12:32The Kremlin has described a move by three eastern European countries to block the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, from flying to Serbia as a “hostile action”. Lavrov described the move to block his plane as “unprecedented” and said he would invite his Serbian counterpart to visit him in Moscow instead. He told reporters:If a visit by the Russian foreign minister to Serbia is seen in the west as something approaching a threat on a universal scale, then things in the west are clearly pretty bad. © Provided by The Guardian Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov Photograph: Mazen Mahdi/AFP/Getty ImagesSerbia is one of Moscow’s few remaining allies in Europe since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, called the move “another closed channel of communication” in comments reported by Russian news agencies.

Source: The Guardian June 06, 2022 07:42 UTC