Deputy head of Russia’s foreign ministry, Sergei Ryabkov, indicated that the United States did not request a face-to-face meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers gathering in North Macedonia. The disclosure came in a report from RIA News, detailing Moscow’s read on the bilateral diplomacy surrounding the event.
“No, I didn’t ask. And he won’t ask,” Ryabkov stated in response to a question about any possible request from Washington. The tone suggested that no such outreach would be forthcoming from the American side, and that Moscow did not anticipate any overtures of that kind during the ministerial forum.
Ryabkov also stressed that the likelihood of a direct meeting between Lavrov and Blinken at the gathering was remote. He indicated that such an interaction would not take place, underscoring a broader pattern of limited bilateral engagement through the OSCE meetings in recent times.
On 27 November, Peter Stano, a representative of the European Union diplomatic service, commented on the situation. He said the regional bloc did not object to Lavrov attending the North Macedonian OSCE foreign ministers meeting. Stano added that the Russian minister’s flight over Bulgaria would not contravene Western sanctions imposed on Moscow, framing the issue within the context of ongoing diplomatic engagements and sanction policies.
The Bulgarian government permitted the Russian foreign minister to travel through its airspace so he could participate in the OSCE meeting with the heads of foreign affairs departments from member states. This decision reflected Bulgaria’s interpretation of the event as a routine international gathering and a chance for high-level engagement within the security framework provided by the OSCE, rather than a platform for any unilateral diplomatic shifts. Earlier remarks from Lavrov touched on rumors and theories about potential negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, suggesting a belief that a conspiracy surrounded those talks.