Russia

MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay a visit to Serbia on June 16-17, Alexander Lukashevich, spokesman for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday.

While in the Serbian capital, Lavrov will meet President Tomislav Nikolic, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, and First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, Lukashevich said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has congratulated the formation of the unity government between Fatah and Hamas and expressed Turkey’s solidarity with Palestine to President Mahmoud Abbas over the phone.

Russia's foreign ministry said Thursday that Syrians had chosen their country's future by voting in "legitimate" polls to reelect President Bashar al-Assad.
      

Bulgaria’s ruling Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS, said it disagreed with its senior coalition partner, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, over plans to continue building the South Stream pipeline, which the EU has opposed.

The European Commission opened an infringement procedure against Bulgaria on 3 June, and asked the authorities to halt construction work in the meantime.

Democrat Senator Chris Murphy and Republican Senators John McCain and Ron Johnson have included Bulgaria in their Eastern European trip later this week.

They will also make a short stop in Romania and will attend the Wroclaw Global Forum in Poland, as the Bristol Press reports.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic will visit Ukraine next week to discuss diplomatic and economic cooperation between the two countries.

On the invitation of his counterpart, Ukraine’s Mikola Azar, Djukanovic will travel to Kiev on June 13 to hold talks with Ukraine’s new leaders.

BELGRADE - If not cautious, Serbia could face the next winter without sufficient gas supplies due to the Ukrainian crisis, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic warned on Thursday.

West threatens Russia with more sanctions

BRUSSELS -- Leaders of the seven most developed countries have warned Russia they are ready for new sanctions if there is no progress in resolving the Ukrainian crisis.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin confirmed Wednesday preparations for a visit by his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov are under way.

Vigenin told Dnevnik.bg that no information had been officially given so far as the event was yet in the making and details could not be made public before having been settled.

World leaders urged Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to stop destabilising Ukraine or face further sanctions as they met without a Russian president for the first time since the 1990s.
      
Putin reached out a hand despite being banned from the Group of Seven summit following Russia's annexation of Crimea in March, saying that he was ready to meet Ukraine's president-elect.