Russia’s War in Ukraine High on Agenda of G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting

“We both agree on the need for the seventh EU sanctions package on Russia and we are working on it,” Kuleba said in a tweet.

According to US officials, Russia’s war on Ukraine has caused global economic instability, and Washington will not ease pressure on the Kremlin until Russia ends its military offensive.

No formal meeting has been scheduled between Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Bali. The US is not ruling out the possibility of a walkout to protest Lavrov’s presence at the G-20.

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“[I am] not going to speak at this stage to choreography, but we expect the secretary can be a full and active participant while also staying true to another overriding objective, and that is the fact that it cannot be business as usual with the Russian Federation,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday.

US and China

Blinken’s meeting with the Chinese foreign minister would be their first in-person since the chief US diplomat unveiled the Biden administration’s strategy to outcompete the rival superpower.

In his remarks at the time, Blinken said that the US was not seeking to decouple from China and that the relationship between the world’s two largest economies was not a zero-sum game.

For months, senior State Department officials have said they have not seen China providing material support to Russia for its war against Ukraine, and they have warned of “consequences” if the Beijing government does.

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