Fueling rumors that snowballed on social media, Lavrov was not present in the Kremlin on Wednesday, when Putin said he was considering a resumption of nuclear weapons testing.
According to Kommersant, a Kremlin-linked Russian business outlet, Lavrov was absent from the meeting “with prior agreement.”
According to the Russian foreign ministry website, Lavrov’s last public appearance was on Oct. 28, when he took part in the Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security in the Belarusian capital.
The 76-year-old Lavrov will also not lead the Russian delegation at this year’s G20 summit, though he normally fills that role. The Kremlin said this week that the deputy head of Putin’s administration, Maxim Oreshkin, will represent Russia at the summit in Johannesburg later this month.
The Financial Times reported late last month that the U.S. decided to cancel the Budapest meeting about the war in Ukraine after a call between Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, because of the Russian’s uncompromising posture.
Lavrov has been a close ally of Putin and has led Russia’s diplomatic arm for 21 years.