MOSCOW, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Russia accused Bulgaria of malice and stupidity on Thursday for refusing to allow Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's plane to fly through its airspace.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who is under European Union sanctions, said her presence on board the plane was the reason given by Bulgaria's foreign ministry for denying access to its airspace.
Zakharova suggested that Russia could apply similar overflight bans to "thousands of NATO functionaries", and accused Bulgaria of creating "a dangerous precedent".
Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania declared a boycott of the meeting in Skopje in protest of the Russian delegation's presence.
Athens took all the steps required before allowing the overflight, the official added.
Persons:
Sergei Lavrov's, Lavrov, Dmitry Peskov, Maria Zakharova, Zakharova, Felix Light, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey, Bernadette Baum
Organizations:
Organisation for Security, Cooperation, Kremlin, Russian Foreign Ministry, European Union, Bulgarian, Thomson
Locations:
MOSCOW, Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, Europe, Skopje, North Macedonia, Russian, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Athens