Attending The G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting In Bali, US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken Will Pressure Russia To Open Maritime Blockade And Meet Chinese Foreign Minister

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. (Wikimedia Commons/US Department of State)

JAKARTA - United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will ask G20 countries to pressure Russia this week to support UN efforts to reopen sea lanes blocked by the Ukraine conflict, as well as repeat warnings to China not to support Moscow's war effort.

Foreign Minister Blinken heads to Asia on Wednesday for the Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali, Friday this week. His trip will include his first meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi since October, but no meeting is expected with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Analysts expect the meeting in Bali to be dynamic, with Washington and its allies blaming Moscow for global food shortages since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, a major grain exporter, while Russia, also a major exporter, blamed US-led sanctions.

Ramin Toloui, assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, told reporters that Blinken would improve energy security and UN initiatives to try to return Ukrainian and Russian foodstuffs and fertilizers to global markets.

"G20 countries must hold Russia accountable and insist it supports ongoing UN efforts to reopen sea lanes for grain shipments," he said.

"Whether it happens at the G20 level, or at the level of each G20 country, that's an important point that Minister Blinken will convey," he continued.

Ukraine, which accuses Russia of blocking the movement of its ships, said this week it was holding talks with Turkey and the United Nations to guarantee grain export guarantees.

Meanwhile, Russia denies blocking grain movement and says Ukraine is to blame for the lack of movement, partly for what it says is the presence of sea mines in its ports.

Separately, the top US diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, said he expected frank exchanges on Ukraine in Blinken talks with China's Wang, expected on Saturday.

"This will be another opportunity, to convey our expectations about what we expect China to do and not do in the context of Ukraine," Kritembrink said.

It is known, shortly before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Beijing and Moscow announced an indefinite partnership. But US officials say they have not seen China evade US-led sanctions against Moscow or provide military equipment to Russia.

China is commonly known to have refused to condemn Russia's actions and has criticized sweeping sanctions. US officials have warned of consequences, including sanctions, if China starts offering material support to Russia's war effort.

Washington calls China its main strategic rival and fears it will one day try to take over the self-governing democratic island of Taiwan just as Russia is attacking Ukraine.

Kritenbrink said it was vital to maintain open lines of communication with Chinese counterparts "to ensure that we prevent miscalculations that could lead to conflict and inadvertent confrontation."

Separately, Foreign Ministers Lavrov and Foreign Minister Blinken have not met since before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, with Washington and its allies having supported Kyiv with arms supplies.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said now was not the right time for another meeting. "We want to see Russia serious about diplomacy. We haven't seen that," he said.