Ashish Ranjan
G20 foreign ministers meet: Thursday’s G20 meeting in New Delhi was in disarray after Russia accused the West of “blackmailing and threatening” other nations.
India had hoped to focus on issues such as poverty alleviation and climate finance during its G20 presidency this year, but Russia’s conflict with Ukraine has thus far overshadowed other topics.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in New Delhi for the first time since July, but it was unlikely that they would engage in dialogue.
The United States has accused China of contemplating arming its Russian ally, and Western delegates will use the foreign ministers’ summit to dissuade China from intervening in the conflict.However, Russia issued a strongly worded statement after Lavrov met with his Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, on the margins of the G20 summit.
“Attempts to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries, to impose unilateral approaches through coercion and threats, and to oppose the democratisation of international relations were unanimously rejected,” the Russian foreign ministry said.
After Lavrov’s remarks, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares stated on Thursday that the Group of 20 meeting in India was unlikely to produce a unified statement.”After hearing the foreign minister of Russia’s remark, I do not believe that Russia is prepared to accept an acceptable statement,” Albares told reporters.
Uncertain as to what Lavrov said during the closed-door meeting, the Russian foreign ministry stated prior to his arrival that he would use the forum to criticise Western nations regarding the conflict.
Tuesday, the ministry stated, “The destructive policy of the United States and its allies has already brought the world to the verge of disaster.”
Zero Evidence
Blinken stated that he had no intention of interacting with the Russian or Chinese foreign ministers at the G20 summit.Western officials claim that the last time Blinken and Lavrov were in the same room together, at a G20 meeting in Bali last July, Lavrov rushed out.
Blinken used his address to demand that Moscow renew a UN-brokered agreement to enable exports of Ukrainian grain, which is set to expire this month and had helped to reduce the global food price inflation.
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According to his prepared remarks, “Russia has deliberately and systematically slowed its pace of inspections, creating a backlog of ships that could be delivering food to the globe today.”
After the United States shot down a putative Chinese spy balloon over its east coast on February 4, Blinken had a fiery exchange with top diplomat Wang Yi in Germany last month.
