Sergey Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Belgrade on Monday that his country "will not interfere in Serbia's internal issues."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is in Belgrade "formally in order to prepare the visit of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev."

That is what the Moscow-based newspaper Kommersant is writing on Monday, according to the Beta agency.

PHOTO: TANJUG/ MARKO DJOKOVIC

BELGRADE - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov begins a two-day visit to Belgrade on Monday. He is expected to discuss collaboration between Russia and Serbia and the situation in the Balkans with Serbian leaders and to take part in a session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC).

Three important news stories, one after another, were reported by international news agencies on the same day.
The first one was a statement by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who openly accused the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria of massacres in Aleppo. 

Aleksandr Chepurin says the upcoming visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Serbia is part of the regular dialogue between Belgrade and Moscow.

The Russian ambassador confirmed that Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev would also visit Belgrade.

MOSCOW - Russian FM Sergey Lavrov will be on a working visit to Serbia on December 12-13, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, confirmed on Wednesday.

He will be received in Belgrade by the president, the prime minister and the foreign minister, Zakharova told a briefing.

No breakthrough has been reached at the meeting in Minsk attended by the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia.
The countries from the Normandy Four discussed the withdrawal of armed formations from the front line in Eastern Ukraine and the exchange of prisoners of war.

A meeting of foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany intended to shore up a shaky peace process in eastern Ukraine ended Nov. 29 without any visible progress.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters after the talks that "there were no breakthroughs," adding that sharp disagreements on security and other issues remain, The Associated Press reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will be on a working visit to Serbia on December 12 and 13, a Russian MFA spokesperson has said.

"While in Belgrade, he will be received by the president, the prime minister, and the foreign minister," Maria Zakharova said during a briefing, Sputnik is reporting on Wednesday.

The Kremlin said on Nov. 30 that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's recent assertion that the Turkish military operation in Syria is aimed at "ending the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad" had come as a surprise to Moscow and that it expected an explanation from Ankara, Reuters reported.