Blinken Demands End to War in First Meeting With Russian Counterpart

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken confronted his Russian counterpart and demanded that Russia end its war against Ukraine, in an unexpected meeting on Thursday that was the first private, face-to-face exchange between a U.S. cabinet member and a top Russian official since the invasion last year.

Mr. Blinken requested the meeting with Sergey V. Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, which suggests that the Biden administration wants to keep lines of communication open with Russia despite being on opposing sides of the war in Ukraine....