Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in the North Macedonian capital city of Skopje to attend an OSCE ministerial meeting, a TASS correspondent reported.

Lavrov’s plane covered a distance of some 4,000 kilometers and flew over Turkey and Greece, although it was originally planned that he would fly over Bulgaria. The flight lasted more than 5 hours.

TASS has learnt that the Bulgarian side refused to open its airspace to Lavrov’s plane if there is Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova onboard.

"The permission is granted to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the accompanying delegation for the participation in the Skopje meeting <…>. This permission does not apply to Russian Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department Director Maria Zakharova who is on the EU sanction list," according to a note of the Bulgarian foreign ministry.

has paid a visit to the North Macedonian capital city of Skopje to attend an OSCE ministerial meeting, Paralel.Az reports citing TASS.

Lavrov’s plane covered a distance of some 4,000 kilometers and flew over Türkiye and Greece, although it was originally planned that he would fly over Bulgaria. The flight lasted more than 5 hours.

The Bulgarian side refused to open its airspace to Lavrov’s plane if there is Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova onboard, says the source.

"The permission is granted to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the accompanying delegation for the participation in the Skopje meeting <…>. This permission does not apply to Russian Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department Director Maria Zakharova who is on the EU sanction list," according to a note of the Bulgarian foreign ministry.