Top diplomats meet on sidelines of G20 summit
(VOVWORLD) -US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov met briefly on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in India.
 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the G20 summit in India (Photo: Reuters) |
It was the first face-to-face interaction between the two countries' top diplomats since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began last February.
In the meeting that lasted about 10 minutes, Blinken asked Russia to reverse its decision to suspend participation in New Start, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the two powers and release detained American citizen Paul Whelan. He said the US stands ready to support Ukraine through diplomacy to end the conflict on this basis.
 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Group of 20 summit in India (Photo: Reuters) |
The same day, the foreign ministers of India and China met on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the talks “focused on addressing current challenges to the bilateral relationship and to peace and tranquility in border areas”, adding these problems should be discussed openly and candidly.