G20 meet: Here are key highlights from US State Secy's speech after meeting with Russia

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Thursday delivered a press conference at the G20 meeting in New Delhi. Blinken thanked India for setting the agenda for the G20 meeting of the foreign ministers, adding that the "statement by India today reaffirmed the declaration issued by the G20 leaders last April during the summit in Bali, which 'strongly condemned the war in Ukraine, and distress causing immense human sufferings, and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy.'"

Key highlights from Blinken's speech in India on margins of G20:

• At least 18 members of the G20 last year reaffirmed that it is essential to uphold international law and democracy vital to the systems, including defending all principles of the charter of the United Nations and international humanitarian laws, Blinken noted, in reference to the ongoing war in Europe's eastern flank. But Russia and China were the only countries that did not sign that text, Blinken said, registering an objection to the posture assumed by Russia's steadfast ally during his speech. 
• Blinken noted that "every country on globe continues to bear the cost of Russia’s war in Ukraine, “a war Russia’s President Vladimir Putin could end tomorrow [if he chooses to do so].” The US Secretary of State stressed that the United States “did not want this war” but we stand with Ukraine to defend its sovereignty, as any ally nation would do. He pledged relentless support for Ukraine to achieve lasting peace. 
• Blinken underscored the “unprecedented food security crisis” that has gripped nations worldwide due to the ongoing war. The US is committed to helping countries step up food production to deter the global future shocks, said Blinken, adding that the Biden administration has allocated $11 bn over the next 5 years to boost the world's developing countries’ resilience and food production, and their sustainable capacity to feed their people.
• Blinken attributed the food crisis to the looming climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the conflicts. "But the global food crisis was worsened by the ongoing war in Russia," he noted.
• Blinken thanked Turkey and the UN for its coordinated effort to broker the Black Sea Grain Initiative that apparently “loosened the stronghold of Russia on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.” An estimated 22 million metric tons of grain, equivalent to 8 billion loaves of bread, could be shipped from the Ukrainian ports despite the raging war for the world market, he stressed.
• Blinken expressed concerns about the Black Sea Initiative expiring on March 13, noting, that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had refused to renew it. "At the G20 meeting in India today, the leaders agreed that the Black Sea Initiative shall be extended, and strengthened," said the US Secretary of State. 
• G20 ministers discussed the proliferation and smuggling of illicit drugs including the synthetic opioid–Fentanyl that killed more than 70,000 people in America last year. “No country can tackle this problem alone, and the challenges demand global efforts," Blinken stated. For the first time, the G20 ministers pressed for international cooperation to counter illicit synthetic drugs, Blinken said. At India’s G20 meeting, “we create a focused line of effort to bring together governments, international and regional organizations, private sectors and others to tackle this problem,” he added, calling illegal drug supplies a fundamentally global health issue. 
• G20 ministers also addressed the climate change crisis, said the US Secretary of state, adding that the focus was emphasized on strengthening global health security. Blinken stated that he had an opportunity to interact, on the sidelines of the G20 summit, with leaders from India, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia, and Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Argentina. 
• Blinken commended the efforts of India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for securing G20 consensus on broad sets of agreements reflected in the shared summary from the G20 document. “That’s a first for the G20 foreign ministries,” said Blinken.
• "India’s EAM and I speak so frequently that we pick up right after where we left,” said Blinken. India and the US work rigorously to strengthen their partnership in concrete ways, US supports India’s shared ambitions on the G20 agenda, he said. The US is committed to advancing the US India's critical and emerging technologies and artificial intelligence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden discussed on the margins of the G-20 summit in Bali, last year, and vows to engage in shared commitments to UN rights and democratic values, Blinken said. 
• Blinken said, "Tomorrow, we will join the foreign ministers of QUAD in Australia for a meeting to ensure the free movement of the partner countries via the sea, and boost cooperation around the humanitarian systems, and disaster relief." The need for this was brought about by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, Blinken noted. 
• Blinken underscored his less than 10 minutes conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the margins of G20. Russia must reverse its “irresponsible” decision to suspend the New START treaty and return to its implementation, urged the US Secretary of State. The treaty places verifiable limits on the stockpiling of the nuclear arsenal of the United States and the Russian Federation. “Mutual compliance is in the interest of both our countries and for people around the world,” said Blinken. The US "will always be ready to engage in discussions of strategic arms control with Russia, just as the two countries did at the height of the Cold War," maintained Blinken.
• Blinken said that he raised the issue of “wrongful detention” of US Marine Paul Whelan, convicted on alleged spying charges in Russia with Russian counterpart Lavrov. The US has extended a serious proposal to Russia for securing the release of Whelan, announced Blinken, adding that “Moscow must consider it.” 
• “End this war of aggression,” asserted Blinken concluding his speech, in an indirect appeal to Russia’s President Putin. “Engage in diplomacy that can produce just and global peace,” Blinken said, adding that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has tabled a 10-point peace plan that the US stands “ready to support.” Russia’s president, however, has demonstrated “zero interest in engaging” saying that there is nothing to talk about unless Ukraine accepts ‘territorial realities.’