Overview
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov on Nov. 10 reiterated that Sergei Lavrov has not fallen out of favor, dismissing speculation as “absolute lies.”
- Officials said Lavrov’s absence was prearranged after he was the only permanent member missing from last week’s Putin-led Security Council meeting on responses to possible US nuclear tests.
- Social-media chatter quickly suggested punishment or an impending dismissal despite Lavrov’s roughly 21 years in the post.
- Some reporting with limited sourcing links a hardline phone call by Lavrov to President Trump’s cancellation of a planned Budapest meeting with Vladimir Putin, a claim not independently confirmed.
- Context to the speculation includes the confirmed mid-September departure of Dmitri Kozak from Putin’s inner circle.