The United States Department of State affirmed this Thursday (07.28.2022) that it had not received a response to the formal request for a call requested from the Russian Foreign Ministry between the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
“We have made it clear to Russia that we are seeking a conversation between Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Lavrov,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Price assured that one of the main issues of the call will be to discuss with Lavrov a “substantial proposal” to release WNBA basketball player Brittney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan, accused by the Russian Justice.
The American player pleaded guilty in early July to a drug offense before a Moscow court, for which she might face a prison sentence of up to ten years in prison.
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For his part, former US Marine Paul Whelan is convicted of espionage and the Russian Justice has previously rejected requests for repatriation submitted by his defense.
Thus, Price emphasized that the United States “continues to hope that they will have the opportunity to speak in the coming days” and added that the call will discuss the agreement signed in Turkey between kyiv and Moscow to export grain.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zajarova said Lavrov would respond to the call request “as soon as his schedule allows.”
“Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will heed this request when time permits. Right now, his international contacts agenda is packed with real business: the SCO Foreign Ministers Council meeting in Tashkent and bilateral meetings,” Zajarova stressed, as reported by the TASS news agency.
mg (dpa,