G20 foreign ministers’ meet: Will India broker peace as Antony Blinken comes face-to-face with Sergey Lavrov?

Amid tensions between Moscow and Washington rising over the Ukraine invasion, Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov will come face-to-face with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the G20 foreign ministers’ meet in New Delhi on 1 and 2 March. India, which assumed the presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) on 1 December 2022, will host both leaders just days after Russia’s war in Ukraine completed a year on 24 February. Last Saturday (25 February), the finance chiefs of the world’s largest economies that met in Bengaluru for a G20 meet had failed to agree on a closing statement after Russia and China objected to the description of the war in Ukraine. What can we expect as Lavrov and Blinken come together for the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi? Will India attempt to broker peace between Russia and the US? Let’s take a closer look. What to expect? As per ThePrint report, a bilateral meeting between Blinken and Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 summit is “unlikely”. On the other hand, both Blinken and Lavrov will have bilateral talks with external affairs minister S Jaishankar as well as call upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the report added. During his visit, Blinken will “underscore the damage that Russia’s war of aggression has caused” and urge nations to intensify demands for Russia to end the war, Reuters reported earlier citing Ramin Toloui, the US assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs. Toloui also said that the top US diplomat will highlight America’s efforts to “address food and energy security issues affecting developing nations”. The US state department also said that Blinken would meet Indian government officials and civil society “to reaffirm our strong partnership”. If Blinken will try to convince India and the Central Asian countries to side more with the US on the Ukraine war, Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu told reporters on 24 February that these nations have “long, complex” relations with Russia. “I don’t think they’re going to end those relations anytime soon. But we are talking to them about the role that they can play in this conflict,” he said, as per The Hindu.  “We may not share the same approach every day on Ukraine, but I think we do share the goal that this conflict end, and it end based on principles in the UN Charter,” Lu added. [caption id=“attachment_12221242” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Sergey Lavrov and Antony Blinken will meet India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar during their trip to India. AP[/caption] Confirming Lavrov’s visit, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on 23 February that G20 is a “key forum for global governance”. It also said that the demand for diplomatic dialogue through the G20 has ramped up in the wake of “progressive confrontation in international relations, growing risks for the global economy, and de facto bullying by western political regimes”, ThePrint reported. Last July, Lavrov had walked out of a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting held in Indonesia’s Bali, after the West strongly condemned the Ukraine war. Meanwhile, a meeting of foreign ministers of the QUAD countries – the US, India, Australia and Japan – is also slated to be held on 3 March on the margins of the G20. Japan’s foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is likely to skip the G20 meet and it remains unclear if he will attend the QUAD meet. When Blinken and Lavrov talked for the first time after the war

In July 2022, Blinken spoke with Lavrov for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In “a frank and direct conversation”, Blinken said he “pressed the Kremlin to accept the substantial proposal that we put forth on the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner” – the two Americans who were detained in Russia. The Ukraine war had also featured in the telephone conversation between Blinken and Lavrov. As per CNN, Blinken warned Lavrov against Russia trying to annex more territories in Ukraine, adding that the “world will not recognise annexations” and “will impose additional significant costs on Russia if it moves forward with its plans.” The top US diplomat also told Lavrov that the world expected Russia to implement the deal it struck with Ukraine in Turkey to reopen grain and fertiliser exports blocked by war, which worsened the global food crisis, reported Reuters. The Russian foreign minister blamed the US sanctions on Russia for complicating the issue. Lavrov said Moscow will fulfill its “special military operation” in Ukraine – the term used by Russia to define its invasion. As per the Russian foreign ministry, Lavrov also told Blinken that “the continuous pumping of US and NATO weapons into the armed forces of Ukraine…only prolongs the agony of the regime in Kyiv prolonging the conflict and multiplying the casualties”, reported Reuters. ALSO READ: One Year of Russia-Ukraine Conflict: How India emerged as a peacemaker, while China’s neutrality became doubtful Will India broker peace? As the Ukraine war continues to shadow the G20 meetings, India will hope that issues such as climate change and Third World debt are not neglected, noted Reuters. “India does not want Ukraine to dominate the event, but it will be top of the agenda”, an Indian foreign ministry official told Reuters on the condition of anonymity.

It is New Delhi’s “intention to continue playing the voice of the Global South and raising issues pertinent to the region,” the official further said.

The Economic Times (ET) report says that India is making efforts to bridge the gap between the West and Russia as well as build a consensus over a joint statement. [caption id=“attachment_12221262” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] India will hope that issues such as climate change and Third World debt are not sidelined during G20 meetings. AP File Photo[/caption] New Delhi is holding discussions with all sides including significant members of the Global South such as South Africa, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Argentina, to reach a consensus at the end of this week’s foreign ministers’ meeting, the report added. India has maintained a neutral stance in the Russia-Ukraine war, defying the Western pressure to condemn Moscow for its actions. However, New Delhi has repeatedly called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict, with Modi telling Russian president Vladimir Putin the “era of war” is over on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand last September. “Differences over the conflict will be played out again at this week’s meeting”, Anil Wadhwa, a former Indian diplomat and distinguished fellow at New Delhi’s Vivekananda International Foundation, told Reuters. “It is unlikely that G20 foreign ministers can agree on common language suggesting ways and mechanisms to deal with the situation in Ukraine,” he stated. “The reasons are many but the most important issue is that the situation in Ukraine has become extremely fluid.” With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News,  India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.