Lavrov, an experienced diplomat and minister since 2004, spoke on the phone with his American counterpart Marco Rubio on October 20 to potentially arrange a meeting between the two presidents in Budapest, which was supposed to take place on the topic of peace talks in Ukraine.
Official statements from the two sides after that conversation did not suggest it went badly, but Trump announced a day later that he did not want to hold the meeting because it would be a “waste of time.” He later said he canceled it because “it didn’t feel right.”
Lavrov’s absence from an important Russian Security Council meeting last week and Putin’s decision to send a deputy chief of staff instead of a minister to the G20 meeting later this month have fueled speculation that Putin is angry with him. Asked Friday about the veracity of those speculations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed them.
“I will give you a short answer. There is nothing true in those reports,” said Peskov.
Asked whether Lavrov will remain in office, Peskov added:
“Absolutely. Lavrov is the foreign minister, of course.”
Articles about the quarrel between the two politicians were also encouraged by some of the anonymous Russian channels on Telegram, as well as media critical of the Kremlin and Ukrainian media.
(Vijesti.ba)
