Ukraine, Baltic nations to boycott OSCE meeting over Russia's Lavrov attending

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a press conference as the BRICS Summit is held in Johannesburg, South Africa August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Alet Pretorius

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania said on Tuesday their foreign ministers would boycott a meeting of the OSCE European security watchdog in North Macedonia this week because Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov intends to take part.

It would be the first time that Lavrov takes part in a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, prompting sweeping Western sanctions.