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© RIA Novosti / Press service of the President of Ukraine
WASHINGTON, 2 Jun – RIA Novosti. Vice-President Mike Pence during his visit to Montenegro, have discussed cooperation of Washington and Podgorica, including in the framework of NATO, the press service of the White house.
“The Vice President expressed his continued support for Montenegro, our newest NATO ally, and admiration for the commitment of Montenegro in the face of Russian attempts to lead Montenegro to the side of the Euro-Atlantic path,” the statement reads.
The White house said Tuesday that Pence spoke during a working dinner with President of Montenegro Filip Vujanovic and Prime Minister Dusko Markovic.
On Wednesday, Vice-President of the United States will participate in the summit of the Adriatic Charter, organized by Montenegro and Macedonia, with the participation of the Western Balkan States.
In early June, Montenegro officially became the 29th member of the Alliance. A significant part of the population of this former Yugoslav Republic were against joining the Alliance. The country held protests.
Commenting on the accession of Montenegro to NATO, Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that in exchange for loyalty Montenegro anti-sanctions and anti-Russian policy of the imposed it and membership in NATO.
Western politicians and intelligence agencies, including American and European, had previously accused Russia of plotting a coup in the former Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro. While concrete evidence of these allegations never led. Official representatives of the Russian Federation called the accusations unfounded. Earlier, the head of the Russian foreign Ministry called dishonest statement of Montenegro for the “intervention” of Russia in the Affairs of the country. Before the official representative of Russian foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that the accusations against Russia aimed at justifying its own population of joining NATO.