Their first face-to-face meeting since founding war in Ukraine yesterday the US and Russian foreign ministers. OUR Anthony Blinken And Sergey Lavrov they spoke “on the go” in New Delhi, on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the G20 group, as reported by the Russian Foreign Ministry, specifying that the relatively short conversation was not in the nature of negotiations or an official meeting.

For his part, a US official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said the conversation lasted less than 10 minutes and that Anthony Blinken urged Russia to reverse its recent decision to suspend the Strategic Nuclear Control Agreement. . According to the same source, Blinken signaled to Lavrov that Washington was determined to continue to support Ukraine “for as long as necessary” and that Moscow should not harbor any hopes of dwindling aid from the United States and its allies.

“We always keep the hope that the Russians will change their attitude and be ready to participate in a diplomatic process that will lead to a just and sustainable peace, but I would not say that at the end of today’s meeting (with Lavrov) expectations have been created that in there will be changes soon,” the official said. However, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said yesterday from Geneva that his country was not going to start new nuclear tests unless Washington did, and that it was forced to suspend New START because the Americans were giving information to the Ukrainians. which allowed them to strike at the bases of Russian strategic bombers with drones.

The Sun’s Appeal to China

Putin condemns the bloody attack by armed Ukrainian “saboteurs” on Russian territory, Kyiv calls it a provocation.

The consultations of the foreign ministers of the 20 most powerful economies in the world in New Delhi ended without a joint communiqué due to irreconcilable differences between the West and Russia on the Ukrainian issue. During the meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said that his country will continue to cooperate with Russia at all levels, and stressed the need to establish peace in Ukraine in a way that ensures the security of all parties. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz from Berlin urged China not to send weapons to Russia and put pressure on Moscow to withdraw its troops.

The sensation was caused by Vladimir Putin’s short speech on television, in which the Russian president condemned the “act of terrorism by Ukrainian saboteurs” in the Russian Bryansk region, not far from the border with Ukraine. Armed assailants opened fire on a car full of civilians, killing two people and injuring an 11-year-old child, Putin said. Advisor to the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak spoke of a “classic provocation,” while a representative of the Ukrainian army’s secret services hinted that it was the Russians who “took up arms to fight the Putin regime.”

Meanwhile, fighting is going on in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, and the General Staff of Ukraine reports that enemy forces are continuing their offensive and are firing furiously at the city. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian mercenary company Wagner, has uploaded a video of his men raising the flag on a high-rise building near the city center. The authenticity of the video has not been verified.

Schroeder remains in the SPD

Former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder remains a member of the ruling SPD after the party’s arbitration committee for disciplinary matters rejected the local organization’s proposal to expel him. According to the commission’s decision, 78-year-old Schroeder, known for his close ties with Russia and personally with Putin, did not violate any of the charter principles of the SPD. German chancellor from 1998 to 2005, Schröder forged a strong working relationship with Vladimir Putin’s Russia, especially in the energy sector. After stepping down as chancellor, he took on senior positions in Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipeline to Germany and Russia’s state-owned energy company Rosneft. Without condemning Putin for invading Ukraine, he traveled to Moscow last July and met with him, and on his return said Russia wanted a negotiated end to the war.