SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) – The foreign ministers of the three Baltic states said Tuesday they will boycott a meeting by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe being held this week in North Macedonia, in objection to the participation of Russia´s foreign minister.
The foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania issued a joint statement saying they “deeply regret the decision enabling the personal participation” of Russia´s Sergey Lavrov: “It will only provide Russia with yet another propaganda opportunity.”
Lavrov said Monday he planned to travel to Skopje for the OSCE foreign ministers´ meeting, which would mark a rare visit to a NATO member country since Russia invaded Ukraine. He also has visited NATO member Turkey, which has no ban on Russian flights. In September, he was in New York to attend the United Nations’ annual gathering of world leaders.
There was no immediate reaction from the Russian Foreign Ministry to the statement by the Baltic states.
With the exception of close Moscow ally Belarus, Lavrov has not visited any European country since the war in Ukraine started.
In March 2022, Lavrov was barred from flying to…
Read the full article here