Any attempt to demolish or erode the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia could lead to serious consequences, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday after arriving for a two-day visit to the country.

“Every element [of the Dayton Peace Agreement] is important and without just one component the whole system can be threatened. Dayton does not create any obstacles in relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and its foreign partners, including the EU. The speed of deciding how fast the country should go to the EU should be based on the Dayton principle,“ Russia's Lavrov said during a press conference in Istocno Sarajevo, adding that his country will not interfere in this process.

He said that the Russian Federation has respectfully acknowledged the Bosnian Serb majority part, Republika Srpska’s (RS) decision on remaining militarily neutral.

“We consider that a responsible solution because we don’t need new divisions on the European continent, we don’t need new confrontations,” Lavrov noted.

Speaking with Bosnian representatives from the RS, Lavrov touched upon the relations between Russian and Bosnia’s two entities the RS and the Bosniak-Croat shared Federation (FBiH), mentioning some Russian companies doing business in the country, adding that they are examples of the expansion of economic relations between the two countries.

Speaking to media representatives following his meeting with members of RS Government and Chairman of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency Milorad Dodik, Lavrov noted that they had a constructive and friendly meeting adding that the RS is a good Russian partner with whom his country has close and intimate relations which they appreciate very much.

Milorad Dodik, who is also the Bosnian Serb leader, told the press that he thanked Lavrov for Russia’s contribution to the implementation of the Dayton Accords and that they talked about various forms of cooperation between the two sides, but that they also touched upon the topic of Bosnia’s NATO accession process.

“We expressed our readiness to cooperate bit not to integrate – that is our position because the RS sees no benefit in joining the Alliance. The RS will also not join international sanctions against Russia and that was the clear policy we’ve had in the past,” Dodik said.

Lavrov is visiting Bosnia where he will spend two days meeting with its top officials after which he will visit Serbia.