Lavrov's absence sparks speculation he has fallen from favour with Putin

[Uncle Joe]

Veteran foreign minister missed key Kremlin meeting, and is not part of Russia’s G20 delegation

(snip)

Rumblings of Putin’s displeasure with Lavrov first emerged after the US president, Donald Trump, abruptly cancelled his planned summit with the Russian leader in Budapest last month.

According to media reports, the meeting was shelved after a tense call between Lavrov and the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, during which US officials were taken aback by Lavrov’s demands and his rigid insistence on Russia’s maximalist positions in Ukraine peace talks, convincing Washington that a summit would be pointless.

(snip)

Even before the latest commotion about Lavrov’s standing, insiders say his actual influence over foreign policy has dwindled to almost nothing in recent years. He was not part of the tight-knit circle of Putin advisers who planned the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the decision caught him completely by surprise, two sources said.

Lavrov’s position was further challenged after Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024, when Kirill Dmitriev – the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a close friend of Putin’s daughter – began holding direct talks with members of Trump’s inner circle, encroaching on what had long been Lavrov’s domain.

(snip)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/10/lavrov-absence-sparks-speculation-he-has-fallen-from-favour-with-putin