Surprise meeting between the US secretary of state Antony blinken and the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of the G20 in New Delhi, India. The first between Russia and the United States since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and in general the most important institutional meeting between a representative of the two countries in over a year.
It is an important signal, because it breaks the line adopted in recent months by Washington: there is no possibility of negotiation on the horizon, Moscow is deaf. In the Indian capital, however, Blinken made it known that he had requested "a brief meeting" with Lavrov "to keep communication channels open". Russia did not make any immediate comments on the substance of the conversation, but only stressed that "there were no negotiations". Therefore, a change in Moscow's behavior in the short term cannot be ruled out. And from time to time the tension continues to rise on the field.
What did Blinken and Lavrov say to each other?
The two diplomats spoke for barely ten minutes. “I asked Lavrov to put an end to this unjust aggression and work for a lasting peace,” Blinken said at a news conference in New Delhi. “I told the Russian foreign minister what the UN asked for a week ago: put an end now to an unjust aggression and commit yourself to lasting peace. Putin – added the US secretary of state – has never shown interest in peace”. The secretary of state also told Lavrov that Moscow should rejoin the nuclear arms control treaty new start (Putin announced the suspension of Russia about ten days ago); which should release Paul Whelan, former Marine arrested in 2018 and sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison for espionage; that it should not be "deceived", America's support for Ukraine is not waning, and will last as long as necessary.
Blinken rejects the Chinese peace plan
Blinken defined the peace plan in twelve points presented by Xi Jinping as "a simple smokescreen to allow the Russians to continue war operations". The US, therefore, repeats that there is no concrete possibility of negotiation on the horizon.
