American, Russian, and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers Clash in Malta

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DEC 6 2024

Above: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gestures as he attends the plenary session of the 31st Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial summit in Ta'Qali, Malta, on Dec. 5, 2024. Image copyright: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Contributor via Getty Imagesstory last updated DEC 7 2024

The Facts

America's, Russia's, and Ukraine's top diplomats were all in a room together for a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Malta on Thursday — at least briefly until some member nations staged walkouts in protest.
For Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, it was his first trip to the EU since the Russia-Ukraine war started nearly three years ago. Ukraine, which boycotted last year's OSCE meeting, was represented by its foreign minister Andrii Sybiha. The US was represented by outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
First set up as a conflict-prevention and crisis-management forum to ease east-west tensions during the Cold War, representatives of the OSCE — namely France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine — brokered the Minsk I and Minsk II agreements in 2014 and 2015 that sought to restore peace between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

It's a shame the Russian ambassador didn't repay the courtesy of listening to the US remarks. Not every claim will be responded to as the Russian colleague is adept at drowning others with a tsunami of misinformation, but he did say something right — the indivisibility of security. However, it cannot be a one-way street for Russia at Ukraine's expense.

US Department of State

Pro-Russia narrative

While Russia still values the OSCE, as it is the remaining pan-European forum on security where Russia can have input, the US under the current administration sought to bury the memory of the Afghan withdrawal by finding a new enemy it can provoke. While Russia still prefers to settle this conflict peacefully, its position has been made clear should the US continue to escalate.

TASS