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Russian diplomat slams UK foreign secretary’s comments on Russia’s Balkan influence

The diplomat described NATO’s influence as "unscrupulously destructive", recalling the alliance’s bombings of the former Yugoslavia, when depleted uranium projectiles were used

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has slammed the British foreign secretary’s comments on Russia’s "malign influence" on the Balkans.

Liz Truss made the comments during a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on May 26, which was part of her regional tour, designed to reaffirm Britain’s commitment to "peace and stability in the Western Balkans".

"The head of the British Foreign Office, Liz Truss, who is a known history and geography expert, warned people in Bosnia and Herzegovina against trusting Russia because of its ‘malign influence’ on the region," Zakharova said in a post on her Telegram channel Monday.

In turn, the diplomat described NATO’s influence as "unscrupulously destructive", recalling the alliance’s bombings of the former Yugoslavia, when depleted uranium projectiles were used. "Liz Truss knows about the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Ukraine, good girl, but is unaware of NATO bombings of Belgrade? Then some more instances of Western influence on the Balkans might be of interest to her," Zakharova wrote.

At the start of World War II, Yugoslavia’s government "begged the brits" for help in the face of the Third Reich, but London ignored it and even took advantage of the war to pursue its own interests in Europe, she reminded.

In the 1990s, Britain as part of the western coalition covered up for human organ trafficking by Kosovo Albanians, as well as trade in all sorts of illicit goods, including weapons, Zakharova said, adding that the country’s actions in the region were "more destructive than powder and bombs, and more lethal than plague".

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