NATO nations block Russian envoy's plane from Serbia visit

Belgrade: Serbia and Russia confirmed Monday that a planned visit by Russia's foreign minister to the Balkan country will not take place, with Moscow accusing the West of preventing the trip by blocking the envoy's plane flight.

The announcement followed reports that Serbia's neighbours - Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro - had refused to allow Sergey Lavrov's plane to fly through their airspace to reach Serbia.

An unthinkable thing has happened, Lavrov said during an online news conference Monday.

A sovereign state has been deprived of its right to conduct foreign policies. The international activities of Serbia on the Russian track have been blocked.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic earlier Monday met with Russia's ambassador to Serbia who informed him that Lavrov could not come because the Russian government plane was denied necessary flyover permissions, a statement issued after the meeting said.