MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/. People in North Macedonia understand that they will derive no benefit from their country joining Europe's anti-Russian coalition, Russian Ambassador to Skopje Dmitry Zykov told TASS.
"North Macedonia’s joining the 'coalition of the willing' in no way promotes peaceful efforts, no matter how much the founders of this anti-Russian 'club' might want to convince everyone otherwise," he said.
"At the same time, the reaction of the North Macedonian public to the country’s accession to the 'coalition' is quite understandable. It is absolutely natural to want to 'close one's eyes' when European 'benefactors' offer you yet another bitter pill," he noted. "We are convinced that people in this country understand the destructive nature of the West’s aggressive escalation of tension in Europe, including through proxies, and that local citizens have a balanced stance on the issue of relations between our closely related peoples."
Russia, in his words, "is open to a diplomatic settlement of the crisis around Ukraine, which envisages the elimination of its root causes, and the 'coalition of the willing’s' attempts to impose ultimatums disguised as 'commitment to talks' do not contribute to the image of some European countries as unbiased and impartial observers."
