The G20 meeting in Indonesia comes amid fierce battles in eastern Ukraine.
Bali:
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that Washington had “no indication” that Russia was engaging with G20 diplomats over its invasion of Ukraine after Moscow faced mounting criticism at talks in Indonesia. .
Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov walked out of a meeting with G20 foreign ministers on the resort island of Bali on Friday after Washington and its allies condemned Moscow’s attack on the neighboring country during closed-door talks.
“We see no indication that Russia is ready to engage in meaningful diplomatic activities,” Blinken said after meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Saturday. “If there’s a diplomatic opportunity, we’ll take it.”
Foreign Minister Lavrov walked out of the session Friday morning as his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock criticized the invasion. He then left an afternoon session before Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba addressed the ministers.
“There is a strong consensus and Russia has been isolated, as it has been many times since this war started,” Blinken said. “In fact, Foreign Minister Lavrov left the meeting early, maybe because the message was so clear.”
Speaking after his unusual five-hour talks with Wang, Blinken said he pressed Beijing to tacitly support the invasion and called on China to separate itself from the Kremlin.
He also announced that the United States would provide an additional $360 million to Ukraine, including food, clean drinking water, emergency health care and shelter.
The G20 meeting in Indonesia comes amid ongoing battles in eastern Ukraine, and with tensions between Moscow and Western nations at their highest in decades.
Blinken declined a face-to-face meeting with Lavrov and instead accused Russia of causing the global food crisis, demanding that Moscow allow grain shipments out of war-torn Ukraine.
“To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine is not your country. Its grain is not your grain. Why are you blocking the ports? You should leave the grain out,” Blinken said. in closed session on Friday, according to a current Western official.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Lavrov told reporters that he would not “run” with Washington to negotiate.
“It’s not that we’ve given up on contact, it’s the United States,” he said.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told AFP on Friday that the Russian diplomat had left after finding little support for the Ukraine war.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Foreign Minister Lavrov was not listening to his colleagues.
“It’s not the most constructive way to go to a G20 meeting,” he told AFP.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the syndication feed.)
