The Kremlin on Friday dismissed speculation that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had fallen out of favor with President Vladimir Putin, after plans to host a summit between Putin and former US President Donald Trump collapsed last month.
Lavrov spoke by phone with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on October 20 about a possible meeting in Budapest, which was supposed to focus on a peace deal for Ukraine. Although official statements did not indicate any problems during the talks, Trump said a day later that he did not want the meeting to be a “waste of time” and then announced that he was canceling it because it “didn’t feel right.”
Lavrov’s absence from a recent meeting of Russia’s Security Council and Putin’s decision to send his deputy chief of staff to the upcoming G20 summit in Lavrov’s place have fueled speculation about a possible rift.
The Kremlin, however, denied the allegations. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “there is nothing true in these reports,” confirming that Lavrov “absolutely continues to perform the function of foreign minister.”
Putin has repeatedly stressed that Moscow considers rapprochement with Washington important for global security, provided that Russian interests regarding the Ukrainian issue are preserved.
