Sergei Lavrov. Photo: Brendan McDermid / Reuters
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plans to attend a meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Malta on 5-6 December, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, Vedomosti reports citing Reuters. This will be Lavrov’s first visit to an EU country since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Embassy of Malta in Russia noted that the event is open to all OSCE members, including the Russian Federation. Invitations and practical details of participation will be provided later.
Interestingly, in 2022, Lavrov was unable to attend the OSCE Ministerial Meeting in Łódź, Poland, because he was denied a visa. This year’s event was organised at the invitation of the current OSCE President, Maltese Foreign Minister Ian Borg, and will bring together ministers from 57 OSCE participating states.
According to the OSCE website, the Ministerial Council is a key platform for discussing and resolving security issues in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian regions.
