EU Ambassadors’ Refusal to Meet With Lavrov Raises Questions

The refusal of EU countries' ambassadors in Moscow to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov raises questions about their work in Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday (5 March).

Lavrov said on Monday that he had invited EU countries' ambassadors for a conversation ahead of the Russian presidential election held later in March, but they refused two days before the planned meeting.

"In this case, with all respect or disrespect for these people, they are only a function, they only transmit information from one country to another country. And it raises the question, and everyone has the same one — what, in fact, are they doing these people and why, how do they interpret themselves on the territory of our country, if they do not fulfill their most important function?" Zakharova told the Solovyov Live show, adding that these ambassadors only "interfere in internal affairs" of Russia.