U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a brief conversation on Thursday at a meeting of top diplomats from the Group of 20 nations, marking the first high-level meeting in months between the two countries. The encounter occurred as tensions between the U.S. and Russia continue to rise over Russia’s war with Ukraine.
According to U.S. officials, Blinken and Lavrov chatted for about 10 minutes on the sidelines of the G-20 conference in New Delhi. During the conversation, Blinken made three points to Lavrov: the U.S. would support Ukraine until the conflict ends, Russia should reverse its decision to suspend participation in the New START nuclear treaty, and Moscow should release detained American Paul Whelan.
The U.S. official, who spoke anonymously, stated that Blinken had made it clear to Lavrov that U.S. support for Ukraine was unwavering. While there was no immediate comment from Russia on the substance of the conversation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova confirmed that Blinken had requested to speak to Lavrov.
This was the first contact between Blinken and Lavrov since last summer, when Blinken called Lavrov about a U.S. proposal for Russia to release Whelan and formerly detained WNBA star Brittney Griner. Griner was later released in a swap for imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, but Whelan remains detained in Russia after being accused of spying.
The last time Blinken and Lavrov met in person was in January 2022, on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Geneva, Switzerland. Those talks were inconclusive as Russia moved ahead with its plans to invade, and Blinken then canceled a scheduled follow-up meeting with Lavrov that was set for just two days before Moscow eventually invaded on Feb. 24, 2022.
Despite attending several international conferences together since the war began, including the last G-20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali, Indonesia, last year, Blinken and Lavrov had not come face-to-face until their conversation on Thursday. While the conversation did not yield any immediate breakthroughs, it did represent a small step towards renewed dialogue between the two countries.
»US, Russia meets briefly in first high-level meeting in months«
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