The head of American diplomacy Anthony Blinken, who arrived in India tonight Wednesday, made it clear that he is not scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, during the two-day G20 summit in New Delhi.

The US believes G20 foreign ministers will condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, said a senior official accompanying Blinken on his trip. “I think we will see wording that will reflect the majority, the vast majority of the G20, which continues to oppose Russia’s war” in Ukraine, the official told reporters aboard the plane carrying the US minister to India.

From Uzbekistan where he was earlier, Blinken also said there is no scheduled meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang.

Last Saturday, at the meeting of the G20 finance ministers, the deep differences of the countries that did not allow the issuance of a joint communique were already visible. Russia and China refused to sign the paragraphs that referred to the war in Ukraine.

An indication of the cold climate between Washington and Moscow is the fact that Blinken has not been in the same room as Lavrov since the previous G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia last July. They last met in January 2022, just weeks before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They have spoken on the phone, but not about this.

“Disastrous politics”

The Russian minister arrived on Tuesday night in India, a country that has maintained friendly relations with Moscow for many years and has not condemned the invasion of Ukraine. Sergey Lavrov will take advantage of his participation in the G20 to launch an attack on the West, as hinted in the announcement of his ministry. “The disastrous policy of the US and its allies has already brought the world to the brink of disaster, caused a setback in socio-economic development and significantly worsened the situation of the poorest countries,” this statement said.

US relations with China are also strained, on the one hand because of Taiwan and on the other hand due to the shooting down, by the American armed forces, of a Chinese balloon which Washington says was a spy and Beijing insists it was meteorological.

Ten days ago, Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Germany and had what Washington described as a “frank and direct” discussion. Blinken warned his interlocutor of the “consequences” China would suffer if it was found to be providing “material support” to Russia, the war in Ukraine, or helping it circumvent Western sanctions – which it Beijing denies.

Today, Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed one of Moscow’s closest allies, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, to Beijing.

India, the host country of the G20 summit, has made reducing poverty and increasing funding to address the effects of climate change a priority of its presidency. However, these goals are undermined by the consequences of the war in Ukraine for the global economy. The issue is particularly sensitive for India, a major military client of Moscow that has also increased its imports of Russian oil over the past year.

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said today from New Delhi that he is convinced that India “will let Russia know that this war must end”. In September, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin that “this is not the time for war,” a statement that was interpreted as a criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.