Lavrov Sidelined: Putin Reportedly Loses Confidence After Failed Talks with Trump Administration

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is reportedly losing influence within the Kremlin following a failed exchange with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which ultimately resulted in the cancellation of a planned meeting between President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. The reports, published by Russian outlets The Moscow Times and Kommersant, suggest that the veteran diplomat’s standing has weakened after more than two decades as one of Putin’s closest aides.

Lavrov’s absence from a key meeting of Russia’s Security Council on November 5 drew particular attention. The session, chaired by Putin, focused on drafting proposals for the possible resumption of nuclear testing. According to Kommersant, Lavrov’s nonattendance was “agreed upon in advance”, yet he was the only permanent member missing from the table - a detail seen by insiders as significant, given the sensitivity of the discussions and the timing of his absence.

His reduced role became even more apparent after Putin replaced him as head of Russia’s delegation for the upcoming G20 summit later this month. That position will now be taken by Maxim Oreshkin, deputy head of the presidential administration. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the decision was made personally by Putin, reinforcing speculation that Lavrov’s influence has been curtailed.

The reported shift comes after a series of diplomatic setbacks in recent weeks. On October 20, Lavrov and Rubio held a phone conversation in which, according to the US State Department, Rubio underscored the importance of future dialogue between Washington and Moscow to seek progress on ending the war in Ukraine. The following day, however, Lavrov publicly dismissed calls for an immediate ceasefire, reaffirming Russia’s hardline stance.

Shortly afterward, reports surfaced that the United States had postponed Lavrov’s in-person meeting with Rubio and put preparations for a potential Putin-Trump summit in Budapest on hold. On October 23, Trump announced that he had reconsidered meeting Putin “in the near future,” a message that Putin later described as a mere “postponement.” Two days later, Trump clarified that no meeting would take place until he was convinced that concrete steps toward a peace agreement were possible.

Lavrov tried to downplay the diplomatic fallout, remarking on October 26 that his phone conversation with Rubio had gone “really well” - adding with irony that it must have been “so good” that Washington decided to cancel all subsequent talks. Nonetheless, the sequence of events appears to have left him politically isolated, with multiple signs indicating that his once unshakeable position in Putin’s circle may now be at risk.