Kremlin denies veteran foreign minister in Putin's bad books

MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Monday denied reports that veteran Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had fallen out with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the diplomat’s protracted public absence raised questions.

Speculation about Lavrov’s future arose following reports of a tense phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that resulted in a planned summit between Putin and President Donald Trump being cancelled.

Lavrov was notably absent from the Kremlin chief’s high-profile televised meeting with top officials on nuclear testing last week, and was also not named as Russia’s envoy to the G20 summit in South Africa later this month — a forum where he typically stepped in for Putin.

“All these reports are absolutely false,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to a question by AFP over the alleged spat, adding Lavrov was continuing to work.

“When appropriate public events take place, then you will see him.”

Lavrov, a 75-year-old heavyweight of Russian politics, has been in office for 21 years and is the longest-serving member of Putin’s cabinet.

According to the foreign ministry website, Lavrov last appeared in public at a live event on October 28, though video interviews of him have been published since.

Trump in October shelved a planned summit with Putin over the Ukraine war and slapped Moscow with new sanctions after saying the Kremlin leader was not serious about ending the conflict.

Known for his sardonic humour and sometimes obscene remarks, he accompanied Putin to Alaska for a summit with Trump in August, where he wore a shirt emblazoned with “USSR” on it for media interviews.