- Blinken and Lavrov speak in person for the first time since the Ukraine war
- Blinken reiterates its support for Ukraine for as long as necessary
- Lavrov blames the West for global political and economic crises
- India says G20 unable to issue joint statement due to differences over war
NEW DELHI (Portal) – The United States and its European allies clashed with Russia over the war in Ukraine at a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in New Delhi on Thursday, with the rival sides accusing each other of damaging the world to destabilize.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a brief encounter on the sidelines of the meeting, during which Blinken urged Russia to reverse its decision on the new START nuclear deal, a senior US official said.
Blinken also told Lavrov that Washington stands ready to assist Ukraine in self-defense for as long as necessary, the official said. The two spoke for less than 10 minutes in what is believed to be their first face-to-face conversation since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“We always remain hopeful that the Russians will reverse their decision and be willing to engage in a diplomatic process that can lead to a just and lasting peace, but I wouldn’t say that after this encounter there were any expectations that things are going to change in the short term,” the US official said.
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Blinken, the official added, “wants to dissuade Russians from any notion that our support (for Ukraine) could falter or the support of our allies and partners could falter.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov and Blinken spoke “en route” but did not hold negotiations or a meeting, Russian news outlets reported.
News of the exchange came at the end of the all-day G20 meeting, which was overshadowed by the Ukraine war.
The United States and its European allies called on the Group of 20 (G20) nations to keep up the pressure on Moscow to end the conflict, now in its second year.
Russia hit back, accusing the West of turning work on the G20 agenda into a “farce” and saying Western delegations want to shift responsibility for their economic failures onto Moscow.
“PRINT RUSSIA”
“We must continue to urge Russia to end its war of aggression and withdraw from Ukraine for reasons of international peace and economic stability,” Blinken said in a remark released after his address at the retreat.
“Unfortunately, this meeting was marred again by Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine,” Blinken said.
He was supported by his counterparts from Germany, France and the Netherlands.
“Unfortunately, one G20 member prevents all other 19 from focusing all their efforts on these issues for which the G20 was created,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, according to the German delegation.
Baerbock turned to Lavrov and urged the Kremlin to return to full implementation of the New START nuclear weapons treaty and to resume dialogue with the United States.
“The threat of nuclear weapons should be countered,” she said.
President Vladimir Putin last week announced Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the recent START treaty after he – without providing evidence – accused the West of being directly involved in attempts to attack its strategic air bases.
Speaking at a UN conference in Geneva, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the United States had attempted to “investigate the security of Russian strategic facilities declared under the New START treaty by supporting the Kiev regime in implementing them.” supported armed attacks against them”.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said the war in Ukraine had “damaged almost every country on earth in terms of food, energy and inflation”. Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra told CNBC that Russia alone is responsible for the war and must continue to be sanctioned.
‘FARCE’
However, Russia’s Lavrov blamed the West for the global political and economic crisis.
“Some Western delegations have turned work on the G20 agenda into a farce, wanting to blame the Russian Federation for their economic failures,” Lavrov said, according to a Russian statement.
He said the West created barriers to exporting Russian agricultural products.
He accused them of “shamelessly burying” the Black Sea Grains Initiative, which facilitates Ukraine’s export of agricultural products from its southern ports, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The G20 includes the rich G7 countries as well as Russia, China, India, Brazil, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
India, which holds the bloc’s presidency this year, has sought to highlight the economic impact of the war, as well as issues such as climate change and poorer countries’ debt.
But New Delhi’s efforts to bridge differences and produce a joint statement or communiqué foundered over differences over the war. The meeting instead produced an “outcome document”.
India has refused to blame Russia for the war and has sought a diplomatic solution while increasing its purchases of Russian oil.
“There were disagreements on the Ukraine issue that we could not resolve between different parties with different positions,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told reporters at the end of the meeting.
Additional reporting by Aftab Ahmed, Neha Arora, Shivangi Acharya and Sarita Chaganti Singh, writing by YP Rajesh; Edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Angus MacSwan
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