Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will take a trip to Malta on Thursday for an Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) top, Moscow validated, his first visit to an EU member given that Russia released its major invasion of Ukraine.Lavrov will head the Russian delegation for the Dec.
5-6 top in Malta, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told press reporters, regardless of being under EU sanctions.Brussels hit Lavrov with sanctions a day after Moscow introduced its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and his visit to a member state is likely to draw intense criticism from Kyiv and its greatest backers in the bloc.Lavrovs last journey to the EU was in December 2021 when he went to Stockholm, also for an OSCE meeting, Russian media reported based on a tally of his publicly announced trips.Ukraine is likewise a member of the OSCE and Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga has actually been welcomed to the summit.Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraines then-foreign minister, boycotted last years OSCE ministerial council in North Macedonia over Lavrovs attendance.Kyiv has called for Russia to be expelled from the body, which was founded to alleviate East-West stress during the Cold War.Zakharova said Russia thinks about the OSCE to be in a deep institutional crisis and assaulted Western efforts to control the institution.Zakharovas own visa to attend the Malta top was annulled, Russias foreign ministry said later Wednesday, adding that the organizers had actually told the Russian side that the decision was because of situations beyond their control.Speaking at the summit in 2015, Lavrov stated the OSCE was being turned into an appendage of NATO and the EU.The organization sends out observers to disputes and elections worldwide, in addition to running programs to fight human trafficking and guarantee media freedom.But given that the start of the full-blown intrusion in Ukraine, it has actually had a hard time to operate as Russia has actually vetoed numerous major decisions, which need agreement.