NUSA DUA, Indonesia — He was a party brawler at the tropical resort, shunned by many, though not all. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov attended a meeting of finance ministers of the Group of 20 industrialized nations in Bali on Friday, despite his country’s pariah status in Europe and beyond the brutal war in Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken refused to meet with him, as did several other Western officials. A few even agreed to pose with him for ordinary photos. But in a reflection on why Russia’s economy is still working, Mr Lavrov met directly with several ministers from major nations that have refused to join the Western coalition against his country, including those from China, India, Brazil , Turkey and Argentina. and Indonesia. And in remarks at a plenary session focused on food and energy insecurity, Mr Blinken took indirect aim at Mr Lavrov and his colleagues in Moscow, repeating accusations that Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports was preventing the export of vital important grain supplies. “To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine is not your country,” Mr. Blinken said. “His wheat is not your wheat. Why are you blocking the ports? You should let the wheat come out.’ He noted that the United States had pledged more than $5 billion to address the problem. A Western official said Mr Lavrov was not present for Mr Blinken’s remarks after he left shortly before Ukraine’s foreign minister spoke earlier in the meeting, leaving the speaking role to a subordinate who said he had not prepared remarks. Mr Lavrov also walked out of an earlier meeting of the group during the German foreign minister’s remarks. But in statements to reporters, the famously sardonic Russian diplomat was defiant. Mr Lavrov said “blatant Russophobia” had led Western nations to allow damage to the global economy through sanctions against his country and blamed the United States for a diplomatic breakdown between Washington and Moscow. The Russian diplomat said Western nations such as the United States were acting against the G20’s mission to promote global economic health by maintaining massive sanctions on his country. “The fact that they are not using the G20 for the purpose for which it was founded is obvious,” he said. The Treasury Department sanctioned Mr Lavrov immediately after Russia invaded Ukraine, calling him “directly responsible” for the military attack. On Friday, he dismissed any suggestion that he was disappointed that he had not spoken to Mr. Blinken, whom he last spoke to during a mid-January meeting in Geneva that American officials saw as a last-ditch effort to prevent an invasion. “It wasn’t us that cut off all contacts, it was the United States,” Mr Lavrov said. “And we don’t run after anyone who suggests meetings. If they don’t want to talk, that’s their choice. I didn’t think it was necessary to start a confrontation.” Mr Lavrov also took the opportunity on Friday to disparage British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a day after Mr Johnson said he would step down. Mr Johnson led one of the West’s most aggressive responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “They were trying to create this new alliance — the UK, the Baltics, Poland and Ukraine,” Mr Lavrov said, calling the effort to create “an English bridgehead on the continent” after Britain leaves the European Union . “They said NATO isolated Russia,” Mr Lavrov said. “It was his party that isolated Boris Johnson.” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who was seen strolling and chatting with Mr Lavrov through the luxury hotel that hosted the gathering, said on Twitter that he and Mr Lavrov had “exchanged views on modern regional and international issues, including the conflict in Ukraine and Afghanistan.” India has friendly relations with Moscow, a longtime patron and source of arms sales, and has helped Russia cope with sanctions by increasing purchases of Russian oil at a significant discount.
