Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has clashed indirectly with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at an annual security meeting in Malta, accusing the West of risking escalation in the war in Ukraine.
Speaking at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) ministerial meeting in Ta’Qali on Thursday, Lavrov accused the West of reviving the Cold War and provoking a direct conflict with Russia.
He said the US actions were driven by a desire to “return NATO to the political spotlight”. “After the Afghan disgrace, there was a need for a new common enemy,” Lavrov said during his first stop in an EU nation since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“The result is the reincarnation of the Cold War, but now with the far greater risk of its escalation into the hot phase.”
Lavrov walked out before US Secretary of State Blinken and other speakers could respond.
Blinken put the blame for escalation in the region on Russia, noting that the Russian foreign minister, the fourth speaker, did not stick around to listen to other speakers.
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“Let’s talk about escalation,” Blinken said, citing the deployment of North Korean forces in Europe, the use of an intermediate-range ballistic missile to attack Ukraine, Russia’s move to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, and relentless attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
“Mr Lavrov spoke about the sovereign right of every member state to make their own choices,” Blinken said.
“That’s exactly what this is about: the sovereign right of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people to make their own choices about the future, not to have those choices made in and by Moscow.”
The 57-nation body was formed amid the Cold War, but has been largely paralysed since Moscow invaded Ukraine, with Russia vetoing major decisions that require unanimous consent.
Ukraine has previously called for Russia to be excluded from the OSCE, and last year boycotted the organisation’s annual ministerial summit in North Macedonia over Lavrov’s attendance.
However this year Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha attended the event, which comes at a delicate time for Kyiv. US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to press for a quick deal to end the war, leaving Kyiv scrambling to obtain security guarantees from Western allies and supplies of key weaponry before the January inauguration.
Sybiha told the OSCE ministers that Russia’s participation in the organisation was “a threat to cooperation in Europe” and “the biggest threat to our common security”.
“Ukraine continues to fight for its right to exist. And the Russian war criminal at this table must know: Ukraine will win this right and justice will prevail,” he said.
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Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Malta had annulled her visa to accompany Lavrov.
The Maltese Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Trade said that three OSCE member countries had objected to extending the visa to Zakharova, who is under a travel ban. Lavrov is subject to EU sanctions, but faces no travel ban.
