His Western colleagues would shun him: “They are afraid of any honest conversation with facts,” said the Russian foreign minister. He sees no reason for his country to change course on Ukraine.
According to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Russia is not willing to change course in Ukraine. There are no signs that the Kiev government is moving towards a political solution, Lavrov said on Friday on the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council in Skopje. There is no reason for Russia to change the objectives of its special military operation in Ukraine.
Russia invaded the neighboring former Soviet republic in February 2022 and annexed parts of the country. In the past, the Moscow government demanded that Ukraine “recognize the new status quo” as a prerequisite for negotiations. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russian troops would advance in all directions into Ukraine, according to the official RIA news agency. Shoigu also announced naval exercises for next year. Details were not initially known.
“Coward”: Blinken and Borrell left
Lavrov took advantage of his traditional press conference at the end of the OSCE annual meeting to harshly criticize his Western colleagues, whom he accused of “cowardice”. Both US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell have left and avoided direct negotiations with him, Lavrov said on Friday.
“They probably believe this underlines their intention to isolate Russia. But I think they are just cowards, they are afraid of any honest conversation with facts,” Lavrov said. In fact, Blinken and Borrell arrived in Skopje on Wednesday at the invitation of their North Macedonian hosts. Blinken, for example, later traveled to Israel, where the situation is currently extremely tense due to the war in Gaza.
Ukraine and Baltic States boycott meetings
Lavrov’s participation in the OSCE meeting is not without controversy. The previous year, the Polish OSCE presidency at the time made it impossible for him to travel. As the country currently holding the presidency, North Macedonia, decided otherwise, the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic States boycotted the annual meeting. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP), who publicly criticized the cancellation of Lavrov’s invitation last year, met informally with the Russian chief diplomat on the sidelines of the meeting. According to a spokeswoman for Schallenberg, the conversation in front of the conference center took place at the request of and in consultation with the OSCE Chair and discussed efforts to extend the terms of office of the four senior OSCE officials.
After most foreign ministers had already left Skopje, the OSCE meeting continued on Friday with discussions on outstanding issues. What is particularly urgent is a solution regarding the employment of the OSCE General Secretariat and the three top OSCE diplomats in the areas of democracy, media freedom and minority rights. Their mandates expire on Sunday and North Macedonia’s OSCE presidency has made intensive efforts to extend them for at least a few months. A crisis that could potentially threaten the organization’s existence was averted in advance. North Macedonia persuaded OSCE states to accept Malta as its presiding country in 2024, after Estonia’s candidacy was blocked by Russia for more than a year. (APA/Portal/dpa)