MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has provided to his Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlic Radman an explanation relating to Moscow’s contacts with the EU and NATO.

"As for the issues relating to the contacts between Russia, the EU and NATO, we provided our Croatian friends with the necessary explanations," the top diplomat stated following the talks on Monday. "We have emphasized that we appreciate Croatia’s reasonable and constructive view on solving the problems that have accumulated between Russia, the EU and NATO."

Lavrov revealed that the focus was also on the developments in the Balkans, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as on the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

Croatia joined NATO in 2009 and became part of the EU in 2013.

On December 17, 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry revealed the proposals on security guarantees on part of the US and NATO. The consultations on January 10 in Geneva, while a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council was held on January 12 in Brussels and the OSCE Permanent Council met in Vienna on January 13.