The recent face-to-face meeting in New Delhi between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — the first such high-level interaction since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — suggests that diplomacy may no longer be a dirty word.
The 10-minute meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 gathering occurred after U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan reportedly urged Ukraine to show Russia that it is open to negotiating an end to the war. Together, these recent developments offer a glimmer of hope that a cease-fire is within the realm of the possible.
The war in Ukraine, which has shaken the foundations of the international order, is in many ways a proxy war between the world’s two major powers, with Russia backed by China and Ukraine backed by the United States. Over the past year, the war has triggered global energy and food crises, spurred higher inflation amid slowing global growth and heightened the risks — underscored by Russia’s recent downing of a U.S. drone over the Black Sea — of a direct Russia-NATO conflict.