MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/. The refusal of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to attend the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) foreign ministers' conference in North Macedonia due to the participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will have no impact on the organization's fate, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told reporters on the sidelines of the Primakov Readings forum.

"I think that the non-arrival of the three Baltic states means nothing for the OSCE’s future," the deputy minister said, commenting on the position of the three nations.

Meanwhile, Grushko noted that the Russian delegation was going to the OSCE foreign ministers' meeting "with a fierce spirit" to return the organization to its original principles of security and cooperation. "Russian Minister [of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov] has already outlined our position. We will insist on the return of the OSCE to its original principles, to its original purpose," the diplomat said. "If the OSCE wants to play any role, it is necessary to return to what it was created for."

On November 28, the press service of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said that the foreign ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia would boycott the OSCE ministerial meeting in Skopje because of the participation of Sergey Lavrov. Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba announced his refusal to participate in the meeting.

The 9th Primakov Readings International Forum titled: "Postglobalization Horizons" is running in Moscow on November 27-28. TASS is a general information partner of the forum.