Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken has asserted Ukraine’s sovereign right to choose its future without interference from Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indirectly clashed with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the annual security meeting in Malta, accusing the West of risking escalation. In the war in Ukraine.
Speaking at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) ministerial meeting in Ta’Khali on Thursday, Lavrov accused the West of reviving and fueling the Cold War. direct conflict With Russia.
He said the US actions were driven by a desire to “return NATO to the political spotlight”. “After the Afghan humiliation, a new common enemy was needed,” Lavrov said during his first stop in an EU nation since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“The result is a rebirth of the Cold War, but now there is a greater risk of it escalating into a hot phase.”
Lavrov walked out before US Secretary of State Blinken and other speakers could respond.
Blinken blamed the escalation in the region on Russia, saying the Russian foreign minister, the fourth speaker, did not stick around to listen to other speakers.
“Let’s talk about increasing” Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Blinken said, citing North Korea’s troop deployment in Europe, the use of an intermediate-range ballistic missile to attack Ukraine, Russia’s move to lower the limit on the use of nuclear weapons and continued attacks.
“Mr Lavrov talked about the sovereign right of each member state to make their own choices,” Blinken said.
“This is exactly what it is: the sovereign right of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people to make their own choices about the future, in Moscow and not to make those choices.”
The 57-nation body was formed in the midst of the Cold War, but has been largely paralyzed since Moscow invaded Ukraine, with Russia vetoing key decisions that require unanimous consent.
‘Ukraine will win’
Ukraine has previously called for Russia to be excluded from the OSCE and last year boycotted the organization’s annual ministerial summit in North Macedonia over Lavrov’s attendance.
However this year Foreign Minister Andriy Saibiha attended the event, which comes at a sensitive time for Kyiv. US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to press for a quick deal to end the war, with Kyiv scrambling to secure security guarantees and key arms supplies from Western allies ahead of the January inauguration.
Sybiha told OSCE ministers that Russia’s participation in the organization was a “threat to cooperation in Europe” and a “big threat to our common security”.
“Ukraine continues to fight for its right to exist. And the Russian war criminal at this table should know: Ukraine will win this right and justice will prevail,” he said.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Malta had canceled Lavrov’s visa.
Malta’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Trade said three OSCE member states had objected to extending a visa to Zakharova, who is under a travel ban. Lavrov remains subject to EU sanctions, but faces no travel ban.
