“This will eventually increase mistrust and tension in Europe, rather than improve stability” (Image: GETTY )
Putin made the incendiary comments during an interview with two Serbian newspapers. He also urged Trump not to withdraw from a major nuclear weapons treaty. The Russian President was speaking before a visit to Serbia, a traditional Moscow ally.
Putin claimed: “The policy of the US and some other Western countries in the Balkans, who seek to assert their dominance in the region, has been a serious destabilising factor.
“This will eventually increase mistrust and tension in Europe, rather than improve stability.”
A number of countries in the historically volatile Balkans are attempting to join NATO or the EU, angering Russia.
Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina have all applied to join the EU.
Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have also asked to join NATO, a western defensive alliance.
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