The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, is the subject of speculation regarding his fall from grace, but the Kremlin has denied this information.

The Russian press suggested that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov may have fallen out of favor with the Kremlin, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed these speculations, stating that Lavrov continues his work. Lavrov, who has led the Foreign Ministry for over 20 years, was absent from an important meeting of the Russian Security Council, which fueled rumors of a possible fall from grace.

He was also replaced as head of the Russian delegation at the G20 summit, a decision made by President Putin. Lavrov had an unsuccessful conversation with American Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which led to the cancellation of the Putin-Trump summit, and sources indicated that the Kremlin's uncompromising stance was a factor in this failure. Lavrov continued to use an aggressive rhetoric, describing the regime in Kiev as "Nazi" and calling for addressing the root causes of the conflict in Ukraine.