United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov have reportedly held brief conversation on the sidelines of the G20 ministerial meeting in New Delhi on Thursday for the first time since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal wrote.
The two touched upon several topics during the short encounter, according to the State Department official, with Blinken expressing Washington's support for Ukraine and calling on Russia to release detained American citizen, Paul Whelan. In addition, the state secretary urged Moscow to reconsider its decision on the withdrawal from the START nuclear treaty.
Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that Lavrov and Blinken chatted briefly at the request of the US State Secretary, but stressed that the conversation did not take the form of a scheduled meeting or negotiations.
