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Blinken says “no signs” of Russia’s engagement in Ukraine at G20 summit

#Blinken #signs #Russias #engagement #Ukraine #G20 #summit

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Washington sees “no signs” that Russia is working with G20 diplomats over its invasion of Ukraine, after Moscow faced a barrage of criticism at talks in Indonesia.

Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov stormed 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 its neighbor during the closed-door talks.

“We haven’t seen any signs that Russia is ready for meaningful diplomacy,” Blinken said after meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Saturday.

“If there is an opportunity for diplomacy, we will seize it.”

Lavrov walked out of a morning session on Friday as his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock criticized the invasion. He then left an afternoon session before Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba addressed ministers virtually.

“There was a strong consensus and Russia was left isolated, as has happened many times since the beginning of this war,” Blinken said.

“In fact, Foreign Minister Lavrov left the meeting early, perhaps because that message was so clear and distinct.”

After an unusually long five-hour talks with Wang, Blinken said he had pressed Beijing for its tacit support for the invasion and urged China to distance itself from the Kremlin.

He also announced that the United States would provide an additional $360 million to Ukraine, including for food, clean drinking water, emergency medical supplies and shelter.

The G20 meeting in Indonesia came amid raging fighting in eastern Ukraine and with tensions between Moscow and Western nations at their highest levels in decades.

Blinken declined to meet Lavrov directly, instead accusing Russia of triggering a global food crisis and urging Moscow to allow grain shipments from war-torn Ukraine.

“To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine is not your country. Your grain is not your grain. Why are you blocking the ports? They should let the grain out,” Blinken said, according to a Western official in Friday’s retreat.

Lavrov had previously told reporters he would not “run up” to Washington for talks.

“It was not us who cut ties, it was the United States,” he said.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told AFP on Friday that the Russian diplomat left after finding little support for the Ukraine war.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Lavrov had not listened to his colleagues.

“It’s not the most constructive way to attend a G20 meeting,” he told AFP.

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