
Blinken to meet Russian Foreign Minister next week
CNN
Secretary of State Tony Blinken will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Arctic Council ministerial in Iceland next week -- the first face-to-face meeting between a Biden cabinet official and their Russian counterpart.
Their meeting in Reykjavik comes ahead of a potential summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin. No date has yet been made public for the possible meeting between the two leaders, although Biden has said it is his "hope and expectation" that he will meet with his Russian counterpart during his trip to Europe next month. Tensions have escalated between Washington and Moscow in recent months. The United States imposed a sweeping set of sanctions and diplomatic expulsions in response to Russia's SolarWinds cyber attack, its interference in US elections and its ongoing occupation of Crimea. Russia responded with its own sanctions, diplomatic expulsions and restrictions on the US Embassy in Moscow.More Related News