Russia's Foreign Ministry

"Russia's insistence on the withdrawal of NATO forces from Bulgaria is unacceptable and pointless," is the position of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, quoted by the President's press office.

Russia's Foreign Ministry: NATO forces Must be Withdrawn from Bulgaria and Romania

NATO is already preparing a written response to Russia's demands to the pact to withdraw its troops from the border with Ukraine. Among those demands is the withdrawal of NATO troops from Bulgaria and Romania and Ukraine's refusal to join the pact.

Russia's Foreign Ministry: NATO forces Must be Withdrawn from Bulgaria and Romania

Romania has called "unacceptable" Russia's demand that NATO forces stationed on the alliance's eastern flank be withdrawn as part of security guarantees to de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine, AFP reported.

Russia's Foreign Ministry: NATO forces Must be Withdrawn from Bulgaria and Romania

"Bulgaria is a sovereign state and we have long since made our choice by becoming a member of NATO." This was stated by Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov from the parliamentary rostrum in a special statement outside the parliamentary agenda.

Here is the full speech of the Prime Minister:

Russia's Foreign Ministry on Friday accused Albanian media of "fuelling hype around the criminal cases opened by local prosecutors against two Russians allegedly suspected of espionage", calling the whole affair "NATO propaganda".

Russia has placed entry bans on eight officials from EU states, including members of the European Parliament and the European Commission. The move comes after the EU hit Russian officials with sanctions in March.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis announced during a shocking press conference that the Czech security services have clear evidence of the involvement of GRU's specialised 29155 unit, which is believed to be tasked with sabotage, subversion and assassination, in the explosion. Prague will expel 18 embassy staff who it says are members of the Russian secret services.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has accused Romania of serving third parties' interests in seeking confrontation with Moscow at the expense of its own interest.

The spat erupted after Romania's proposed 2020-2024 National Defence Strategy defined Moscow as an "aggressive" threat.

"Now, as the meeting at the highest level is approaching, we are used to the emergence of interesting stories a week or a few days ahead of important top officials meetings. And then the time goes by and all of this is being dismissed, and turns out to be a cheap provocation", Zakharova said on a regular press conference, Sputnik reports.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has expressed concern over reports of escalating tension in the Eastern Mediterranean.
"We firmly believe that any economic activity must be in full compliance with international law," said a statement posted on the Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in Greece on Tuesday.