MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Milorad Dodik of Republika Srpska (one of the two constituent entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina) have slammed the West’s interference into Bosnia and Herzegovina’s affairs as a key factor adding to the aggravation of the political situation in the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"As a major factor of the aggravation of the political situation, they cited the malicious and illegal interference into the domestic affairs of sovereign Bosnia and Herzegovina by the West, which is pursuing a neocolonial course toward undermining the Dayton Agreement and infringing upon the constitutional rights of its peoples," the ministry said after their talks on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in Antalya.

According to the ministry, Lavrov and Dodik discussed in detail the situation in the region in the context of Russia’s role as a guarantor state of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dayton Agreement) of 1995. "The Russian side reiterated its principled position in support for the peace agreement as the only basis for stability, security and development in the country and in the region in general," it said.

Apart from that, Lavrov and Dodik exchanged views on the implementation of agreements that were reached during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talks with Dodik in Kazan on February 21 with a focus on the development of bilateral cooperation projects.

On March 1 and 2, Lavrov is taking part in the diplomatic forum in Turkey’s Antalya. On the sidelines of the forum, he held talks with his Turkish and Azerbaijani counterparts, Hakan Fidan and Jeyhun Bayramov.