Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reportedly fallen out of favor with President Vladimir Putin following the cancellation of the planned summit between the Russian leader and U.S. President Donald Trump, reports Baltimore Chronicle with reference to The Moscow Times.
According to sources, the diplomatic fallout resulted from an unsuccessful conversation between Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which directly contributed to the abrupt cancellation of the summit. Following this incident, 76-year-old Lavrov, who has led the Russian Foreign Ministry for over twenty years, did not attend a key meeting of the Russian Security Council convened by Putin on November 5.
During the meeting with permanent members of the Security Council, including Lavrov, Putin tasked officials with preparing proposals to resume nuclear tests, last conducted by Russia in 1990. Lavrov was the only permanent member absent from this high-profile session, raising questions about his standing within the Kremlin.
In addition, Lavrov lost his position as the head of Russia’s delegation to the upcoming G20 summit. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that this year the delegation will be led by Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Maxim Oreshkin, following a decision made by Putin. The Russian president himself again chose not to attend the G20 summit, which will take place in South Africa, a country that has signed the Rome Statute and is obligated to arrest Putin under an International Criminal Court warrant.
Following the failed talks with Rubio, Lavrov publicly described the Ukrainian government as a “Nazi regime” and called for the elimination of what he referred to as the “root causes” of the conflict.
Earlier, on October 16, Trump and Putin announced after a phone conversation their intention to hold a personal meeting within two weeks. Budapest was proposed as a possible location for the summit. Preparations were to be coordinated by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. However, Trump later canceled the meeting reportedly because Russia did not adjust its maximalist demands regarding the conditions for ending the war in Ukraine. Trump publicly stated that he “was not willing to waste time” on the summit.
Earlier we wrote that Sergey Lavrov Accuses NATO and EU of Direct Involvement in Ukraine Conflict.
