G20 ministerial meeting: No plans for Lavrov-Blinken talks on sidelines confirms Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will not be holding a meeting or any talks during the upcoming G20 ministerial meeting in Indonesia, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Wednesday. "No, there are no such plans," he said in reply to a corresponding question from a reporter on the same. Ryabkov further noted that Moscow has established several other channels of communication through the embassies to address current issues, adding that no in person meeting will happen on the sidelines. 

Lavrov and Blinken, in the past, have met on the sidelines of G20 ministerial meetings but there was an exception in the year 2021. Russia's FM however had a conversation with the US President Joe Biden. On July 7-8 Lavrov would take part in a meeting of the G20 foreign ministers in Indonesia. But the US and Russia delegation will not hold bilateral discussion as war rages in Ukraine. "As time goes on, we may look into something else on this matter," Ryabkov told the state reporters on Wednesday referring to the barrae of sanctions, grain blockade, and other conflict related problems that US blamed Russia for. 

Russia also recently approved a proposal to terminate a memorandum of understanding with the US in the field of culture, humanitarian and social sciences, as well as education and mass media. 

US military aid to Ukraine intended to deprive Russia's independent stance

Russia's foreing minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the aim of US military aid package to Ukraine is to deprive Moscow of its autonomous stance on the international stage. In an interview with Rossiya 1, Lavrov iterated that Washington wants Moscow to have no say in international affairs, but it will fail eventually.  When asked about his opinion what America's true intentions in Ukraine are, Lavrov said that the war in Ukraine is being utilised by the US and its allies as just another means to weaken Russia. The Russian foreign minister's remarks came as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the German newspaper Bild that Western weapons given by the military alliance make it more likely that Ukraine will push Russian forces out of Donbass region in the east.