The heads of Russian and US diplomacy meet for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has met briefly this thursday in New Delhi with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in their first such meeting since the start of the Ukrainian war, a US official told the agency France Press.

Apart from the G20 talks, Blinken conveyed to Lavrov the commitment of The United States tosupport Ukraine, has put pressure on Russia urged it to revoke its decision to suspend the New START nuclear treaty and has urged the release of US prisoner Paul Whelan , the official said, requesting anonymity.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has blamed the West for thwarting approval of a joint declaration of the G20due to their efforts to bring to the fore the Ukrainian conflict, for which they blame Russia.

“Unfortunately, the joint declaration of the ministers of the G-20, our Western colleagues, just like a year ago during the Indonesian presidency, tried (…) with lies and rhetorical statements, to bring the situation in Ukraine to the fore,” he said. ; at a press conference.

A summary of the discussions

According to Lavrov, instead of the final declaration, the following will be made. I will publish a summary of the discussions within the framework of the G20, the group of the main rich and developing economies of the world. “The discussion, at least in the speeches of the Western delegations, fell into emotional statements. And all this, naturally, harmed the normal debate of the real problems that are on the agenda. of the G20,” he said.

The head of Russian diplomacy stressed that the As a result of this position of the Western countries “the declaration was blocked”. “The results of the discussions will be presented in a summary to be presented by the Indian presidency. I hope they objectively reflect the exchange of views that took place,” he said.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, Lavrov reiterated He said that Russia “has never refused serious proposals, which are presented from the sincere aspiration to achieve a political solution.”

“I will remind you one more time, while we They call for dialogue I don't remember any of our colleagues from the West or from other countries calling Ukraine to dialogue. Perhaps it is a truism, since Ukraine encourage her to continue the war,” she denounced.