For the first time since 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will not participate in the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe - the Russian delegation for the meeting in Vienna will be headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, as announced by the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. She did not give reasons for the replacement.
Previously, Sergei Lavrov lost his status as head of the Russian delegation at a meeting of the G-20 countries - the deputy head of the Kremlin administration, Maxim Oreshkin, was sent there. Lavrov also did not take part in the ASEAN summit in Malaysia - Russia was represented by Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk.
Due to the cancellation of the Putin-Trump meeting
According to the "Reuters" agency, Lavrov has hardly appeared at major international events since US President Donald Trump canceled his meeting with Putin over Ukraine in Budapest. Then the US imposed sanctions against "Rosneft" and "Lukoil" - for the first time since Trump returned to the White House.
The meeting in Budapest was canceled after Lavrov had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during which the conditions for the meeting were discussed. "Reuters" say that Trump decided to cancel the meeting on Rubio's advice - because Lavrov had made ultimatums regarding Ukraine.
Since then, as Lavrov himself admits, the US Secretary of State has not contacted him again. The head of Russian diplomacy did not attend the meeting of the Russian Security Council on November 5, where possible nuclear tests were discussed, nor did he participate in the Russian-Kazakhstani talks in Moscow on November 12.
Putin: "This is nonsense. Lavrov is not in disgrace"
Vladimir Putin, for his part, categorically denies that Lavrov has fallen into disgrace after the collapse of his meeting with Trump. "This is nonsense. Lavrov is not in disgrace. He has his own work schedule. He reports to me what he will do and for how long. That is exactly what he does. "He is preparing for a meeting with American partners," Putin said at a press conference after his visit to Bishkek on November 27.
Earlier, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov also said that "everything is normal" with Lavrov. The head of the diplomatic department himself explained the cancellation of the meeting with "secret reports" that were handed over to Trump, and said that he did not know "where and from whom they came."
Author: Sergey Romashenko