New Delhi: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be in New Delhi from March 1-3 to participate in the G2O Foreign Ministers’ meeting and hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine conflict completing a year and showing no signs of abating.
“March 1-3, New Delhi, negotiations with Indian FM @DrSJaishankar & participation in the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the #G20 Member States,” Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a tweet.
The presence of the Russian Foreign Minister in India for the G20 meeting assumes significance as it comes as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict crosses the one-year mark with no signs of slowing down, despite the West coming down heavily on Russia for the invasion.
US President Joe Biden paid a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a showing of strong support to the Ukrainian side.
Meanwhile, the US State Department, asked if US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would be travelling to India to join the G20 Meeting of Foreign Ministers’ where the Russian and Chinese ministers would be present, did not give the particulars of Blinken’s travel.
Department spokesperson Ned Price, to a question on the subject, said: “We haven’t announced the particulars of his travel to the G20. I think it’s safe to assume, of course, that Secretary Blinken will be traveling to the G20 next month. We’ll have more to say on that, I would expect, later this week.”
Resisting persistent pressure from the West to denounce Russia, India has stated that this is not an era of war and has called for both sides to end the violence and come to the table for peace talks.
India is the current president of the G20 and would be hosting the summit of G20 leaders in September this year. In the run-up to the summit, India has been organising meeting of various ministries related to G20, including Finance, Health, Tourism, Foreign Affairs, etc.
The G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, EU, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, UK and USA. The G20 Countries together represent around 90% of global GDP, 80% of global trade, and two thirds of the world’s population.
