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RUSSIA-US-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY
Lavrov, Blinken agree to meet May 20: Moscow
MOSCOW, May 13, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have agreed to hold talks on the sidelines of an Arctic Council meeting in Reykjavik next week, officials said Wednesday.
The announcement comes amid the biggest crisis between Russia and the United States in years.
The Russian foreign ministry said Lavrov and Blinken had spoken by phone and discussed international and bilateral ties, and had agreed to hold talks “on the sidelines” of the ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council on May 20.
Lavrov and Blinken discussed North Korea, Iran and “strategic stability” as well as cooperation within the Arctic Council.
The US State Department confirmed that the meeting would take place “next week” and that the two ministers had raised “the potential to cooperate during Russia’s subsequent Arctic Council Chairmanship.”
“Secretary Blinken reiterated President Biden’s resolve to protect US citizens and act firmly in defense of US interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies,” the State Department said in a statement.
Blinken also called on Russia to release Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed, two American nationals whom Washington considers unfairly detained by Moscow.
The two also discussed Washington’s proposal to organise a summit between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Biden has increased pressure on the Kremlin since becoming US president in January, and comments he made likening Putin to a killer were met with fierce criticism in Moscow.
Russia recalled its ambassador for consultations and warned that ties were on the brink of outright “collapse”.
Washington in April announced a new round of sanctions including the expulsion of 10 diplomats and a restriction on US banks trading in Russian government debt.
Moscow responded by expelling 10 US diplomats, banning top US officials from entering the country and prohibiting the US embassy from employing foreign nationals.
BSS/AFP/MMA/0930HRS