Lavrov holds talks with Jaishankar on ties, Ukraine

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on Wednesday held detailed talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on issues related to the Ukraine conflict, bilateral relations and the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

Russia’s foreign minister arrived in Delhi on Tuesday night to attend a two-day meeting of G20 foreign ministers as Russia escalates its confrontation with Western powers over the Ukraine conflict.
“Wide discussion with Russia’s FM Sergey Lavrov on #G20FMM. Exchanged views on our bilateral cooperation and G20 issues,” Jaishankar tweeted. The Ukraine conflict is understood to have come up in the talks.

A Russian reading statement said the two ministers resolved to improve coordination in the international arena and multilateral forums including the UN, G20, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa).

“They affirmed their commitment to establishing a polycentric world order based on fair and democratic principles and the rule of law,” it said.

“The two sides exchanged views in a confidential spirit on topical issues of Russia-India relations and reaffirmed their focus on further strengthening the special and privileged strategic partnership in all areas.”
“The mutual intention to increase coordination in the international arena and in multilateral formats, primarily the UN, and the SCO, BRICS and G20,” it said.