US, Russia top diplomats hold first talks since the war
New Delhi: The top diplomats of the United States and Russia spoke Friday for the first time since the Ukraine war, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken describing a “frank” exchange as he pushed to free two Americans.
Blinken initiated the call with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whom he had shunned as early as a few weeks ago, as he pressed Russia to accept an offer to free prisoners.
“We had a frank and direct conversation. I pressed the Kremlin to accept the substantial proposal that we put forth on the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner,” Blinken told reporters.
President Joe Biden has faced growing public pressure to find a way home for Griner, a basketball star jailed for transport of cannabis oil, and Whelan, a former Marine jailed on espionage charges he denies.
Blinken declined to characterize Lavrov’s reaction, saying: “I cannot give you an assessment of whether I think things are any more or less likely.”
“But it was important that he heard directly from me on that,” Blinken said.
The US proposal, sent quietly to Russia several weeks earlier, reportedly includes swapping the two Americans for convicted Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout and would follow a similar prisoner exchange in April.
Russia’s foreign ministry, in a statement on the call, said that relations between the two nations “are in strong need of normalization.”
Lavrov also denounced the US military and NATO for their supply of billions of dollars of weapons to Ukraine, saying it “only prolonged the agony of the Kyiv regime, extending the conflict and its victims.”
“It was very important that the Russians hear directly from us that that will not be accepted and not only will it not be accepted, but it will also result in additional significant costs being imposed upon Russia if it follows through,” Blinken said.
Blinken said Russia was preparing “sham referendums” to try to “falsely demonstrate that the people in these parts of Ukraine somehow seek to become part of Russia.”
(Vinayak)
