New Delhi, 2 March 2023 (dpa/MIA) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov spoke briefly in person at the G20 meeting in India, according to several reports.

"Blinken has asked for contact with Lavrov," Lavrov's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday, according to Russia's state news agency TASS.

The brief conversation took place on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in the Indian capital New Delhi, but there was no formal meeting or even negotiations, she said.

It was the first one-on-one meeting between Blinken and Lavrov since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago.

According to the New York Times, Blinken told his Russian counterpart that the United States continued to support Ukraine under attack and that Russia should resume the New START nuclear disarmament treaty recently suspended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Blinken also told Lavrov that Russia should release the imprisoned US citizen Paul Whelan.

Photo: EPA