Moscow: US diplomat made provocative statements in Belgrade

Nobody should prevent Serbia from developing mutually beneficial and productive cooperation with Russia, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.

This press release, published under the title, "Comment by the Information and Press Department on provocative statements of a US diplomat," was a reaction to what was termed to have been "a number of provocative statements" made by US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hoyt Brian Yee in Belgrade.

"Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hoyt Brian Yee made a number of provocative statements aimed at undermining Russian-Serbian cooperation during his trip to Belgrade on October 23-24," the Russian MFA said, and continued:

"The US diplomat crudely demanded that Belgrade reconsider its cooperation with Russia and focus exclusively on rapprochement with the European Union. He also objected with unfittingly emotional...