Antony Blinken, the head of US diplomacy, spoke by phone this Friday with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. This first exchange between the two men since the start of the war in Ukraine was an opportunity to send several messages.
“frank and direct” discussion
Antony Blinken says in particular that he warned Sergei Lavrov that the world would “never” recognize the annexation of Ukrainian territories.
During this discussion described as “frank and direct”, he also urged Moscow to accept Washington’s offer for the release of the Americans detained in Russia.
“We had a frank and direct discussion,” said the US Secretary of State during a press conference. “I asked the Kremlin to accept the important offer we made to them.”
“It was very important for the Russians to hear directly from us that this will not be accepted and not only will it not be accepted, but it will result in significant additional costs for Russia,” he said.
The US official also said that Russia was preparing “rigged referendums” to try to “falsely demonstrate” that people living in these Ukrainian territories “seek to be part of Russia.”
During this exchange, the head of US diplomacy analyzed the US offer to free basketball player Brittney Griner and former US soldier Paul Whelan. It would be a swap for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer jailed in the United States.
Antony Blinken refused to describe Sergei Lavrov’s reaction. “I can’t tell you if I think things are more or less likely,” he said. “But it was important that I hear it directly.”
Bilateral relations “to normalize”
For its part, Russian diplomacy indicated that the two ministers had “exchanged their views on the problem of bilateral relations that urgently need to be normalized.”
“Regarding a possible exchange of Russian and American prisoners, the Russian side insisted on returning to the regime of professional dialogue, free from media speculation, within the framework of ‘discreet diplomacy,'” it said in a statement.
Antony Blinken also urged his Russian counterpart to ensure that Moscow honors its commitment under the deal, brokered with Turkey’s help, on Ukrainian grain blocked in Ukrainian ports.
Sergei Lavrov, for his part, denounced the continuation of deliveries of “US and NATO weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces and nationalist battalions, which are widely used against the civilian population, by prolonging the agony of the Kyiv regime, by prolong the conflict and multiply the victims,” according to Russian diplomacy.
Source: BFM TV
