Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova explained the background of President Vladimir Putin's apology to his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic. She told about this in an interview with the show “Alena, damn it!” on Super's YouTube channel.
“It was not I (Vucic – approx.” Lenta.ru “ ) who offended him, it was he who was offended. These are two different things. There was not a word about him, but he took it personally, although there was something completely different, – said Zakharova. “It was about how the protocolmen in the White House are using various technological methods to replay the situation in their favor.”
The diplomat added that the American side tried to arrange similar situations in the presence of the Russian delegation. “Knowing this, we are trying to discuss all the protocol specifics in advance, but this, it seems to me, was a vivid example of how the Americans again decided to put the foreign delegation in the position in which they were. Therefore, there was not a word about her, so he was offended, well, as I understand it, he was offended, ”she continued.
When asked what it felt like when the Russian president apologized for her, Zakharova replied: “This is.” In response to a clarifying question, she explained that no action had been taken against her.
On September 6, 2020, Zakharova published a post in which she ironically commented on the meeting of the Presidents of Serbia and the United States, Alexander Vucic and Donald Trump. The reason was the photo, which shows that Trump is sitting at a considerable distance from the interlocutor. She later apologized, explaining that she meant rejection of the arrogant attitude from the “exceptional”.
Vucic called Zakharova's words primitivism and expressed regret that Moscow does not value Serbia as the only European country that has not joined the anti-Russian sanctions.
Later, the Serbian leader said that Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov apologized for Zakharova's words, stressing that he considered this incident “passing and unimportant.”
