Brief Encounter: What Transpired Between Lavrov and Blinken at the G20 Summit?

A senior official from the U.S. State Department confirmed that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov spoke for no more than ten minutes on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. The official stated that Blinken reiterated Washington's readiness to support Ukraine's defense as needed, during what is believed to be the first one-on-one conversation between the two ministers since before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Lavrov did not mention the meeting during a press conference held after the G20 foreign ministers' meeting on Thursday. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Lavrov and Blinken spoke "briefly," but did not hold negotiations or a meeting, according to Russian news agencies on Thursday. The American official, who requested anonymity, noted that Blinken also urged Russia to reconsider its decision to suspend participation in the New START nuclear treaty and to release American citizen Paul Whelan, who is detained there.