Lavrov announced Russia's plans to expand its diplomatic presence in the CIS

The minister said this, speaking at the educational marathon "Knowledge".

“About 200 diplomats have returned from unfriendly states, of which 90% are already employed either in our central office, or they have already agreed to travel abroad to countries in Africa, Asia or Latin America, and, of course, we intend to significantly expand our diplomatic presence in the space CIS,” he said.

Earlier, the Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Nikolai Patrushev, during negotiations with his colleague from Uzbekistan, Viktor Makhmudov, announced the desire of Western countries to create hotbeds of tension in the CIS.