Days ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, external affairs minister S Jaishankar met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the margins of Asean-related meetings in Indonesia on Wednesday and reviewed bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
Jaishankar travelled to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta early on Wednesday, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrival in the city to participate in the Asean-India Summit and the East Asia Summit on Thursday.
Modi is making a brief visit to Indonesia only to join the two summits and is not expected to hold any bilateral meetings.
“Good to meet FM Sergey Lavrov of Russia in Jakarta on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit. Useful stocktaking of our bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Discussed East Asia Summit and G20 issues,” Jaishankar posted on X.
Jaishankar said in another post that he met his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi and discussed the East Asia Summit and G20 Summit. Both India and Indonesia, along with Brazil, are part of the G20 troika that groups the past, current and incoming presidencies of the bloc and plays a key role in shaping its agenda.
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been the issue that held up joint statements at all the G20 ministerial meetings hosted so far and members of the G7 have said they won’t accept anything less than the text used in the leaders’ declaration at the last G20 Summit in Bali to refer to the Ukraine crisis.
Russia and China have opposed the inclusion of the Ukraine conflict and geopolitical issues in the draft leaders’ declaration currently being finalised by G20 negotiators in New Delhi.
Russia has announced that President Vladimir Putin won’t attend the G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi during September 9-10, and that Lavrov will lead the Russian delegation. Putin telephoned Modi on August 28 to explain his decision. Modi expressed understanding for the decision and thanked Putin for “Russia’s consistent support to all initiatives under India’s G20 presidency”.
In another sign of the divisions within the G20 on the Ukraine crisis, US secretary of state Antony Blinked travelled to Kyiv on Wednesday to “demonstrate the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy, especially in the face of Russia’s aggression”, the US state department said.
Blinken will meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba to discuss Ukraine’s counteroffensive and future recovery and reconstruction efforts.
He will “address Ukraine’s energy, security, and humanitarian needs, and make announcements about how the United States can continue supporting Ukraine in these areas”, the state department said.
