Lavrov to visit EU for first time since Russia’s 2022 Ukraine invasion

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will travel to Malta for a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in early December, Russian state-controlled outlet Vedomosti said Friday. 

If confirmed, it would be the first time Lavrov has visited an EU country since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

According to the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, “the country hosting the event should ensure that all (OSCE) member states have the opportunity to work.”

The last time Lavrov visited any EU country was in December 2021 — two months before Russia’s all-out war against its western neighbour — also for an OSCE ministerial council meeting in Stockholm. 

In December 2022, almost a year into Russia’s war, the OSCE met in Łódź in Poland. Warsaw refused Lavrov entry to the country. 

Last year, the meeting took place outside of the EU, in the Western Balkan country of North Macedonia. Lavrov attended the session in person.

His 2023 trip sparked vocal criticism from Kyiv amid last-minute exceptions to existing sanctions against the Kremlin.

Bulgaria — an EU member — granted permission for a plane carrying Lavrov to fly through the country’s airspace en route to the North Macedonian capital Skopje.

The permission was temporary and valid only for three hours before and 72 hours after the scheduled date and time of overflight. North Macedonia, an EU candidate country, also issued a similar permit.

Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania all boycotted the meeting.

Almost all European countries have closed their airspace to Russian aircraft due to EU sanctions against Russia.

Additionally, the EU imposed sanctions against Lavrov, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, and others involved in Moscow’s war of aggression in February 2022. However, Brussels has not issued a travel ban against Russia’s top diplomat.

If confirmed by Malta, Lavrov’s trip to this year’s meeting is set to raise serious questions at the European Commission and the Council of the European Union. 

All EU member states are participating members of the OSCE, a regional security-oriented organisation comprising 57 countries in Europe, North America and Asia.

Euronews has reached out to the OSCE for comment and will update this story.