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.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov faced Western critics while attending international security talks Thursday in Northern Macedonia, where he blamed “NATO’s reckless expansion to the East” for war returning to Europe.

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.

Lavrov told a meeting of OSCE ministers in North Macedonia that the organisation was an "appendage" of NATO and the EU, before walking out.

Officials walk out as Russia’s Sergei Lavrov speaks at European security meeting - Foreign ministers of Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had said they would not attend the talks due to Mr Lavrov