“Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chatted briefly on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in India on Thursday, the first meeting between the top diplomats since Russia invaded Ukraine,” NBC News reports.
“Their encounter involved less than 10 minutes of discussion.”
Politico: “The U.S. official said Blinken used the brief conversation on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in New Delhi to make three points to Lavrov: that the U.S. would continue to support Ukraine in its defense against Russia for as long as it takes to end the war; that Russia should rejoin the New START nuclear treaty; and that Russia should release imprisoned American Paul Whelan.”
“The official added that Blinken ‘disabused’ Lavrov of any idea that the United States’ support of Ukraine would waver, and that the secretary of State didn’t get the impression from the Russian foreign minister that Moscow’s behavior would change in any way.”
