Certain Balkan countries have fallen under NATO's influence against the will of the majority of their citizens, Russia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russia’s ‘Trud’ newspaper on Friday.

“As for the attempts to pull all Balkan countries into NATO, Moscow’s negative attitude toward those destructive efforts is well known. In this regard we welcome the responsible and sovereign policy with which Serbia is maintaining its military neutrality,” Lavrov said.

He added that “not many” of Serbia’s neighbouring countries have “managed to resist foreign pressure” and have fallen into the “Atlantic alliance’s orbit.”

Lavrov said that Belgrade remains Moscow’s leading partner in the region, adding that his country remains open to further developing relations with all Balkan countries.