Accusations and walkouts as Ukraine, Russia ministers clash at Malta meeting

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00:00For the first time since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian Foreign Minister

00:06Sergei Lavrov has stepped foot in the European Union.

00:11In what was a tense visit, Lavrov attended the summit of the Organisation for Security

00:15and Cooperation in Europe, held in Malta.

00:18The foreign minister arrived only a few minutes before his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Sebega,

00:23who later walked out of the hall ahead of Lavrov's remarks.

00:29Russia is not a partner.

00:30It is the biggest threat to our common security.

00:33Russia's participation in the OSCE is a threat to cooperation in Europe.

00:37In response, Russia's Sergei Lavrov accused the West of orchestrating a new Cold War,

00:42which he said could risk turning into a hot one.

00:45He also defended Russia's actions in Ukraine.

00:49The result was the reincarnation of the Cold War, only now with a much greater risk of

00:54becoming a hot one.

00:57After he spoke, Lavrov quickly left the room, but US Secretary of State Antony Blinken,

01:01who was also attending the summit, did not mince his words.

01:05He denounced Lavrov's tsunami of disinformation.

01:08And let's not allow him or anyone else to fool us.

01:12This is not about, and has never been about, Russia's security.

01:16This is about Mr Putin's imperial project to erase Ukraine from the map.

01:21Established in 1975 to ease the tensions between East and West, the OSCE now has 57

01:27member states, including the US, Ukraine and Russia.

01:31At last year's summit, Ukraine had asked for Russia's exclusion, to no avail.

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