Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded ironically to questions raised in the media about his “disappearance” for some time.
Modern.az reports that while arriving at the Kremlin for talks between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin, journalists asked the minister, “Where have you disappeared to?”
Lavrov, in turn, answered the question jokingly: “I am still gone.”
It should be noted that in recent days, some foreign media outlets (The Economic Times and The Independent) claimed that Lavrov had “fallen into disgrace” due to the canceled Putin–Trump meeting. Those reports stated that the disruption of the summit planned to be held in Budapest between President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump could “weaken Lavrov's political position.”
The Kremlin repeatedly denied these reports. In a statement to journalists, Putin called the claims “fake” and stated that Lavrov was preparing for a meeting with the US side: “He has his own work schedule. He informed me and told me what he would be busy with.”
Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov also stated that Lavrov is “at work” and “everything is in order.”
