Lavrov’s statements came on Thursday after he met with Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare.
“I didn’t know that [US Secretary of State] Rex Tillerson is a specialist in Chinese-American relations,” Lavrov said. He added that “it’s not exactly appropriate” for Tillerson to speak about Africa’s relations with other countries, while a guest, especially in such “a negative way.”
Earlier on Thursday, Tillerson urged African countries to carefully weigh the benefits of Chinese loans at a news conference in the Ethiopian capital during his first diplomatic trip to the continent.
“We are not in any way attempting to keep Chinese dollars from Africa,” he said.
In the meantime, Lavrov denied the US State Department's claims about absence of US-Russia discussions on his possible meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
“I didn’t want to make a comment on this topic, but today the US State Department stated that there have been no discussions of our possible meeting with [Tillerson]. I can say that this is untrue,” he said, speaking at a press conference in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.
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