Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that he will speak with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, although Blinken said the conversation “will not be a negotiation about Ukraine.”
Later in the day, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that there have not yet received requests for a Blinken-Lavrov call. “There have been no requests, only media reports,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Blinken said he plans to speak with Lavrov in the “coming days,” and the talks will likely be focused on the status of two Americans that are detained in Russia, WNBA star Britney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan.
According to CNN, the Biden administration has offered to exchange Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year sentence in the US, for Griner and Whelan. Griner is currently on trial in Russia for drug possession, and Whelan was charged with espionage and sentenced to prison for 16 years.
Blinken said he will also discuss other issues with Lavrov, including the grain deal Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the UN recently signed. The US had nothing to do with the brokering of the agreement that is meant to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain, but Blinken said he will push Russia to “make good on the commitments they made.”
Up to this point, the Biden administration has abandoned diplomacy with Russia while fueling the war in Ukraine by shipping billions of dollars in weapons into the country.
The last time Blinken and Lavrov spoke was on February 15. Blinken canceled their last planned meeting after Russia recognized the independence of the breakaway republics in Ukraine’s Donbas region, a move that came right before the invasion. Blinken also avoided Lavrov at a recent G20 summit in Indonesia.
Did Paul Whelan really bring $80,000 in cash with him to Russia ? Everything about Whelan screams spook.
Also note – Britney Griner had long worked in Russia, she played pro-Basketball on a Russian team. Apparently she was paid handsomely ~$1,000,000 per year. Griner is also no naive little lamb.
lame comment about the sad case of the lady basketball player. she is caught up in global politics and its a ridiculous case. fact that she was paid decent money to ply her trade in russia means to you she has no individual rights within the justice system there? russia courts look awful for what they are doing. not that there aren’t americans pinched unfairly by american courts, but this is a bad case and griner is not a spy man she’s just an amazon lady basketball player
Fact is Griner lived and worked a few years in Russia and knew the lay of land.
In the US, if she tried smuggling drugs into the country she‘d be looking at 10-20 years hard time, there are thousands of people languishing in brutal US prisions because of a single joint or a couple of seeds,
The other guy is a spook through and through
How many Russian Paralympic athlete are going to be free to complete? War turns everything to crap. Is she a naive little lamb being overpunished? Doubtful. (As) she has not even been sentenced & how it compares to others just as guilty of the same crime hasn’t been seen .This larger conflict could be negotiated right now, the same way they push to exchange the incarcerated. The same way Northern Ireland was negotiated. Are those female disabled athletes any less of a ‘lady’? War & this unnecessary conflict is the bigger crime. When Ukraine was buying Turkish drones to seek advantage over the line-of-control, not enough American cared. But an able bodied athlete ( not a victim of a disability – where are their American advocates) is suddenly a means for communication.
Great retort, Chris!
I wonder what cringeworthy utterance will emerge from Blinken?
The talk will not be about a druggie and wheat, but Russian’s terms for US surrender. Lavrov knows that Blinken has a very weak hand, and will play him like a drum. The only face-saving Lavrov will offer is to offer to allow Washington to clain it’s acting to relieve the suffering of the Ukrainian people. That’s the cringe-worthy bit. And the American people will buy it, … they looove Kool-Aide.
I would suggest Lavrov flash the picture of the Vogue photo shoot of Z and his lovely wife. Like, he really cares about the war. I would also suggest that Lavrov give blinken a tongue lashing for refusing to negotiate back in December, 2021, knowing full well that the Kiev army was already being loaded with weapons and was poised to push a major assault on Donbas.
In his combat duds , … while his ‘fellow soldiers’ are being put through an artillery meat grinder. He’s scripted to continue waving ‘the bloody shirt’ of ‘Putin atrocities’, but instead is previewing the coming uni fashion statement from Paris & Milan. Back in the ’70’s the world’s greatest living war criminal observed: “To be immoral is one thing, but to be stupid is bad.”
Maybe at a later date, but not now. The U.S. isn’t ready to stop sacrificing Ukrainian lives and American taxpayer money just yet.
In WW2 is was Russian soldiers who where being sacrificed before DDay was launched
Something like do as we say or else .
Britney Griner broke the law and should stay in prison in Russia.
If she was in Singapore she could be hung for smuggling drugs.
She had Cannabis oil. The fact that she was arrested is a sick joke.
Are you suggesting that getting hung for drug possession is a good thing?
No, but also find it weird that Americans always assume they won’t get in trouble for breaking laws in other countries. Case in point one Ball family members shoplifting in China as if that’s okay.
No, he’s not suggesting that, Wars. He’s just stating what the punishment would be.
Wonder what would happen if she’d been busted in Saudi Arabia.
Apparently possession of cannabis oil is a crime in Russia, and she had to have been aware of the fact. And when in Rome, one does as the Romans do.
There is talk between the two governments of a prisoner exchange.
I was curious as to why he pointed it out. And since the Don just came out and said we should execute drug dealers, it got me wondering.
And no doubt people should know the laws in the countries that they are in. But I don’t give a rat’s ass what anybody says, 10 years for cannabis oil in vapes if as draconian as they get. Where’s the great forward thinking Putin when you need him?
Wars, I couldn’t agree more.
But apparently it’s a punishable offense in Russia and quite a significant one.
I’m guessing that China would react similarly, but again, that’s just a guess.
She violated the law and is in jail because of her actions.
Are you suggesting that Americans are above the laws of soverign nations?
As for smuggling and selling drugs there seems to be less drug use where penalties for smuggling and selling any amount of drugs is treated severely!
No, I’m not suggesting any such thing. But the first thing that came to my mind when I read she was getting 10 years for having cannabis oil wasn’t that she deserves to be in jail because she broke a law in some other country. It was, how in the fuck can any country put someone away for 10 years for possession of cannabis oil.
Well, we supposedly live in a free society. What I possess or put into my body isn’t anyone’s business unless I infringe on someone else’s rights. So, the fact that drugs are illegal should piss everyone off. And there is less problems in Saudi Arabia for alcohol related crime than the US, should we follow their lead on alcohol?
What you put in your body is your right unless it leads to the subversion of a civilized society. So ask yourself what is the one common denominator for almost all homeless in America? Drug abuse leading to mental problems and a failure to hold a job and live a civilized life. Your right to use drugs is superseded by the impact these drugs are having on civil society.
The wider issue is how the illegal drug culture is not only destroying the fabric of society in America, but the destabilization of countries where drug cartels run the governments and peoples lives. Americans will not use plastic bags in grocery stores and they recycle to save the planet, but they buy drugs with impunity leading to misery and a brutish life for many south of the US boarder in Mexico and beyond.
The cleanest nicest countries I have lived in are also countries in which possession and use of drugs are illegal and treated with severe punishment.
As for this basketball player she is lucky that she was not caught in Singapore with her cute drugs. She might be in jail for a much longer term.
“In Singapore: The possession, consumption, manufacturing, import, export, or trafficking of these and
other controlled drugs in any amount are illegal. Persons caught with less than the Mandatory Death Penalty amounts of these controlled substances face penalties ranging from caning (up to 24 strokes) to life in prison.”
Really? So, me smoking pot for the last 45 years has led to the subversion of civilized society? And productive members of society who use drugs, and there are literally millions, should be put in prison because the majority of the homeless people are on drugs? And yet I can drink alcohol, eat shit food and get obese and take literally dozens of over the counter drugs that are far worse than recreational marijuana. Shouldn’t we be ridding ourselves of those subversions of civil society also?
Drug cartels wouldn’t even exist without the word “illegal” in front of the word drugs. Drugs should be a health issue and people should be educated on their dangers. Making possession of drugs illegal is the root of the problem. Cartels would dry up if they didn’t have a product to move.
You are free to move to one of those “cleanest and nicest” countries. But for some reason I’m thinking they might be a bit too authoritarian for me.
And is a place like Singapore where they have a mandatory death penalty for possessing a controlled substance really a place you want to use as an example as to how others should deal with people that possess drugs?
By the way, your viewpoints are in lockstep with King Donald’s recent speech in Washington. Coincidence, I think not.
I agree, i have always drawn the distinction between personal use and supply. One should be decriminalised while the other is a very serious list of crimes. Supply is not just about the drug being peddled, it is about a list of very serious crimes that do a considerable amount of harm to society.
Freedom of speech is the right to offend. It is not the jurisdiction of this publication to OK what can and cant be said, that is what we have “courts of law” for. This publication is lawless in its censorship while destroying the institutions that they pretend to protect. Antiwar my arse.
This site is private property, just like your living room.
You get to decide what people can do in your living room, and we get to decide what people can do on our site.
You don’t have to like it. It’s not going to change.
Freedom of speech is enshrined in the concepts of freedom and democracy, You personally can take any action you like to destroy it, which is what you are advocating. I cant stop you, you have all the power. Be aware that this publication will pay the ultimate price for its FASCISM.
“we get to decide what people can do” Of course you actually cant make that decision, all you can do is censor and cancel people. To censor and cancel people is your choice you have all the power, punching down is all you can do because if i had power you wouldn’t dare. Its just disgusting how you use your power to abuse the rights of others. Abuse of power is the essence of corruption and in extreme forms FASCISM.
The truth is you cannot decide what happens in your living room, civilised society places laws for everyone that apply everywhere. The fact you think you can speaks volumes.
Stalin referred to people like you as “useful idiots”. I am sure Hitler and Mao had similar. They lead to the death of millions.
I wont stop speaking out, its my right. You of course can stop me, hence the destruction of freedom and democracy, be very careful what you choose. People are waking up.
Freedom of speech is the right to offend. It is not the jurisdiction of this publication to OK what can and cant be said, that is what we have “courts of law” for. This publication is lawless in its censorship while destroying the institutions that they pretend to protect. Antiwar my arse.
Freedom of speech applies to the government’s ability to limit your speech. It does not apply to private companies or private citizens. It does not apply to Facebook, my house, magazines, book publishers, or antiwar.com.
It’s literally right there in the constitution. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Lavrov should snob Blinken this time around so Blinken can taste his arrogance…!
Funny, Lavrov just told Blinken to wait for his turn for a call…!
The arrogant pompous toad (no offence to toads) and the US war against Russia has reached a dead end. Russia is never turning down a call for negotiations, not even when they’re winning, but it’s gonna cost them dearly.
Blinken said he will also discuss other issues with Lavrov, including the grain deal Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the UN recently signed. The US had nothing to do with the brokering of the agreement that is meant to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain, but Blinken said he will push Russia to “make good on the commitments they made.”
Complete nonsense, as Russia has done nothing to suggest that it will not honor the commitment it made to not attack the ships or facilities involved in exporting Ukrainian grain. And, no, attacks on military targets in the ports are not prohibited by the agreement. Also, since the US “had nothing” to do with the agreement, and is not a party to it, why is it any of the USA’s business if Russia is “making good” on its commitments, or not? Surely it is the USA’s position that the Ukraine is an independent, sovereign nation, and so it can monitor compliance with its agreements. The US is a member of the UN, however, and the UN agreed to work to remove indirect sanctions and other impedimenta to the far more important export of Russia grain, food and fertilizer. Perhaps the estimable Mr. Blinken would be better served working on that, if he and the USA actually cared about preventing worldwide hunger, rather than scoring propaganda points through lies and innuendo.
“Blinken to Speak With Lavrov for First Time…” Complete waste of time. Good thing I’m not in charge of Russia’s nuclear arsenal. I would find myself fiddling with that big red button on my desk minutes into that conversation.
“Blinken to Speak With Lavrov”
but Winken and Nod will refrain from comment
Arms dealer Viktor Bout has a nickname of “merchant of death”. In the US the CEOs of our MIC go on 60 minutes and answer softball questions that allow them to sound like the greatest of patriots that are keeping us all safe.
On the scale of Deplomacy Blinkin dosen`t even regester
I think Mr. Lavrov will be wasting his valuable time.
When Justin Raimondo died, the Media tried to scam us that his whole life was about Gay Rights, ignoring his antiwar work. So, the irony of homosexual Grier forcing Diplomacy & sanity for us lessor beings is biting.
Who cares, even if it actually happens, which I doubt? Lavrov will give Blinken 15 minutes because, as Martyanov says, quoting the “Dune” books, “The Forms Must Be Obeyed”. But that’s it. Nothing changes.
It may, however, be an indication that the US is starting to look for ways out of this mess they’ve got themselves in. Good luck with that, US. Russia is going to do what it wants and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Lavrov to Blinken: DROP DEAD. Yeah.
They would be better off using Switzerland or some honest broker to do this.
The global south is not on board with the Western powers in Ukraine. The “Golden Billion” is again taking us to a world war. The “Golden Billion” are messianic, narcissistic and delusional racist maniacs who corrupt everything they touch. Including this publication.
Freedom of speech is the right to offend. It is not the jurisdiction of this publication to OK what can and cant be said, that is what we have “courts of law” for. This publication is lawless in its censorship while destroying the institutions that they pretend to protect. Antiwar my arse.
Wow, Russia is definitely negotiating a good faith. (End sarcasm.) Now they want an arms dealer known as “the merchant of death,” as well as a convicted murderer