Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a question from the Sputnik news agency about the former Bulgarian prime minister’s statements

Question: The Times published an interview with former Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov under the title “We are next on the Kremlin’s list” in which he virtually accused Russia of meddling in domestic affairs. Can you comment on this?

Maria Zakharova: I read with interest the interview by former Prime Minister of Bulgaria Kiril Petkov. We sincerely sympathise with his concern over the Kremlin’s “long arm.” There is no logic or truth in what he said. We do not see any point in commenting on each of his patently false allegations about Russia’s interference in the affairs of Bulgaria, corruption as “Moscow’s best foreign policy instrument in the Balkans”, and the brainwashing of local politicians by taking them on tours to Greece.

We would like to repeat that Russia has never permitted itself to interfere in the affairs of foreign states, and will never allow any country to try and impose its views on us. Exploiting “the Russian threat” for domestic political or other self-serving purposes is a sure sign of political irrelevance. We are convinced that this is also equally obvious to the Bulgarian people and sincerely wish them prosperity and a pragmatic government that is able to pursue national interests rather than curry favour with its overseas “partners.”