Lavrov in Malta this week, first visit to EU since assault on Ukraine

Moscow announced Wednesday that the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, under European sanctions, will travel to Malta on Thursday and Friday for an OSCE ministerial meeting, his first trip to the EU since the launch of the onslaught of Russian forces against Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine did not immediately react.

“On December 5 and 6, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs and a Russian delegation will participate in the next meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council” in Malta, declared the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, during her daily briefing.

This visit comes amidst speculation about the launch of a possible peace process around Ukraine, supported militarily by EU countries, and a month and a half before the return of the unpredictable Donald Trump to the White House. , which makes Kiev fear the cessation of vital aid from the Americans.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was the first Western leader to resume contact with Vladimir Putin, in mid-November during a telephone call, the first between the two leaders since the end of 2022.

This initiative by Berlin provoked the anger of kyiv – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believing that Mr. Scholz had opened “Pandora’s box” – and the incomprehension of other chancelleries, determined to continue to arm kyiv to arrive in a position force at the negotiating table against Moscow once the time comes.

Mr. Lavrov’s last visit to the European Union dates back to December 2021 in Sweden, according to his ministry, on the occasion of another meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which had was conceived during the Cold War as a platform for East-West dialogue.

Since Vladimir Putin ordered his army to attack Ukraine on February 24, 2022, diplomatic exchanges between Mr. Lavrov and the West have been mainly limited to UN meetings in New York.

At the end of 2023, the head of Russian diplomacy went to North Macedonia, a European country that is a member of NATO, for another OSCE meeting.

His presence in Skopje had pushed several countries – Ukraine, the Baltic countries and Poland – to boycott this ministerial gathering.

The other participants had, in their vast majority, taken Mr. Lavrov to task, denouncing in turn an “unjustified and unjustifiable aggression”, even if the Russian minister had not heard everything, having left the meeting room on several occasions. .