Blinken, Lavrov Begin First Meeting With Summit Timing on Agenda
(Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Antony Blinken met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of an Arctic Council summit in Iceland with both leaders conceding they disagree on many issues but vowing to find areas of cooperation.
It’s “no secret that we have our differences,” Blinken said in Reykjavik after bumping elbows with Lavrov on Wednesday evening. It was their first face-to-face meeting since President Joe Biden took office in January.
Blinken said Biden had demonstrated that “if Russia acts aggressively against us, our partners, and our allies we’ll respond,” but “not for purposes of escalation, not to seek out conflict but to defend our interests.”
For his part, Lavrov said there are “serious differences” in how the U.S. and Russia view major issues in the world, but added that “our task is to make the best of the diplomatic opportunities that we have.”
Blinken cited Covid-19, climate change, as well as policy toward Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea as potential areas of cooperation. Lavrov also mentioned Iran and Afghanistan before the two leaders went into talks behind closed doors.
The biggest issue the two officials may have to resolve is a date and location for a summit between Biden and President Vladimir Putin, expected to take place in Europe in the coming months.
U.S.-Russia relations remain tense, and fears of war with Ukraine rose last month when Putin sent tens of thousands of troops along the border between the two nations, seven years after he annexed Crimea. But Russia then announced a pullback, and Biden discussed the potential summit with Putin.
The meeting came hours after the Biden administration submitted a report to Congress saying it would hold off on punishing the Swiss-based company overseeing construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany. That move was seen as a significant concession to Russia even as the U.S. said doing so would create more unity among allies to put pressure on Putin.
The Arctic Council is made up of nations around or near the Arctic Circle, including Russia and the U.S. Iceland has had the organization’s chairmanship. Russia will have that role for the next two years.
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