US Secretary of State Leaves OSCE Meeting Before Russian Representative Arrives
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has left Skopje, North Macedonia, where the OSCE ministerial meeting is taking place, before the arrival of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
This was reported by Telma.
The US Secretary of State arrived in Skopje the day before, where he met with the President of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani.
"North Macedonia is such a strong ally and partner for the United States and for all of our other Allies in NATO, and we see that every single day. We strongly support the work that you’re doing to strengthen even more your democratic institutions. We strongly support the work you’re doing to bring greater energy diversification to the region and beyond that will have, I think, very powerful and profound impacts. And in all of this, you can count on the United States as a strong partner," said Blinken.
The Macedonian Foreign Minister thanked Blinken for the "exceptional support" during his chairmanship of the OSCE.
Afterward, the Secretary of State headed to his scheduled visit to Israel before the arrival in Skopje of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
It is worth noting that today in Skopje, the first day of the OSCE ministers' meeting will take place. At the same time, the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania announced that they would boycott this session due to the invitation of Lavrov.
"The delegation of Ukraine will not participate in the OSCE Ministerial meeting at the level of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the same time, Ukraine remains committed to the principles of the OSCE and is ready to continue working with partners to restore respect for the Helsinki Final Act, in particular through the implementation of the Peace Formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy," said the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleg Nikolenko.
Yesterday, it also became known that the Polish Foreign Minister, Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, also refused to travel to the OSCE meeting in North Macedonia, calling Lavrov's presence "unacceptable."
According to the Polish official, it is difficult to "ignore the fact" that the Russian Foreign Minister will be present at the meeting of the organization, which is supposed to "build peace and security in Europe.