The head of Russian diplomacy attends G20 foreign ministers’ meeting despite the isolation imposed by the international community after the invasion of Ukraine
After the start of the invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made trips and met colleagues from other countries, but did not attend an event of international magnitude with the meeting of foreign ministers of the member states of the G20, taking place on the Indonesian island of Bali, in a hotel in Nusa Dua. And it is that Lavrov has come to meet the foreign ministers of the twenty major industrialized and emerging economies like an elephant in a china shop because of the boycott of his Western colleagues, who will have to decide whether they intend to talk to him or not. not . No one has seen him since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Some, such as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken or German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock have already expressed their dismay at the presence in Bali of the head of Russian diplomacy. As Baerbock noted in a statement, “It is in everyone’s interest that international law is respected. Russia must not use the G20 meeting as a platform in the midst of its aggression against Ukraine.”
This group includes Western countries that have accused Moscow of war crimes in Ukraine and imposed sanctions, while others such as China, Indonesia, India and South Africa have been more lenient. The first thing Lavrov did as soon as he arrived in Bali was to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, to whom he told that in light of the United States’ line “restraining the development of our countries, we will continue to increase and broaden our interaction on a practical level, China’s foreign minister replied that “despite the difficulties, we stick together and have the same strategic approach. Both have criticized the “illegal” Western sanctions, since, as they emphasized, they have been assumed to bypass the UN The Russian minister has already scheduled a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu and with Indonesian leaders, according to his press department.
The US State Department is confident that, despite Russia’s presence, the G20 can make progress in resolving the Ukrainian crisis, although it rules out the possibility of signing a joint statement with Lavrov there. Likewise, it has been confirmed that Blinken will not meet his Russian counterpart, although he will meet the Chinese to talk about the tensions between their respective countries.
The Secretary of State’s refusal to meet with Lavrov was mocked this Wednesday by Russia’s foreign spokeswoman, María Zajárova, by recalling Britney Spears’ song “Baby one more time,” the lyrics of which she reproduced on her Telegram account: “My loneliness is killing me and I must confess that I still believe. If I’m not with you, I’ll lose my mind. Give me a sign, let me fall in love one more time, baby.”
Lavrov and Blinken held their last face-to-face meeting in Geneva in January. Then on February 1, they spoke again by phone about the troops that Russia had deployed along the Ukrainian border and about the “security guarantees” Moscow needed to withdraw these troops, including avoiding further expansion of NATO and especially the non- inclusion of Ukraine.
The lack of agreement meant that on February 18, less than a week after President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion, the US State Department agreed to another meeting between Russian and US foreign ministers to further negotiate a solution. . The meeting was scheduled to take place in a few days, but Putin recognized the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk and decided to attack Ukraine.
Thursday and Friday’s meeting in Indonesia is the prelude to the G20 summit of heads of state and government to take place in November. also in Bali
Source: La Verdad
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