G20: End this war of aggression, Antony Blinken tells Sergei Lavrov

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said he urged his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to “end this war of aggression” in Ukraine.

The two spoke for less than 10 minutes in what is believed to be their first one-on-one conversation in person since before Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken said the meeting was unscheduled and sought by the US when Lavrov was on the move.

“I told the foreign minister what I and so many others said last week at the United Nations and what so many G20 foreign ministers said today -- end this war of aggression, engage in meaningful diplomacy that can produce a just and lasting peace,” Blinken told reporters after talks in New Delhi.

He also told the press after the first G20 Foreign Ministers meeting ended on Thursday that only Russia and China opposed condemnation of the war in Ukraine. 

The US Secretary of State said he asked Lavrov that Russia should honour international treaties, which place verifiable limits on the nuclear stockpiles of both the US and Russia.

His statement opens to questions Russia’s support for the common outcome document brought out under India's presidency of the G20.

“The chair's statement by India today reiterated the declaration issued by G20 last year in Bali that strongly condemned the war in Ukraine, and stressed that it was causing immense suffering, and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy,” Blinken stated.

Russia and China were the only two countries that made clear that they will not sign that text, he said.

He also stressed that 18 members of the G20 reiterated that it was essential to uphold international law in the multilateral system. This included defending all of the principles enshrined in the charter of the United Nations and adhering to international humanitarian law, he said.

A senior US official said Blinken urged Russia to reverse its decision on the New START nuclear treaty. “We always remain hopeful that the Russians will reverse their decision and be prepared to engage in a diplomatic process that can lead to a just and durable peace, but I wouldn't say that coming out of this encounter there was any expectation that things will change in the near term," the US official said.

Blinken, the official added, wanted to "disabuse the Russians of any notion that our support (for Ukraine) might be wavering or the support from our allies and partners might be wavering".

Meetings with Jaishankar

Blinken also met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.

In a press statement, the US State Department said the meeting focussed on shared efforts to elevate and expand cooperation on strategic technology, defense, and industry. 

They also spoke on the efforts to promote food, energy, and global health security, the clean energy transition, counternarcotics cooperation, and women’s economic empowerment, it said.

‘Return to new START’

German Foreign Minister Baerbock on Thursday called on her Russian counterpart to return to the full implementation of the new START nuclear arms control treaty.

“I ask you, Mr (Sergei) Lavrov, to return to full implementation of new START,” Baerbock said during the first G20 session on multilateralism, according to the German delegation.

Lavrov hails India’s ‘highly responsible’ stance
 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blamed Western countries for the G20 foreign ministers' meeting not being able to come out with a joint communique, saying their “rhetorical statements” around Ukraine did not yield any good and were “damaging”.

Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the meeting, Lavrov hailed India's "highly responsible" and "worthy of a great power" stance on key matters of global agenda.