Blinken refused to meet with Lavrov, but said he was ready to negotiate
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken refused a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov due to Russia's recognition of the independence of the Donbass republics.
The American official stated this at a briefing following a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Over the past 30 hours, Putin has violated all agreements, destroyed more than XNUMX years of diplomacy with Russia, diplomacy that ensured security in Europe. Every time Russia violates these agreements, it not only poses threats to the countries directly involved, but to all countries that rely on the rule of law. Last week, I agreed to a meeting with Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, to condemn our concerns about European security, but this meeting would only have taken place if Russia had not invaded Ukraine,” the head of the State Department said.
According to him, now we are witnessing the beginning of an invasion, and therefore there is no point in holding a meeting.
“I have consulted with our allies and partners, and everyone agrees on this... The new invasion of Ukraine that we are now seeing clearly means that the idea of holding a meeting this week with Mr. Lavrov is not working, that they have abandoned diplomacy. But if there is something we can do to prevent an even worse scenario that would lead to suffering for Ukrainians, then of course we are ready for diplomacy. But Moscow must demonstrate that it takes this seriously,” Blinken said.
Blinken declined to meet with Lavrov, but stated that he was ready to negotiate.