Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov came face-to-face with Western critics while attending international security talks on Thursday, amid European protests that Vladimir Putin’s top diplomat was invited to the summit while he wages war against Ukraine. Some European officials present in North Macedonia walked out as the Russian minister addressed a session for foreign ministers of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation of Europe (OSCE), videos of the event showed. A number of foreign ministers refused to attend the event over Russia’s involvement, including those of Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Some states, Ukraine among them, sent no representatives whatsoever. US secretary of state Antony Blinken made only a brief stop in North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, late on Wednesday, and did not attend Thursday’s talks. Mr Lavrov spoke for15 minutes, during which the walkout occurred. It was not immediately clear from videos which countries’ officials were involved. The Russian foreign minister’s comments followed the now-familiar narrative from the Kremlin that “Nato’s reckless expansion to the East” was to blame for war returning to Europe, rather than his own president’s decision to order the invasion of Ukraine. “Unfortunately, the Western political elites, which have arrogated to themselves the right to decide the fate of humanity, have made a short-sighted choice not in favour of the OSCE, but in favour of Nato. In favour of the philosophy of containment, zero-sum geopolitical games and the ‘master-slave’ logic,” Mr Lavrov told the session. He also attacked the platform of the summit itself, saying that “the OSCE and its relevant institutions are silent” over what he described as the denial of “the very existence of Russians and their decisive contribution to the histroy of Ukraine”. And he blamed the start of the Ukraine war on Western tolerance for the “ruling neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv”. Russian president Vladimir Putin has repeatedly alleged that Ukraine’s government is made up of “neo-Nazis,” even though the country has a democratically elected Jewish president who lost relatives in the Holocaust. Western ministers attending the OSCE meeting were sharply critical of Mr Lavrov after he spoke. “Russia’s attempts to blame others for its own choices are transparent,” said Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who was speaking when Mr Lavrov himself walked out of the summit. “We will not compromise on the core principles of the European security order or allow Russia to deny Ukraine the right to make its own independent foreign and security policy choices – principles that Russia itself has agreed to,” he continued. Based in Vienna, Austria, the OSCE is an intergovernmental organisation focused on promoting security, stability, and cooperation among its participating states. Nato member North Macedonia lifted a ban on Russian flights to enable Lavrov to attend the meeting. Russian state news agency Tass reported that the minister flew a longer route over Turkey and Greece to reach the summit after Bulgaria blocked his plane from using its airspace. Greek officials did not immediately return a request for comment. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Takeaways from AP's Interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy The AP Interview: Ukraine's Zelenskyy says the war with Russia is in a new phase as winter looms Ukraine war live: Russia sees record losses as baby amongst injured in missile strike Russia’s Supreme Court effectively outlaws LGBTQ+ activism in a landmark ruling UN atomic chief backs nuclear power at COP28 as world reckons with proliferation Russia’s top court bans LGBT+ activism as ‘extremist’ in new crackdown

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s claim that he is protecting Brits from having to separate rubbish into “seven different bins” has become an instant meme. Sunak’s claim comes after the PM gave a speech in which he essentially reversed several policies related to the environment in the run-up to the general election in 2024. In it, he claimed the policies originally set out for Britain to be on the path to achieving net zero would hurt hard-working families. After the speech, Sunak posted a graphic on X/Twitter listing the “heavy-handed measures” which included, “Sorting your rubbish into seven different bins” and “taxes on eating meat”. He wrote: “We will never impose unnecessary and heavy-handed measures on you, the British people. “We will still meet our international commitments and hit Net Zero by 2050.” But it was pretty quickly pointed out that many of the listed measures don’t actually exist, as people mocked the PM for his bizarre bin claim using the hashtag #SevenDeadlyBins. Broadcaster James O’Brien mocked: “It’s a start, I suppose, but I won’t be happy until he’s also banned elbow grease, tartan paint and glass hammers.” Another joked: “Next up on Rishi Sunak’s list: “- Santa made to have a pilot’s licence - Monsters under your bed deported to Rwanda - Unicorns limited in horn length - Tooth fairy income will be taxed - Number limits on invisible friends kids can have.” Journalist Gaby Hinsliff argued: “In the old days seven Mirror reporters would have been made to dress up as bins & follow the PM around asking what he had against them & I regret that Fleet Street no longer has the resources for this frankly.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 20, 2023--