INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia's top diplomat stormed out of talks with G20 foreign ministers meeting in Indonesia on Friday as Western powers criticized Moscow
over its invasion of Ukraine.Washington and allies condemned Russia's assault ahead of the meeting before Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
faced what United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken called a barrage of Western criticism at the closed-door talks."What we've heard
today already is a strong chorus from around the world..
about the need for the aggression to end," Blinken said from the meeting on the resort island of Bali.Blinken and Lavrov had joined
through negotiations.But Lavrov walked out of a morning session as German counterpart Annalena Baerbock criticized Moscow over its invasion,
diplomats said.He also left an afternoon session before Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba addressed the ministers virtually and was
not present as Blinken condemned Russia."Our Western partners are trying to avoid talking about global economic issues," Lavrov told
reporters outside the Mulia hotel
"From the moment they speak, they launch into fevered criticism of Russia."Blinken shunned a meeting with Lavrov and instead accused Russia
of triggering a global food crisis, demanding Moscow allow grain shipments out of war-battered Ukraine."To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine
Its grain is not your grain
Why are you blocking the ports? You should let the grain out," Blinken said in the closed-door talks, according to a Western official
present.Lavrov earlier told reporters he would not "go running" after Washington for talks."It was not us who abandoned contact, it was the
United States," he said.Abe killing overshadows meetBefore the meeting, Blinken met his French and German counterparts and a senior British
official to discuss "Russia's unprovoked and unjustifiable war of choice" in Ukraine, the State Department said in a statement.But the
gathering was soon overshadowed by the killing of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a campaign event on Friday.After the
shooting, Blinken voiced alarm over the attack on a longtime ally of Washington and Japan's longest-serving premier, calling it a "very
sad moment."Before the news of the attack emerged, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi addressed the Ukraine war in a speech to the
ministers including Lavrov."It is our responsibility to end the war sooner than later and settle our differences at the negotiating table,
not the battlefield," Marsudi said.No family photoA United States official indicated Washington did not want to embarrass Indonesia at the
meeting by walking out on Lavrov.But there will be no family photo of the G20 ministers as is customary, an Indonesian government official
told AFP.The hosts have addressed United States concerns about Lavrov attending in part by inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
to the G20 summit in November.In his address, Kuleba told ministers to "remember about 344 families who have lost their children when
listening to Russian lies.""The minister of the country responsible for their deaths appears in front of you today to share his thoughts on
with South Africa's foreign minister before entering the same room as Lavrov, who he last met in January.Russia's top diplomat was
seated between the Saudi Arabian and Mexican foreign ministers as the meeting began.British FM leavesBlinken's efforts to have a powerful
Western stance against Russia at the meeting were diluted after British Foreign Minister Liz Truss pulled out following Prime Minister Boris
Johnson's resignation as leader of his party on Thursday.She flew out of Indonesia on Friday morning and was replaced by former British
ambassador to the European Union Sir Tim Barrow, a British official told AFP.While in Bali, Blinken will also seek to reopen dialogue with
Beijing in talks on Saturday with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the first in months after tensions became strained over issues including
Taiwan.The meeting comes as United States President Joe Biden voices hope for a conversation in the coming weeks with Chinese President Xi
Jinping, with whom he last spoke in March.Lavrov met Wang on Thursday to discuss Russia's invasion, which Moscow says it launched to stop
Ukraine from joining the NATO military alliance.The United States has condemned Beijing's support for Russia, and Blinken is expected to
reiterate those warnings in talks with Wang.
