Karen Malayan, a 55-year-old Russian diplomat with a receding hairline and frameless glasses, serves as the temporary head of Russia's embassy to the EU in Brussels. Arriving in 2015, he became chargé d'affaires ad interim in 2024, actively promoting Kremlin talking points on social media. However, since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, EU institutions have imposed a cordon sanitaire, banning bilateral engagements with Russian diplomats. The European Commission, Council, and Parliament have suspended access, and most EU member states, including Slovakia under pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert Fico, avoid meetings. Mainstream think-tanks and lobby firms also shun him, though Malayan can still interact with diplomats from countries like China and India, the Russian diaspora in Belgium, and international firms.