(2 Mar 2023)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New Delhi - 2 March 2023
1. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken entering conference hall
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State:
“So, I think what we have seen here is actually a first which is an outcomes document which reflects shared agreements on a number of issues by all of the foreign ministers represented here today. And in the particular case of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, you have virtually everyone in the G20 signing on to what had already been stated in Bali, and the two holdouts of course were Russia and China. So, I think we see broad consensus across the G20 to work together, to act together and to make commitments together.”
3. Pan of briefing
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State:
“Lastly, I spoke briefly to Russia’s foreign minister (Sergey) Lavrov on the margins of the G20 meetings today. I urged Russia to reverse its irresponsible decision and return to implementing the New START treaty which places verifiable limits on the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Russian Federation. Mutual compliance is in the interest of both our countries. That’s also what people around the world expect from us as nuclear powers. I told the foreign minister that no matter what else is happening in the world, in our relationship, the United States will always be ready to engage and act on strategic arms control, just as the United States and the Soviet Union did even at the height of the Cold War."
5. Wide of journalists
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State:
“Were China to engage in material, lethal support for Russia’s aggression or were it to engage in systematic evasion of sanctions to help Russia, that would be a serious problem for our countries. When I saw Senior Foreign Policy Official Wang Yi on the margins of the Munich meetings just a week or so ago I raised with him our concern that based on information we have, China is considering supplying lethal military assistance to Russia. We have not seen it do that yet, but we have seen it considering that proposition. And what I shared with him again was that this would be a serious problem for us in our relationship with China. And I made it clear that there would be consequences for engaging in those actions.”
7. Pan of Blinken leaving
STORYLINE:
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in New Delhi on Thursday that there is a broad agreement regarding the situation in Ukraine between the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations, excluding Russia and China.
"We see broad consensus across the G20 to work together, to act together and to make commitments together,” he added.
Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also talked briefly Thursday, the first high-level meeting in months between the two countries.
U.S. officials said Blinken and Lavrov chatted for roughly 10 minutes on the sidelines of the G20 conference.
Blinken said that he urged Lavrov that "mutual compliance is in the interest of both our countries," as nuclear powers.
"The United States is always ready to engage and act on strategic arms control, just as the United States and the Soviet Union did even at the height of the Cold War," he added.
He also reiterated that if China was to provide "material, lethal support" for Russia, it will be a "serious problem" for U.S. and China relations.
As at most international events since last year, the split over the war in Ukraine and its impact on global energy and food security overshadowed the proceedings.
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