Moscow criticizes 'Western pressure' over name deal

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday sought to clarify that Moscow has no problem with the new name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) but that it does with the legitimacy of the process that led to the deal, known as the Prespes agreement.

"We do not oppose the name that eventually appeared and was announced. We ask questions about how legitimate this process is and how much it really is conditioned by the desire to find a consensus between Greece and Skopje, or it is conditioned by the US desire to drive all Balkan countries into NATO as soon as possible and stop any Russian influence in that region," he said at an annual conference.

"We have always actively supported this dialogue [between Greece and FYROM]. We have always spoken for a solution to be found in a way that would be acceptable to the public, nations, and certainly the...