Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for March 2, 2023
Newsline: Russia and US top diplomats meet in India
Russia and the United States’ top diplomats spoke to each other face-to-face on Thursday for the first time since the start of Ukraine war on the sidelines of a G20 meeting where ministers traded blame over the conflict. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to end the war and urged Moscow to reverse its suspension of the New START nuclear treaty, a senior U.S. official said. The Russian foreign ministry said Lavrov and Blinken spoke “on the move” for less than 10 minutes at the end of the closed-door session, and did not engage in any negotiations, Russian news agencies reported. Blinken later told a news conference he had told Lavrov to engage in diplomacy during the unscheduled encounter. “I told the foreign minister that no matter what else is happening in the world or in our relationship, the United States will always be ready to engage and act on strategic arms control, just as the United States and the Soviet Union did even at the height of the Cold War,” Blinken added. (https://neuters.de/world/india-pm-modi-calls-common-ground-global-issues-g20-meeting-2023-03-02/) Earlier in the meeting of foreign ministers, the United States and European allies urged the Group of 20 (G20) nations to keep up pressure on Moscow to end the conflict, now in its second year.
Newsline: U.N. appoints Ecuadorian diplomat as envoy to Haiti
The United Nations has named Ecuadorian diplomat Maria Isabel Salvador as the organization’s new Special Representative to Haiti and head of the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), the international body said in a statement. Salvador, a former foreign minister and ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), is set to take over from Helen La Lime, the U.N. said. It added that it was grateful to La Lime, who was named to the post in 2019, “for her dedicated service and steadfast commitment to the work of the United Nations in Haiti.” (https://neuters.de/world/un-appoints-ecuadorian-diplomat-envoy-haiti-2023-03-02/) The appointment comes as countries discuss sending a “rapid action force,” requested by Haiti’s caretaker government about six months ago, aimed at helping national police control armed gangs whose growing influence is driving a humanitarian crisis. La Lime had said early this year she was “still hopeful” such a force could be created, stressing the need for urgency.
Newsline: US top diplomat says G20 meeting in India affected by Russia-Ukraine war
The Group of 20 (G20) meeting of foreign ministers has again been marred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday. The war has been a major sticking point at meetings of the G20, which groups the world’s largest economies and includes both the United States and Russia. “Unfortunately, this meeting has again been marred by Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine, deliberate campaign of destruction against civilian targets, and its attack on the core principles of the UN Charter,” the top U.S. diplomat told the bloc’s foreign ministers, according to prepared remarks shared with reporters after Blinken delivered them on Thursday morning. (https://neuters.de/world/blinken-says-g20-meeting-india-marred-by-russia-ukraine-war-2023-03-02/) This year’s host India has declined to blame Russia for the war, seeking a diplomatic solution and sharply boosting its purchases of Russian oil. The G20 should repeat calls – agreed upon by most G20 nations’ leaders in Bali in November – for Russia to end the war and withdraw for the sake of international peace and economic stability, Blinken said.
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