NDTV News:-
The United States and Western allies pressured Russia at G20 talks in Indonesia Friday over its “unprovoked and unjustifiable war of choice” in Ukraine, but Moscow’s envoy remained defiant.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov joined colleagues for day-long talks in their first meeting since the outbreak of war, with the host immediately telling them the conflict must end through negotiations.
Before the meeting on the resort island of Bali, Blinken met his French and German counterparts and a senior British official to discuss “Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable war of choice” in Ukraine, the State Department said in a statement.
They “reviewed ways to address the global food security concerns that have resulted from Russia’s deliberate targeting of Ukrainian agriculture”, it said.
Blinken shunned a meeting with Lavrov and instead accused Russia of triggering a global food crisis, demanding Moscow allow grain shipments out of war-battered Ukraine.
“To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine is not your country. Its grain is not your grain. Why are you blocking the ports? You should let the grain out,” Blinken said in the closed-door talks, according to a Western official present.
Lavrov earlier told reporters he would not “go running” after Washington for talks.
“It was not us who abandoned contact, it was the United States,” he said, adding that no ministers walked out of the talks.
“Our Western partners are trying to avoid talking about global economic issues,” he added.
