Blinken to hold talks with Chinese FM but unlikely to meet Russia's Sergey Lavrov at G20

On the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold a rare meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the State Department informed in a statement on Tuesday. While Beijing's support of Moscow in the ongoing war in Ukraine is likely to exacerbate foiled bilateral relations between the US and Chinese officials, Blinken plans to focus on the global food and energy security crisis at the broader G-20 gathering in Indonesia.

It is learned that the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be present in the same room as Blinken but US State Department spokesman Ned Price said he does not expect any meeting between Blinken and Russian Foreign Minster at this week's meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Bali.

'Time is not right'

Accusing Moscow of launching a brutal assualt on the sovereignity of its European ally Ukraine, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday at a presser that the “time is not right” for any bilateral engagement between the two diplomats. Biden administration has ruled out “business as usual” with Russia after it launched invasion of Ukraine and slapped a barrage of sanctions to cripple Moscow's economy.

“The secretary intends to engage fully in the G-20. I’m not going to speak to any plans on the part of Foreign Minister Lavrov, but I can tell you the secretary will be a full and active participant in the G-20, which we see as a valuable forum,” the State Department spokesman told reporters.

"We would like to have the Russians give us a reason to meet on a bilateral basis with them, with Foreign Minister Lavrov, but the only thing we have seen emanate from Moscow is more brutality and aggression against the people and country of Ukraine,” Price furthermore added.

The G20 summit is scheduled on July 7 and 8 and will be the first ever in-person confrontation between Blinken and Lavrov since war began in Ukraine. The US State Department announced that Blinken, instead, will meet with Chinese official Wang in Bali. The two last held a dialogue in October 2021 on the sidelines of a Group of 20 ministerial meeting on the Indonesian resort island at the time of heightened tensions over the Taiwan issue. 

Blinken, and Yi's meeting comes ahead of US President Joe Biden declaring that he hopes to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming weeks. Blinken will also make a trip to ally island nation Thailand for a visit that was cancelled earlier last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Indonesia Blinken will "reinforce US' commitment to working with international partners to confront global challenges, including food and energy insecurity and the threat Russia’s continued war against Ukraine presents to the international order," the state department announced.

Blinken will hold a bilateral meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and later with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai in Bangkok, Thailand. 

"He [Blinken] looks forward to discussing a range of issues, including building on the successes of Thailand’s APEC 2022 agenda during our 2023 APEC host year, expanding health and climate cooperation, and addressing the crisis in Burma," US State Department informed in an official release.