His Plane Was Not Allowed To Cross The Skies Of Several Countries, Russian Foreign Minister Failed To Fly To Serbia

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. (Twitter/@mfa_russia)

JAKARTA - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that countries bordering Serbia had closed their airspace to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's plane.

"Countries bordering Serbia have closed the only air route for Sergey Lavrov's plane that will depart for Serbia. The Russian delegation is scheduled to hold talks in Belgrade, while EU and NATO member states have closed their airspace," Zakharova said. in a live broadcast of the Italian television channel La7 on Sunday evening, broadcasting TASS 6 June.

Meanwhile, the Serbian daily Ve·ernje Novosti reported that the countries that closed their airspace to Foreign Minister Lavrov's plane bound for Serbia were Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro.

Earlier, the Interfax news agency reported that these countries had closed their airspace to Foreign Minister Lavrov's plane, which was originally scheduled to fly to Belgrade this Monday.

"Our diplomacy has not mastered teleportation," said a senior Russian Foreign Ministry source, citing Reuters.

It is known that Serbia, which has close cultural ties to Russia, has resisted pressure to take sides over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but has not joined the western sanctions against Moscow.

President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart President Aleksandar Vucic agreed last month that Russia will continue to supply natural gas to Serbia, while other countries have been stopped for refusing to pay for Russian gas in rubles.