The foreign ministers of the three Baltic states and Ukraine said they would boycott an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meeting being held this week in North Macedonia, due to the Russian foreign minister’s planned presence at the meeting.
Top diplomats from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said in a joint statement on Tuesday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s participation would only give Russia another chance to carry out another propaganda campaign.
Lavrov said on Monday (27/11) that he planned to visit Skopje to attend a meeting of OSCE foreign ministers. The trip will mark a rare visit to a NATO member country since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2024.
Ukraine also said it would boycott the meeting because of Lavrov’s presence, and its foreign ministry issued a statement accusing Russia of “coercing and weakening the OSCE through abuse of the deal’s rules.”
“By resorting to blackmail and open threats, the Russian Federation is systematically blocking consensus on key issues,” the statement said, citing the blocking of Estonia’s candidacy to head the organization in 2024.
Alexander Grushko, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, told reporters on Tuesday that the Baltic states’ decision to boycott the meeting “means nothing for the future of the OSCE.”
At the meeting, the Russian delegation will “urge the OSCE to return to its origins, its original principles and goals,” Grushko said. (ps/lt)