Since February 2022, when Russia expanded its invasion of Ukraine to a full-scale war of aggression, Lavrov has had EU sanctions against him. However, it does not prevent him from participating in the OSCE foreign ministers' meeting in the presiding country Malta on Thursday and Friday.
Lavrov: The war risks developing
In his speech, Russia's Foreign Minister accused the West of triggering a new cold war and warned that it risks developing into an East-West conflict, according to the Russian state news agency RIA.
US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken, who spoke after Lavrov left the room, in turn accused Russia of escalating the situation in the region.
Lavrov spoke about each member state's independent right to make its own choices. It's exactly what it's about: Ukraine and the Ukrainian people's right to make their own choices in the future, not to have them made in and by Moscow, said Blinken.
Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said before the meeting that he personally would not sit at the same table as the Russian Foreign Minister.
Lavrov comes here to lie about the Russian invasion and what Russia is doing in Ukraine. And I'm not going to listen to those lies, he said.
Malmer Stenergard (M) participates
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha and Sweden's Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard (M) are also participating in the meeting.
We reiterate our demand on Russia to immediately cease its aggression and withdraw all its forces from the entire internationally recognized territory of Ukraine, said Stenergard in her speech.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister accused Lavrov of being a "war criminal" during his speech at the meeting. He left the meeting before Lavrov took the stage, along with Poland's and Estonia's Foreign Ministers.
