There is no disagreement or marginalization between me and Lavrov

Yesterday, Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied rumors of a dispute between him and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

In recent weeks, many Russian and Western media outlets reported a dispute between Putin and Lavrov after a call the latter made with his American counterpart Marco Rubio, just before canceling Putin’s summit with his American counterpart Donald Trump in Budapest, and imposing sanctions on the two largest oil companies in Russia.

Rumors also spread about the Russian Foreign Minister losing his position, after his absence from a session that Putin held with the permanent members of the Russian Security Council.

These rumors also claimed that Lavrov was excluded from heading the Russian delegation to the G20 and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summits later.

Commenting on the rumours, Putin said on Thursday, in a statement reported by the Russian TASS agency: “This is nonsense,” denying that there had been any disagreement or marginalization between him and his foreign minister.

He explained that Lavrov has a special agenda, adding: “He has a special agenda and he informed me of it. He told me what he will do and at what time, and he is already doing that. He is preparing for a meeting with the American partners.”

On Friday, Lavrov responded with a joking response to a journalist’s inquiry about his disappearance during the recent period, and said with a smile: “I am still missing until now,” just before Putin’s meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Kremlin.

At the beginning of this month, the Kremlin denied speculation that Lavrov had become “angry” with Putin after efforts to organize a US-Russian summit in Budapest last month failed.

Lavrov, 75 years old, has been Russia’s Foreign Minister for years.