Blinken Meets Lavrov on the Sidelines of G20 in New Delhi: What They Talked About

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 in New Delhi. This was reported by CNN, citing a State Department spokesperson from Blinken’s team. The official said Blinken and Lavrov spoke for about 10 minutes. In the conversation, Blinken urged Russia to release Paul Whelan and renew participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction and Limitation Treaty (START), and stressed that the U.S. will continue to support Ukraine. The source also said that the meeting was not scheduled and that it was Secretary Blinken who approached Lavrov on the sidelines. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed to CNN that the meeting did take place. The last time Blinken and Lavrov met in person was before Russia invaded Ukraine. Before the G20 foreign ministerial meeting in India, Blinken told reporters he had no plans to meet with Russian or Chinese foreign ministers.