BRUSSELS/VIENNA (Reuters) -Member countries are divided over the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's annual foreign ministers' meeting on Thursday with Baltic nations and Ukraine refusing to attend over the presence of Russia's Sergei Lavrov.

The OSCE is not the only international body where the West and Russia meet. Lavrov still attends Group of 20 events around the world and the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Skopje on Thursday,

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has faced Western critics while attending international security talks in Northern Macedonia

U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, will participate in the meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), at which Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to attend.

Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday it had received a lot of requests for one-on-one meetings with Sergei Lavrov, Moscow's top diplomat, on the sidelines of an OSCE meeting in North Macedonia.

Russia said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s plane had to change its route to reach a European security summit in North Macedonia after Bulgaria refused to allow it to cross its airspace.

Several foreign ministries have confirmed their boycott of the upcoming OSCE meeting, citing objection to the attendance of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on the sidelines of the Ukraine-NATO Council in Brussels,