US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday, the first high-level encounter between the US and Russia since President Joe Biden took office, Report informs.
"It's also no secret that we have our differences," Blinken said at the top of the meeting after he and Lavrov had greeted each other warmly.
"When it comes to those differences, as President Biden has also shared with President Putin, if Russia acts aggressively against us, our partners, our allies, we'll respond," Blinken said as he and Lavrov sat facing each other at a long rectangular table flanked by their delegations. "And President Biden has demonstrated that in both word and deed, not for purposes of escalation, not to seek conflict, but to defend our interests."
"We seek a predictable, stable relationship with Russia," Blinken said. "We think that's good for our people, good for the Russian people, and indeed good for the world."
Lavrov responded by saying that Russia's "position is clear. We are prepared to discuss all issues on the table, with the understanding that our discussions will be honest, factual, and with mutual respect." But he, too, added a caveat, telling Blinken that "we greatly diverge when it comes to our assessment of the international situation and our approaches towards how we should resolve it."
And Lavrov appeared to signal that whatever steps the Biden administration might take against Russia, Moscow stands ready to respond. "Laws of diplomacy recommend mutuality, especially when it comes to responding to any hostile actions," the Russian foreign minister said. "You can always rely on us to respond mutually to such intentions."