Russian Foreign Ministry building. File photoMOSCOW, Aug 30Russia is not trying to abuse friendly relations with Serbia, the statements of officials do not give anyone a reason to blame Moscow for the opposite, RIA Novosti was told at the Foreign Ministry. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia Zorana Mikhailovich said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov » abuses Belgrade's refusal to impose sanctions against Russia» and allegedly passes him off as Belgrade's support for a special operation in Ukraine, which is not really the case. Sharp remarks were made against the backdrop of last week's visit by Serbian Interior Minister Alexander Vulin to Moscow, during which Lavrov noted that Moscow and Belgrade are consistently committed to the principles of indivisibility and equal security for all states «both in the Balkans and in the situation provoked by the West in the Ukraine».
"Assessments and statements by Russian officials do not give anyone a reason and the right to reproach us for insinuations, attempts "to abuse" traditionally friendly, honest relations with Serbia, which are invariably built on equality, respect and mutual understanding", the Foreign Ministry said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, commenting on the statements of the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister, suggested that «apparently, Mikhailovich is poorly versed in the realities» of relations between the two countries. «We have full mutual understanding with Serbia on topical issues on the international agenda. In contacts with partners, we openly our vision of the situation in Ukraine in the context of a special military operation. We respect Belgrade's desire in these difficult conditions to maintain a balanced, and most importantly, independent line,» the Foreign Ministry noted. to the sanctions policy of the West, the fundamental unwillingness to participate in it to the detriment of one's own interests.» «Of course, we are talking about a sovereign choice, which, by the way, they cannot reconcile with in the West and, unlike us, they are trying to put pressure on the Serbs,» they concluded to the Foreign Ministry. During his visit, Alexander Vulin said that of all European capitals only Belgrade refused to impose sanctions against Moscow and did not join the anti-Russian hysteria. 
The Foreign Ministry commented on the statement of the representative of the State Department on Serbia and Kosovo