Russia’s Lavrov says some in West requested meetings at OSCE council
5542 Mins Read
By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that he would take part in an OSCE meeting in North Macedonia if Bulgaria opened its air space to the Russian delegation, and that some Western countries had asked to meet him.
Since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022, the West has sought to isolate Russia, and face-to-face meetings between senior ministers have been rare.
Lavrov said North Macedonia had invited him to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which includes Canada and the United States, in Skopje from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1.
“Apparently Bulgaria has promised Macedonia it will open its air space – if that happens then we will be there. Let’s see,” Lavrov told the Primakov Readings conference in Moscow.
“There are already several requests for meetings – including from Western representatives,” Lavrov said, after talking about a meeting he had with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the G20 grouping of industrialised and emerging countries last year.
Lavrov did not say who had asked for meetings.
North Macedonia’s foreign minister, Bujar Osmani, said this month that he expected Blinken to attend, along with the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, EU states and members of the NATO alliance, as well as Ukraine.
Osmani said North Macedonia’s neighbours had yet to make a final decision on overflight rules for the Russian delegation. A spokesperson for North Macedonia’s OSCE presidency did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
“Of course, we will meet with everyone,” Lavrov said. “If someone approaches us, we never run away or hide.”
The 57-member OSCE is intended to prevent conflict and security crises.
Bulgarian air space is closed to Russian aircraft as part of European Union sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.
