Russia’s Lavrov says inviting Poland to attend G20 meeting breaks diplomatic rules

Oct 30 (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on Friday that inviting Poland to attend G20 meetings was counter-productive and broke with diplomatic practice of seeking consensus at such gatherings.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told reporters in Atlanta that the US had made a motion to make Poland a permanent G20 member and Warsaw was lobbying for that.

“Of course, this violates the principles of diplomacy, and especially multilateral diplomacy, when members of associations such as the G20 work on the basis of consensus,” Lavrov told reporters on the sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta, according to Russian news agencies.

“This concerns the agenda and it concerns extending invitations to new participants,” he said.

Poland, Lavrov said, “adds nothing” to the meeting.

He said Warsaw failed to qualify for attendance at the meeting as its economy was not big enough.

And its description as a representative of “eastern Europe” was erroneous as there was already sufficient representation from NATO and the European Union.

Lavrov said Russia had been subjected to no pressure in terms of Poland being invited to the Atlanta meeting.

“The Americans simply invited the Polish minister, he came and sat in the chair that was provided for him,” Lavrov was quoted as saying.

Sikorski, in his comments to reporters, also called for a rapid ceasefire in the Black Sea that would allow safe passage for grain shipments from both Ukraine and Russia.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by David Gregorio)

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