Lavrov at the OSCE summit. What does Moscow’s move mean?

In the presence of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a meetingOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe It becomes a diplomatic issue. Polish Foreign Minister Simon Szynkowski Vel Sek announced that he would not participate in the meeting in Skopje, North Macedonia, considering the presence of the head of diplomacy of the country that invaded Ukraine “unacceptable.”

Warsaw’s move comes after the similar position of Ukraine and the United States Baltic countries. Yesterday, the foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania announced their intention not to participate in the inter-ministerial meeting of the OSCE Council so as not to “Legitimizing an aggressor state, Russia, as a full member of our community of free nations“.

The Baltics moved, and so did he PolandIt was expected. This was confirmed by the Italian Foreign Minister himself. Antonio TajaniYesterday, he described as “clear” the mutual accusations between those countries that stand at the forefront of the challenge between Moscow and the West. However, if news of these defections is part of the tensions between the Baltic capitals and Moscow, what also seems interesting is the Kremlin’s exploitation of Lavrov’s presence at the summit in Macedonia. As it actually explains Corriere della SeraThe actual presence of the Russian minister represents the fruit of the skillful diplomatic work carried out by the Russian Federation, which made it necessary for Lavrov to go to Skopje to vote on the next rotating presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Macedonia gave the green light, meaning that Moscow’s diplomacy returned again to the stage of the meeting attended by representatives of the Western world.

Lavrov’s spokeswoman Maria ZakharovaThe onus was placed on the underlying embarrassment that could be felt towards the Macedonian match. He said he hadMany requests for bilateral meetings“Then Western countries were accused of doing so.”All kinds of conspiracies were carried out against Russia“In light of the summit. The High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed their presence but also the fact that they will not have any direct contacts with the Russian representative. However, it cannot be denied that in the presence of such an important man of the Russian apparatus The undisputed champion of foreign policy Russian President Vladimir PutinIt is an element that cannot help but cause a certain amount of friction in the Western system, which seems less decisive in depriving the Kremlin of room for maneuver. Even on the international scene.