Sergey Lavrov: Has he fallen out of favor with Putin?

What's going on between Putin and Lavrov? Foreign media aren't reporting much on it anymore. But the Kremlin denies any rift between the two men.

The Kremlin has denied reports of a rift between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his long-serving foreign minister Sergey Lavrov . "All these reports are absolutely false," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. Lavrov continues to perform his duties "actively" and will continue to attend public events.

Lavrov last appeared in public at the end of October. Several foreign media outlets speculated that the minister had fallen out of favor. The reason given was his failure to reach an agreement with his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, on the details of a meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump in Budapest. The summit was postponed. At the end of October, the US then imposed sanctions on Russia's largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil.

Lavrov has been in office for 21 years, making him the longest-serving member of Putin's cabinet. In recent days, the Russian Foreign Ministry has only released written statements or video interviews with the top diplomat. His spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, made no mention of the minister's upcoming engagements at her weekly press briefing on Friday. According to current plans, the 75-year-old will not represent Russia at the upcoming G20 summit in South Africa .