Asking Russia To Open The Gandum Blockade At The G20 Foreign Minister's Meeting In Bali, US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken: Ukraine Not Your State, Why Block Ports?

US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken (central) while attending the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Bali Sumber: Antara Foto/pool/Sigid Kurniawan)

JAKARTA - A number of Western officials tried to ask Russia to open a blockade of Ukraine's wheat shipments to the world market, as the war, which has lasted more than four months, could be prolonged.

At a meeting of the G20 foreign ministers in Bali, Indonesia, some of the most persistent critics of Russia's invasion, faced top Kremlin diplomat Sergei Lavrov.

Their main concern is getting the seeds sent from Ukraine out of the blocked Black Sea port. Ukraine is the main exporter, with aid agencies having warned that countries in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere are facing a devastating food shortage if supplies do not reach them.

In the plenary session, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Moscow to let Ukrainian wheat come out into the world, a Western official said.

"He spoke directly to Russia, saying: 'To our Russian counterparts: Ukraine is not your country. The seeds are not your seeds. Why did you block the port? You have to let the seeds come out," the official said.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Lavrov had been lashed out at the West, saying instead of focusing on how to address global economic issues at the meeting, ministers had started a "crazy criticism" of Russia over the Ukraine conflict.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi asked the G20 to "find a way forward" to tackle global challenges and said the impact of war, including rising energy and food prices, would be the worst hit poor countries.

"This is our responsibility to end the war faster and resolve our differences on the negotiating table, not on the battlefield," said Foreign Minister Retno when opening the discussion.

However, Putin's comments in Moscow show that the prospects for the incident are currently dim. Moscow, however, accuses the West of fomenting an economic war in Russia by trying to isolate it with sanctions imposed on the February 24 invasion.

President Vladimir Putin warned that Russian military operations in Ukraine had just begun and the prospects for negotiations would be dwindling the longer the conflict drag on.

"We have heard time and time again that the West wants to fight us until the last Ukraine. This is a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but it seems that everything is heading in this direction," President Putin said in a speech in parliament on Thursday.

It is known, the largest conflict in Europe since the Second World War has killed thousands, millions of people displaced and razed Ukrainian cities. Russia says "special military operations" are intended to deploy the Ukrainian military and eradicate people it calls nationalists.

Ukraine and its Western supporters say Russia is involved in land grabbing that cannot be justified.