For the first time in four months, the two foreign ministers sat in the same room. Both Sergej Lavrov and Antony Blinken were in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, to attend the meeting of foreign ministers in Asean, the organization for Southeast Asian countries. Despite the fact that the two only had the Deputy Foreign Minister of Brunei between them, they “did not make eye contact” during the meeting, according to AFP journalists. The Russian foreign minister also has “no plans” to make contact with American officials, according to the Reuters news agency. This must have been the last time the foreign ministers of Russia and the United States were in the same room. This picture was taken at the G20 meeting on 2 March 2023. Photo: OLIVIER DOULIERY / Pool via REUTERS Expert: – Surprised if they don’t use the opportunity – We have backdrops for people to talk together, says Iver Neumann, director at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute and expert in diplomacy. He follows Russia closely. – It is very likely that the two parties will try to achieve some exchange of views. If only to avoid misunderstandings. That is the idea of diplomacy: talking to people is better than not talking to people, he says further. Iver Neumann is director of the Fridtjof Nansen Institute and an expert in diplomacy. He believes that it is likely that representatives of Russia and the US are talking together in the back room in connection with the meeting in Indonesia. Photo: Robert Rønning / news Neumann emphasizes that he knows nothing about what actually happened in Jakarta, and that what he says is just speculation. Although it is conceivable that Lavrov and Blinken met directly, it is more likely that there is contact between the two foreign ministers’ delegations, he says. – In all the major conflicts during the Cold War, there was indirect contact between the parties. When you had the chance to talk together at the top level, you used it, says the researcher. A deceased head of state’s funeral will, for example, also be a typical place where conversations between parties take place, he says. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov smiles at a so-called family photo during the ministerial conference yesterday. Today, the US Secretary of State did the same. Photo: The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AFP / AFP – What they signal to the outside is not necessarily the same as what they actually do. An ice front says nothing about what happens in the back room, he says. Today it was the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s turn to hold hands in a so-called family photo at the conference in Jakarta. Photo: Dita Alangkara / AFP – Will not be seen together The last time the US and Russian foreign ministers met was on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in March. Then Blinken had said in advance that he had no plans to meet Lavrov, NTB reported. The meeting was brief and reportedly lasted less than ten minutes, Reuters reported. The following month, Blinken called Lavrov to say that it was unacceptable to hold American Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich captive in Russia. – The US has a strong interest in not being seen together with Russia because it should not look as if they are making an agreement over the heads of the Ukrainians, says Neumann at Fritjof Nansen’s institute. – It is Russia that has gone to an aggressive war. The US will show that it is Russia’s responsibility to end it and take the initiative for peace talks, he says further. Russia, for its part, has an interest in being taken seriously by the US and China in order to retain its status as a major power, according to Neumann. – At the same time, they have an interest in not being seen with the US because military bloggers believe that Russia is far too lenient for the West. Russia will show that it will not meet the US in any way by maintaining an ice front. The Russians are traditionally good at it. There was a good atmosphere between the top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi and Lavrov after the two parties had met for a bilateral meeting during the conference. Photo: The Russian Foreign Ministry / AFP Yesterday, however, both foreign ministers posed together with the same top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Jakarta. The meetings took place separately. Foreign Minister Blinken met the top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi for a bilateral meeting during the conference. Photo: Dita Alangkara / Reuters Several offer peace mediation Both Turkey and China have offered to act as peace mediators between Ukraine and Russia. The last time several African leaders visited Kyiv and Moscow was in June, when they tried to persuade the parties to sit down at the negotiating table. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made it clear that he will not agree to peace talks now. In June, the leaders of Egypt, Senegal, the Comoros, South Africa and Zambia visited Kyiv on a peace mission. Photo: Sergei Supinsky / AFP – This is not the time for peace negotiations. Accepting negotiations with Russia now, while the occupiers are still in our country, will only lead to a frozen war, with pain and suffering, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Neumann at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute believes that the war must run its course before peace negotiations will one day be possible. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa shakes hands with President Vladimir Putin as the African leaders visit Moscow after being in Kyiv in June. Photo: Yevgeny Biyatov / Reuters – Russia will not give up until they get the territories they have annexed. It is close to a quarter or a fifth of Ukrainian territory. It is clear that Ukraine will not agree to that, says the researcher. Furthermore, very few modern wars end with peace agreements, he says. – They end up with neither party getting what they want, and it becomes a frozen conflict. Antony Blinken and Sergey Lavrov met in Geneva, Switzerland on 21 January 2022, just before Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February. Photo: Alex Brandon/AP
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“No plans” to contact the USA – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
