Poland Refuses to Allow Lavrov to Participate in Meeting of Organization for Security, Cooperation in Europe

Russia denounced, on Saturday, Warsaw's "provocative" decision after Poland refused to allow Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to enter its territory to attend a ministerial meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

"Poland's decision is provocative and unprecedented," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding, "Warsaw not only lost its credibility in this way, but also caused irreparable damage to the authority of the entire organization."

Poland, which is organizing the ministerial meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in early December, announced its refusal to allow Lavrov to enter its territory.

"We expect the Russian Federation to choose the members of its delegation in accordance with the applicable regulations, but not to include persons subject to EU sanctions as a result of Russia's illegal aggression against Ukraine on February 24, including Minister Lavrov," a source in the organization's presidency told AFP.