Lavrov planning to visit EU member Malta in early Dec - newspaper

MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plans to visit Malta in early December for a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)'s Ministerial Council, the newspaper Vedomosti said on Friday.

"Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is planning to visit Malta in December 2024 for a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)'s Ministerial Council," the newspaper said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova confirmed the information to the newspaper.

"In this case, Lavrov will pay the first visit to an EU member state since the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine," Vedomosti said.

"The state hosting the event must enable the work of all [OSCE] members," Zakharova told Vedomosti.

The Maltese embassy to Russia told Vedomosti that the decision to hold the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting on the island on December 5-6 applies to all members, including the Russian Federation.

Vedomosti also cited the Russian Foreign Ministry's statement on Telegram, according to which Lavrov visited an EU member state for the last time in December 2021 for a meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Stockholm.