Kremlin dismisses rumours about Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov falling out of favour with Putin

Moscow, Nov 7 (PTI) The Kremlin on Friday dismissed rumours about Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, considered to be President Vladimir Putin’s loyalist, having fallen out of favour with him.

At a regular briefing on Friday, Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “There is no truth to the reports that Lavrov has allegedly fallen out of favour. Of course, Lavrov (continues) working as minister of foreign affairs.” Rumours about Lavrov falling out of Putin’s favour were sparked after his visible absence at the televised meeting of National Security Council on November 5.

On the initiative of Duma Speaker, the top Kremlin body discussed the possibility of resumption of nuclear tests if the US walks out of Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty moratorium on nuclear testing.

London’s Financial Times had reported about the fate of Lavrov following his conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on October 20, after which the Russia-US summit in Budapest, and the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were cancelled.

“The pause in the negotiation process, caused by provocations from Ukraine and Europe, is slowing down the settlement. The lack of trust between Russia and Ukraine is evident,” Peskov was quoted as saying by Kommersant Business daily.

According to Peskov, organising the Russia-US summit in Hungary requires intense and meticulous work. Both sides will be interested in holding negotiations in Budapest “at some stage”.

Any predictions about the timing of the summit in Budapest are unfounded. PTI VS GSP GSP