MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s foreign ministry on Friday dismissed a joint response by NATO and the European Union to its questions on security as disrespectful and lacking substance.
The ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had asked all member nations of the two blocs about their understanding of the principle of “indivisible security”, expecting an individual response from each country.
Instead he had received replies from the head of NATO and the EU foreign policy chief, to whom Lavrov had not addressed the request.
“Such a step cannot be seen as anything other than a sign of diplomatic impoliteness and disrespect for our request,” the ministry said.
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)