During a meeting of OSCE countries in Malta, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned the United States and the European Union for escalating global diplomatic tensions. This was Lavrov’s first visit to the EU since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. At the summit, he accused the West of initiating a ‘new cold war’ and criticized US military exercises in the Asia-Pacific region. In response, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Lavrov of spreading misinformation.