Antony Blinken meets Sergey Lavrov at G20 riven by Ukraine divisions

The last time Blinken and Lavrov were in the same room -- at a G20 meeting in Bali last July -- the latter stormed out

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to each other on the sideline of a G20 meeting in New Delhi on Thursday – in their first face-to-face bilateral engagement since the former Soviet Union nation launched its war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

The G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New Delhi on Thursday saw the US and its allies strongly condemning Russia for its military aggression against Ukraine. Blinken, however, also used the opportunity to speak to Lavrov on the sideline of the conclave.

The US Secretary of State told journalists in the evening that he had spoken to the Russian Foreign Minister briefly on the sideline of the G20 meeting, which was hosted by the External Affairs Minister of India.

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“I told the foreign minister what I and so many many others said last week at the United Nations, and what so many G20 foreign ministers said today – end this war of aggression, engage in meaningful diplomacy that can produce a just and lasting peace,” Blinken said about his brief engagement with Lavrov.

Russia should reverse its decision to withdraw from its New START Treaty with the US, Blinken told Lavrov.

After American President Joe Biden on February 20 visited Kyiv and met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to express solidarity with the beleaguered East European nation, Russia responded by suspending its participation in the New START Treaty with the US.

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The New START Treaty was signed by Russia and the US in 2010 to bring down the number of nuclear weapons the two nations possess.

Lavrov also had a news conference shortly after attending the G20 meeting. He, however, did not refer to his talks with Blinken.

Blinken “asked for a contact” with Lavrov and they spoke to each other when both of them were “on the move” during the second session of the G20 meeting, the TASS news agency quoted Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Government, saying about the brief engagement between the two. “There was no negotiation, no meeting though.”

The US Secretary of State, however, also told journalists that he would not say that his talks with the Russian Foreign Minister might yield any result.

“We always remain hopeful that the Russians will reverse their decision and be prepared to engage in a diplomatic process that can lead to a just and durable peace, but I wouldn't say that coming out of this encounter there was any expectation that things will change in the near term,” Blinken said hours after his brief chat with Lavrov.