original title:U.S. and Russian foreign ministers meet and talk in New Delhi
Xinhua News Agency, New Delhi, March 3 (Reporter Hu Xiaoming) According to Indian media reports, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov held a contact and conversation on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in New Delhi on March 2. This is the first meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries since the Ukraine crisis escalated.
Indian media reported that the foreign ministers of the United States and Russia had a brief conversation for about 10 minutes. The report quoted a Russian official as saying that the “contact” was made at Blinken’s request. On the sidelines of the second phase of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Lavrov and Blinken stood and had a conversation, but “the two sides did not hold talks or meet in a real sense.”
The U.S. State Department website published Blinken’s press conference speech in New Delhi on the 2nd, including the three points he raised when he talked with Lavrov: end special military operations, start diplomatic dialogue; re-implement the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty “; release former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan convicted of espionage in Russia.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova said in a local live TV program on the 2nd that Lavrov had a brief conversation with Blinken during the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, and that Lavrov “in his usual way” , Rejected various proposals of the United States in diplomatic terms.
Zakharova posted on social media on the 3rd, denying that Blinken had mentioned questions about Paul Whelan. She said that she had confirmed this matter with Lavrov, and that Blinken “did not touch on this aspect at all” in the conversation. (Participating reporter: Geng Pengyu)
