Russia's Lavrov and US's Blinken set to attend OSCE meeting

5/12/2024 17:01

        Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his outgoing U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken are due to face off over the war in Ukraine on Thursday at an annual meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Malta.
        
        While Ukraine will be the dominant political issue, the meeting is due to formally approve last-minute agreements reached on issues including senior staff positions at the security and rights body where Western powers often accuse Russia of flouting human rights and other international norms.
        
        The gathering of foreign ministers and other officials from 57 participating states in North America, Europe and Central Asia is overshadowed this year by the return of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, whose advisers are floating proposals to end the war that would cede large parts of Ukraine to Russia.
        
        With Trump due to take office in just over a month, Western powers plan to reiterate their support for Ukraine while Russia is likely to renew its criticism of the organisation. Lavrov said last year the OSCE was "essentially being turned into an appendage of NATO and the European Union".
        
        It is Lavrov's first trip to the European Union since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.