Ivica Dacic on Friday denied the claims that Serbia failed to open any new EU accession negotiations chapters in October because of Russia.

The foreign minister added that new chapters will be opened "when there has been is progress in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue."

"I read it in the newspapers today, and (opposition) LDP deputies said it in the Assembly yesterday, that Serbia did not open the chapters because of Russia. These are shameless lies," Dacic told reporters while in the town of Jagodina.

He said that EU member-states failed to agree in October to open any new chapters in the negotiations with Serbia, while the only reason for this was a lack of progress in the Kosovo talks.

"If there is progress, the chapters will be opened in December, but that has nothing to do with Chapter 31 that concerns foreign policy, and that has not yet been opened," Dacic said.

"Stop lying already. They're trying to say that Russia is to blame because Serbia is not making progress toward the EU," Dacic said, and reiterated that "this is not true."

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