US' Antony Blinken meets Russia's Sergei Lavrov on G20 sidelines, urges stance reversal on nuclear treaty

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Image: Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken briefly met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi on March 2 and called on him to reverse Russia's stand on the New START nuclear treaty.

Speaking to reporters in the Indian capital, Blinken called Russia's decision to suspend its participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) irresponsible.

"I urged Russia to reverse its irresponsible decision and return to implementing the New START Treaty, which places verifiable limits on the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Russian Federation," Blinken said late in the evening on March 2 following the conclusion of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

"Mutual compliance is in the interest of both our countries. It's also what people around the world expect from us as nuclear powers. I told the foreign minister that no matter what else is happening in the world, in our relationship, the United States will always be ready to engage and act on strategic arms control, just as the United States and the Soviet Union did even at the height of the Cold War," he added.

Earlier this week, President Vladimir Putin formally suspended Russia's participation in the New START Treat, which was the last remaining nuclear arms treaty it had with the US.

Blinken also said he told Lavrov to "end this war of aggression; engage in meaningful diplomacy that can produce a just and durable peace".

However, he added that Putin has shown "zero interest in engaging, saying there is nothing even to talk about until and unless Ukraine 'accepts the new territorial realities' while doubling down on his brualisation of Ukraine."

In a repeat of last week's meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, the Foreign Ministers' Meeting also resulted in only a Chair's Summary and Outcome Document - instead of a joint communique - after Russia and China opposed the inclusion of two paragraphs taken from the Bali Leaders' Declaration that condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine.