Lavrov's plane was flying through the airspace of Greece, not Bulgaria, as was supposed. Bulgaria allowed the use of its airspace, but demanded that the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, not be on board.
Zakharova is subject to EU sanctions introduced in connection with Russia's war against Ukraine.
"Permission is granted for participation in the aforementioned meeting in Skopje by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, and the delegation accompanying him, in accordance with the note... The permission does not apply to the director of the Department of Information and Press of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova, who appears on the list of sanctions, in accordance with current EU law", - rossMI quotes the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria.
It is noted that due to the decision of Bulgaria, the length of the route of the ministerial board was about 4000 km, the journey took more than 5 hours. Lavrov's plane flew over Turkey and Greece on the way to North Macedonia, although the route through Bulgaria was expected earlier.
This is Lavrov's first visit to an EU country since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Before the invasion began on January 21, 2022, the Russian Foreign Minister met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Geneva.
In the spring of this year, North Macedonia was one of the countries that supported the International Criminal Court in The Hague's arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Friday, it became known that North Macedonia will temporarily lift the ban on flights from Russia to allow Lavrov to take part in the OSCE ministerial meeting in Skopje. Later, Bulgaria also announced the opening of the corridor. The permit is valid until December 1.
Recall that it was previously reported that Ukraine and Baltic countries decided to boycott the summit in Skopje due to Lavrov's participation.
To always be aware of the most important things, read us at Telegram
