Austrian foreign minister met Lavrov at OSCE's request, spokeswoman says

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, a spokeswoman for Schallenberg said.

"At the request of the OSCE and in consultation with the (OSCE) chairmanship, Foreign Minister Schallenberg spoke to the Russian foreign minister on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting about the outstanding package of appointments to OSCE leadership positions," the spokeswoman said.

The issue of extending four senior OSCE officials in the posts, including Secretary-General Helga Schmid, is the main outstanding one at the meeting. The spokeswoman added that as the OSCE's host country Austria has "a particular responsibility" and that was why Schallenberg had agreed to the OSCE's request.