Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that Lavrov intended to visit Vedomosti, while the Malta Embassy in Russia said invitations to the Dec. 5-6 meeting “will be sent to all OSCE delegations in due course.”

The last time Lavrov visited an EU country was in Stockholm for an OSCE meeting in December 2021, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

In 2023, Lavrov visited North Macedonia for an OSCE ministerialafter Bulgaria allowed its plane to pass through its airspace en route to Skopje. This decision sparked criticism in kyiv, from several countries, including Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. choose to boycott the meeting on Lavrov’s participation.