There Has Been No Proposal On Ukrainian Talks From The US, The Foreign Minister Of Russia Considers The Meeting Of President Putin And Biden At The G20 Bali Summit

President Joe Biden and President Vladimir putin met in Swiss Geneva. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

JAKARTA - Russia is considering a meeting of its leaders with the President of the United States to discuss the issue of Ukraine, but there has not been an official proposal for such a meeting, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

In an interview with the '60 Minutes' program on Rossiya-1 television, Foreign Minister Lavrov said Russia was ready to consider a meeting proposal between President Vladimir Putin and President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

"We have said time and time again that we have never refused to hold a meeting. If the proposal is accepted, we will consider it," Lavrov said in response to questions about the prospect of such a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.

If everyone thinks that there is already a sign of President Biden's readiness for such a meeting, nothing but the words "We'll see", Lavrov said.

"This may be good for speculation of journalistic analytics, but not for real politics," he added.

However, Foreign Minister Lavrov admits that until now there has been no serious proposal to hold talks on Ukraine sent by Washington.

"We haven't received a serious proposal for contact yet. We were approached by some people, not too serious, and we haven't rejected that approach either, but offered to formulate a special proposal with which people can contact us via indirect channels. We have never received further details from anyone," said Foreign Minister Lavrov.

Foreign Minister Lavrov also criticized US accusations that Russia refused to take part in talks about Ukraine, as a lie.

"We have heard statements by US officials, including (John) Kirby from the White House, my colleague (Antony) Blinken, and other government officials, who say they are open to talking to Russia while looking for political solutions to the situation around Ukraine, but Russia is so bad that it refuses to negotiate. I can tell you directly that it is a lie," he stressed.

It is known that the G20 Summit will take place on the island of Bali, Indonesia on November 15-16.