FLASH
Shkruar nga PamfletiReports of fresh unrest in the Kremlin come as the world's longest-serving top diplomat, who has not been seen in public in recent days, has been sidelined from key summits and meetings in Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appears to have lost support in the Kremlin after preparations for a summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump failed, The Moscow Times reported.
According to inside sources, after a tense phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which ended with the cancellation of a planned meeting in Budapest, Lavrov has been removed from several key positions.
Russian media cited Lavrov, 76, as not attending a Security Council meeting on November 5, where Putin discussed the possibility of resuming nuclear tests, banned since 1990.
The Kommersant newspaper reported that his absence was "coordinated", but he was the only permanent member who did not attend.
Furthermore, Lavrov has been replaced as head of the Russian delegation at the G20 summit, a task that has now been entrusted to presidential aide Maxim Oreshkin, spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed.
Putin himself will not travel to South Africa due to the International Criminal Court arrest warrant.
According to The Moscow Times, tensions in the Kremlin erupted after the October 21 phone call between Lavrov and Rubio, which was intended to prepare for the Putin-Trump meeting.
Rubio allegedly advised the US president to cancel the summit, while immediately after that Washington imposed new sanctions on Russian companies Rosneft and Lukoil, the first since Trump returned to the White House.
The Financial Times newspaper reported earlier that the summit's cancellation came after Moscow refused to soften territorial demands in Ukraine, making any diplomatic compromise impossible.
Lavrov was last seen in a high-profile meeting with the Russian leader last month, when they hosted North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui at the Kremlin.
Reports of Lavrov's dismissal come as Ukrainian long-range drones attacked an industrial plant about 800 miles inside Russia on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian military also remained engaged in a fierce battle to thwart a Russian offensive on the key town of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region.
Kiev's audacious attacks deep inside Russia using domestically produced drones have embarrassed Moscow, with officials seemingly careless about any harm, and unnerved Russians.
Ukraine has targeted manufacturing plants, oil refineries and military logistics centers in an attempt to disrupt Russia's war effort almost four years after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion.
Ja ka vonuar. Lavrov është skifter stalinist dhe luftënxitës. Por edhe miku i Ramës.