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Blinken tells Russia at G20 talks 'let the grain out' of Ukraine
"To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine is not your country. Its grain is not your grain. Why are you blocking the ports? You should let the grain out," said Blinken, according to a Western official present.
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US State Secretary Antony Blinken (right) and Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly (left) attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on July 8, 2022.
(AFP/Dita Alangkara)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanded Russia allow grain shipments out of war-battered Ukraine during closed-door G20 talks in Bali on Friday, a Western official said.
"To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine is not your country. Its grain is not your grain. Why are you blocking the ports? You should let the grain out," said Blinken, according to a Western official present.
Blinken has refused to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov but addressed Russia during the talks and laid out US financial assistance to ease global food shortages triggered by the war in Ukraine, a major source of global grain and corn exports.
"Russia is the source of the problem, the United States is focused on solutions," Blinken said, according to the official.
Ukraine has seen its production blocked by Moscow's military offensive, sparking a surge in prices that has particularly affected poor countries.
Moscow says it would allow Ukrainian ships loaded with food products to leave if the Ukrainian military demined its ports, an option rejected by Kyiv, which fears for the safety of its Black Sea coast.
Lavrov meanwhile said Friday he would not chase after the United States for talks as his counterpart Antony Blinken declined to see him at a G20 meeting in Bali.
"It was not us who abandoned contact; it was the United States," Lavrov told reporters. "We are not running after anybody suggesting meetings."
The United States has sought to isolate Russia on the world stage and aides to Blinken said they saw no point in speaking to Lavrov so long as Moscow pursues its war in Ukraine.
Lavrov, while saluting host Indonesia, denounced the approach of Western nations at the Group of 20, which was set up as a club of the world's major economies.
"Our Western partners are trying to avoid talking about global economic issues," he said.
"From the moment they speak, they launch into fevered criticism of Russia over the situation in Ukraine, calling us aggressors and occupiers," he said.
"Everyone is telling us to put an end to the operation and reach a peaceful solution."
But he added: "Despite the behaviour of our Western colleagues, this is a useful discussion."
