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Russia is not going be importunate trying to mend relations with the West — Lavrov

Earlier, it was reported that Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro had refused to provide an air corridor for Sergey Lavrov's plane, which was to take him to Belgrade

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/. Russia is not going to be importunate in attempts to mend relations with the West, but it will be prepared to consider and evaluate those proposals from its partners which do not contradict the national interests, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told an online news conference on topical issues on the international agenda on Monday.

"As for the development of our diplomatic relations, we still maintain them with most Western countries, including all unfriendly countries. We do not want to be importunate," Lavrov pointed out. "The main geopolitical lesson … that we have learned is this: it is no longer possible to negotiate with Europe and to be certain that Europe will act on its words. When this ‘demonism’ ends and when Europe comes to its senses, we will see how they plan to go about the business of our further ties. We are not going to be importunate. If they have something to offer, we, of course, will evaluate it and consider it. If there is nothing that may contradict our interests, we will be ready to renew our contacts."

While commenting on the prospects for a dialogue with Western partners Lavrov drew attention to what he described as destructive decisions by Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro, which had closed their airspace to his plane, thus disrupting a scheduled visit to Serbia. "I don’t know what was behind this - either an order or a wish to curry favor with someone. I think it’s a combination of both," he noted. "Probably they were ordered a long time ago: no steps away from the policy of Russia’s containment. If that was the case, the desire to curry favor worked here. Or, possibly they’d been ordered just a day before. We don’t know."

Earlier, the Serbian newspaper Vecerne Novosti reported that Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro had refused to provide an air corridor for Sergey Lavrov's plane, which was to take him to Belgrade. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that the plane had been denied entry into the airspace of the countries surrounding Serbia.

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