the Russian minister said. "We hope that lessons will be learned from the situation. At least we see much more reasonable approaches towards such important projects as the Turkish Stream and the Nord Stream 2 now," Lavrov said.

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