During the G20 Summit, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Lavrov described his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as “constructive,” but noted that the US did not offer any new information. The two officials had met on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in India last week. Tensions between Russia and the US have been high since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of last year, with the two countries taking vastly different political stances.
In an interview on Russian state TV, Lavrov stated that he had a 10-minute conversation with Blinken in which they discussed nuclear arms and the conflict in Ukraine. This was their first meeting since the Russian invasion.
“We spoke constructively, without emotions, we shook hands,” Lavrov said.
In reference to his meeting with Blinken, Lavrov stated that he did not hear any new positions from the US and that the positions expressed had already been publicly stated many times before. Lavrov also shared his honest and detailed assessment of the New START treaty, which Russia suspended last month. Putin suspended Russian participation in the treaty, accusing the US of attempting to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia in the Ukraine conflict. While Russia remains in contact with Washington regarding the treaty, it appears unlikely that they will return to it.
Last year on February 24, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine. Although Russian forces initially made significant gains, they eventually had to retreat in the face of a Ukrainian counter-offensive. Currently, Russian forces are making a concerted effort to capture the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.