MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. Assertions made by the British media and the Montenegrin special prosecutor, saying that Russian state agencies were involved in coup preparations in the Balkan state, are groundless, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

"We understand that the British media have an interest in everything," he noted. "They have more than once hyped scenarios out of thin air, such as the Litvinenko issue," the minister went on to say.

"This news [about Russian state agencies being involved in a coup preparations in Montenegro] is just another one in a series of groundless assertions blaming our country for carrying out cyberattacks against the entire West, interfering in election campaigns in the bulk of Western countries as well as allegations pointing to the Trump administration’s ties with Russian secret services, among other things," the Russian top diplomat said. "Not one iota of evidence has been brought forward about these groundless accusations."

Lavrov said it was better to search for truth instead of shifting the blame. "The truth is not to be found in newspapers seeking to make headlines, but in a calm conversation," the Russian foreign minister added. "If you have questions, let us tackle them."

Montenegro’s Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnic said earlier in an interview with the TV Prva channel that some "Russian agencies" had allegedly taken part in coup preparations in Montenegro. "There are some nationalist organizations from Russia behind these events and we know that some Russian state agencies were also involved," the prosecutor added.