(Bloomberg) — The US will seek to forge agreements with like-minded countries over Ukraine on the sidelines of the G-20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali this week, a senior state department official said Thursday, a sign that broader consensus will be tough with Russia and China in attendance.
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With the G20 divided, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will use the event to stress that Washington can’t conduct business-as-usual with Moscow and argue that many of the problems confronting the globe, including a food and energy crisis, were caused by Russia’s invasion, according to the official.
Separately, Blinken’s talks with Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Yi on Saturday will cover a range of topics in the US-China relationship, the official said. But one key issue — an announcement on easing tariffs involving Chinese goods — isn’t expected, the person added. That subject was the focus of a call between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday.
The Blinken-Wang talks, and the call between Yellen and Liu, are the latest sign that communication between Washington and Beijing is picking up after relations fell to what the US envoy to China said was their lowest level in decades. The meeting in Bali is also expected to help lay more of the groundwork for a call between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping later this month.
US officials have been frustrated at what they view as China’s echoing of Moscow’s disinformation about the Ukraine invasion and decision to abstain from a vote condemning it earlier this year at the United Nations. Washington has warned Beijing, which declared a “no limits” friendship with Russia shortly before the February invasion, that its companies and officials could face sanctions if the country moves to assist Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink said earlier that Blinken expects to have a candid discussion about the war with Wang.
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Blinken will also emphasize the US commitment to “intense diplomacy” with Beijing and to “manage responsibly the intense competition” between the two countries, Kritenbrink said, adding that the US wants to do everything possible to “prevent any miscalculation that could lead inadvertently to conflict and confrontation.”
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has been invited to the gathering in Bali, though it’s unclear whether he will attend in person or virtually. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is also scheduled to attend.
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