US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken criticized Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today, accusing him of a "tsunami of disinformation" and Moscow of escalation in Ukraine.

At a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Blinken said she was sorry that Lavrov left the hall after his speech.

I regret that our colleague, Mr. Lavrov, left the room, not showing the courtesy to listen to us as we listened to him, said Blinken at the meeting in Malta.

He added that Sergey Lavrov is very skilled at inundating listeners with a "tsunami of misinformation."

Previously, the head of Russian diplomacy accused the West of orchestrating a "new cold war" which, as he assessed, threatens to move into a "hot phase".

Sergey Lavrov is in Malta today, on his first visit to a European Union (EU) country since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2022.

Russia's foreign minister, who is under EU sanctions, has not visited the Union since visiting Stockholm in December 2021, also for an OSCE meeting.