U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, top center, walks past Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi Thursday, March 2, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met briefly Thursday at a meeting of top diplomats from the Group of 20 nations in the first high-level meeting in months between the two countries.
U.S. officials said Mr. Blinken and Mr. Lavrov chatted for roughly 10 minutes on the sidelines of the G-20 conference in New Delhi. The short encounter came as relations between Washington and Moscow have plummeted while tensions over Russia’s war with Ukraine have soared.
A senior U.S. official said Mr. Blinken used the discussion to make three points to Mr. Lavrov: that the U.S. would support Ukraine in the conflict for as long as it takes to bring the war to an end, that Russia should reverse its decision to suspend participation in the New START nuclear treaty and that Moscow should release detained American Paul Whelan.
The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation, said Mr. Blinken had “disabused” Mr. Lavrov of any idea they might have that U.S. support for Ukraine is wavering.
The official declined to characterise Mr. Lavrov’s response but said Mr. Blinken did not get the impression that there would be any change in Russia’s behaviour in the near term.
There was no immediate comment from Russia about the meeting, which is the first contact that Mr. Blinken and Mr. Lavrov have had since last summer, when they spoke by phone about a U.S. proposal for Russia to release Mr. Whelan and formerly detained WNBA star Brittney Griner.
Ms. Griner was later released in a swap for imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout but Mr. Whelan remains detained in Russia after being accused of spying.