Russia’s top diplomat stormed out of talks with G20 foreign ministers meeting in Indonesia on Friday, as western powers criticized Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
Washington and its allies condemned Russia’s attack ahead of the meeting, before Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov faced what US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described as a barrage of Western criticism at the closed-door talks.
“What we have heard today is a strong chorus from around the world… about the need to end aggression,” Blinken said at the gathering on the resort island of Bali.
Blinken and Lavrov had joined colleagues for days of talks in their first meeting since the outbreak of war, with the host immediately telling them the conflict must be ended through negotiations.
But Lavrov walked out of a morning session when German counterpart Annalena Baerbock criticized Moscow for its invasion, diplomats said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, before storming out on Friday
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (R) welcomes Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali on Friday
Baerbock criticized Moscow for blocking dialogue with international partners after Lavrov left her speech.
Speaking to German television from the G20 meeting in Bali, Baerbock said Lavrov “left halfway through the first session” and skipped a second session, “which shows even more clearly that he is not involved in international cooperation or dialogue with the other G19 partners is interested”.
Lavrov also later waived an afternoon session before a virtual appearance by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and was not present when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Russia at the closed-door meeting in Bali, diplomats said.
“This underscores the Russian government’s complete lack of willingness to talk, especially on the important issue of how we will tackle the global food crisis,” she said.
Baerbock said that while the remaining 19 countries had different views on “Russia’s war of aggression,” they had “appealed very clearly to Russia that this war must end.”
“The majority of countries have made it clear that Russia has a responsibility to stop the bombing immediately,” she said.
Lavrov told reporters in front of the Mulia Hotel: “Our western partners try to avoid talking about global economic problems.
“From the moment they speak, they begin feverish criticism of Russia.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (pictured on Friday) avoided meeting Lavrov, instead accusing Russia of triggering a global food crisis and urging Moscow to allow grain shipments from war-torn Ukraine.
Rescuers clear debris from a destroyed school Monday after an attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine
Blinken avoided meeting Lavrov, instead accusing Russia of triggering a global food crisis and urging Moscow to allow grain shipments from war-torn Ukraine.
“To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine is not your country. His grain is not your grain. Why are you blocking the ports? They should let the grain out,” Blinken said in the closed-door talks, according to a Western official who was present.
Lavrov previously told reporters he would not “run up” to Washington for talks.
“It was not us who cut ties, it was the United States,” he said.
Before the meeting, Blinken met his French and German counterparts and a senior British official to discuss “Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable election campaign” in Ukraine, the Foreign Office said in a statement.
However, the gathering was soon overshadowed by the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a campaign rally on Friday.
After the shooting, Blinken sounded alarm at the attack on a longtime ally of Washington and Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, calling it a “very sad moment.”
Before news of the attack broke, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi addressed the war in Ukraine in a speech to ministers including Lavrov.
“It is our responsibility to end the war sooner rather than later and settle our differences at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield,” Marsudi said.
A US official pointed out that Washington did not want to embarrass Indonesia at the meeting by leaving Lavrov.
But there will be no family photo of the G20 ministers, as is customary, an Indonesian government official told AFP.
The hosts have addressed US concerns about Lavrov’s partial participation by inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to November’s G20 summit.
In his speech, Kuleba urged ministers to “remember 344 families who lost their children while listening to Russian lies.”
Local residents watch as smoke billows after shelling amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Thursday
“The minister of the country responsible for her death appears before you today to share his thoughts on how Russia views cooperation in our globalized world,” he added.
Blinken arrived at the Mulia Hotel on Friday, where he was able to speak with South Africa’s foreign minister before entering the same room as Lavrov, whom he last met in January.
Russia’s top diplomat sat at the start of the meeting between the Saudi Arabian and Mexican foreign ministers.
Blinken’s efforts to take a strong Western stance on Russia at the meeting were diluted after Britain’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss resigned following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation as leader of his party on Thursday.
She flew in from Indonesia on Friday morning and was replaced by former British ambassador to the European Union Sir Tim Barrow, a British official told AFP.
While in Bali on Saturday, Blinken will also attempt to resume dialogue with Beijing in talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the first in months after tensions rose over issues including Taiwan.
The meeting comes as US President Joe Biden expresses hope for talks in the coming weeks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he last spoke in March.
Lavrov met with Wang on Thursday to discuss Russia’s invasion, which Moscow says was launched to prevent Ukraine from joining the NATO military alliance.
The United States has condemned Beijing’s support for Russia, and Blinken is expected to repeat those warnings in talks with Wang.