The WHO helps Russia return to the global arena, as reported by international media outlets

Despite condemning Russia for the war in Ukraine, Russian officials are still welcomed at high levels in Europe. The country remains a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) and actively participates in international conferences.

This was reported by the Lithuanian portal Delfi.

Non-random meetings

On June 16, WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge visited Moscow, where he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and shook his hand. The meeting caused quite a stir, with Ukrainian politicians claiming that such visits are morally and politically unacceptable, while damaging the WHO's reputation.

Estonian Minister of Social Affairs Carmen Yoller posted on X that Kluge "risks legitimizing a regime that deliberately attacks the values that the WHO is supposed to defend." At the same time, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže said that Russia is killing civilians in Ukraine, attacking hospitals, including a children's cancer center, while the WHO is turning a blind eye.

This visit by the WHO representative was not accidental. A Russian delegation led by Deputy Health Minister Oleg Salagay also participated in the COP10 conference on tobacco control organized by the WHO, which took place last year in Panama. The next COP11 will take place in Geneva on November 17-22. So far, there is no official information about the participation of the Russian delegation there. But this example of sanctioned officials arriving from the Russian Federation to Switzerland this summer suggests a high probability of such a visit.

International relations despite sanctions

A Russian delegation led by Valentina Matvienko, Chair of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, took part in the VI World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the 15th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliaments at the end of July.

Matvienko was accompanied by nine other high-ranking Russian government officials and deputies. At least five of them, including the speaker of the Russian parliament herself, are subject to Western sanctions, but Switzerland made an exception for them.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi criticized the Russian presence in Geneva. He said that Matvienko "should be courted [in The Hague]" and that the Russians' visit to Geneva "is a disgrace and should never have happened."