Lavrov's plane refused permission to fly to Serbia

Lavrov's plane refused permission to fly to Serbia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has cancelled his visit to Serbia, Qazet.az reports.

Several neighbouring countries prevented his plane from passing through their airspace by refusing to authorise the "overflight", officials said.

Russian news agencies quoted ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying: "The Russian delegation should have arrived in Belgrade for talks. But the EU and Nato member countries closed their airspace."

"Russian diplomacy has not yet learned how to teleport," a Russian diplomatic source told news agency Interfax.

Lavrov says he will now invite his Serbian counterpart Nikola Selakovic to visit him in Moscow, adding: "No one will be able to destroy our relations with Serbia".