Sergei Lavrov arrived in Malta on Wednesday for a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), as reported by the Russian state news agency TASS. This marks the first visit by the Russian Foreign Minister to an EU member state since the start of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Lavrov landed in the Maltese capital, Valletta, to participate in a two-day meeting of OSCE foreign ministers, according to TASS.
A video of his arrival showed that the Foreign Minister arrived on a Russian government plane, even though Russian aircraft are generally banned from entering EU airspace.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was not allowed to accompany him on the trip, as Malta canceled her visa.
This is Lavrov’s first trip to an EU member state since the European Union imposed sanctions on him and President Vladimir Putin in 2022, immediately after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Lavrov was last in an EU country in December 2021, also for an OSCE meeting.
The OSCE is one of the rare forums for dialogue on security and democratic policy where representatives from both the West and Russia sit at the same table.
While Moscow withdrew from a number of other European institutions, it remained in the OSCE, viewing it as a platform to communicate its stance on the war.
