No joint communique on Ukraine conflict due to rift between West, Russia

With the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi unable to come out with a joint communique due to the sharp rift between the West and Russia over the Ukraine conflict, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this is not a reflection on India's efforts as host but of the divisions" seen among countries in the international fora.

India as President of the G20 hosted the Foreign Ministers Meeting on Thursday in New Delhi, attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang among counterparts from other G20 nations.

The meeting was unable to come out with a joint communique due to a sharp rift between the West and Russia over the Ukraine conflict despite efforts by host India to bridge the differences.

Blinken told a news conference in the Indian capital that Russia and China were the two countries that did not support a joint communique at the meeting.

Well, we are not a party to the meeting. I think this is obviously in no way a reflection on the hosts, and on the efforts of India as the host of the G20. Since we're not at the table, it is not for us to proportion, blame and to analyze where the issue may be. It is yet however another reflection of the divisions we see in a number of international fora, Stphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said at the daily press briefing on Thursday.

Dujarric was responding to a question on the conclusion of the G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting without a joint communiqu and Washington putting the blame for this on Moscow and Beijing.

On the sidelines of the G20 meeting, Blinken and Lavrov spoke briefly face to face-for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine a year ago. I told the Russian foreign minister that no matter what else is happening in the world and our relationship, the US will always be ready to engage and act on strategic arms control just as the US and the Soviet Union did at the height of the Cold War, Blinken said.

In response to a question on how the Secretary-General sees the Blinken-Lavrov meeting, Dujarric said: On one hand we didn't see an agreement, joint agreement or joint statement, on the other hand, any opportunity for direct dialogue between the Russian Federation and the US is to be welcomed.

But I have no more insight into what was said. But we always believe direct discussions and face-to-face discussions are best, Dujarric said.