Lack of consensus seemed to be the dominant theme of the D-day of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in the capital. The biggest gathering of foreign ministers—standing at 27—may have come short of issuing a joint statement—as Russia and China chose not to sign on to the Bali formula to describe the Ukraine war—settling instead of the Chair’s summary and outcome document. But there were other divergent views—including on ‘contact’ as the Russians' version of the encounter of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Did they or didn’t they? The Americans insist that they did. The meeting—reported by the US media—lasted ten minutes. At a packed press conference, Blinken confirmed that he met the Russian Foreign Minister . “End this war of aggression, engage in meaningful diplomacy that can produce a just and durable peace,” Blinken said he had told Lavrov. But, he noted that “President Putin has demonstrated zero interest in engaging, saying there’s nothing to even talk about unless and until Ukraine accepts and I quote ‘the new territorial reality’.”
He also urged Russia to reverse “its irresponsible decision and return to” participation in the New START nuclear treaty. President Putin has recently declared that Russia will halt the New START agreement.
“Mutual compliance is in the interest of both our countries,” Blinken said he told Lavrov. “No matter what else is happening in the world, in our relationship, the United States is always ready to engage and act on strategic arms control, just as the United States and the Soviet Union did even at the height of the Cold War”.
Blinken said he also raised the issue of release of the American, Paul Whelan with Russia.
This is the first time the two leaders have ‘met’ since the Ukraine conflict began. The Russians, however, have refuted the claims. “Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked for contact with Foreign Minister Lavrov, during the second session of the G20 meet,” Russian spokesperson Maria Zakharova said. But there were no talks or a full-fledged meeting.
However, foreign minister Lavrov in his press conference—held earlier than the Americans at a different venue—said that he had encountered a Western diplomat in the corridor. “Unfortunately, we failed to adopt a resolution because of the rhetoric of the West,’’ he said.
A day to create history, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also met his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang. The meeting lasted 45 minutes. This meeting comes at a time when the relationship between the two countries remain tense.
“The thrust of our talks was on challenges in the bilateral relationship and the peace and tranquility at the LAC,” said Jaishankar at a briefing. “Our talks were about the current state of our relationship which many of you heard me describe as abnormal; those were among adjectives that I used in the meeting. There are real problems that need to be discussed openly and candidly and that is what we did today.”
