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Russian foreign minister arrives in Belgrade, holds meeting with Serbian leader

The top diplomat was greeted at the airport by his Serbian colleague Ivica Dacic

BELGRADE, June 18. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in Serbia on his first foreign visit since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was greeted at the airport by his Serbian colleague Ivica Dacic.

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Unlike other members of his team, Lavrov left the plane without a mask. The Serbian minister was not wearing a protective mask or gloves either. Belgrade has officially lifted restrictive measures introduced to combat the spread of the virus. However, Serbian reporters and diplomats still follow the safety measures.

The ministers headed to the presidential palace for Lavrov to meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

In Serbia, 257 people have died from the coronavirus and 12,522 have been infected.

Earlier, Serbia asked Russia for help to fight the epidemic. Between April 3 and May 18, a Russian unit fully disinfected medical facilities in more than 40 cities and towns across Serbia, decontaminating 376 buildings and structures.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

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