US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he had a conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He announced this at a briefing, writes CNN..

According to Blinken, the conversation, which lasted about 25 minutes, was "

The Secretary of State said that it was about sanctions if the Russian Federation decides to annex Ukrainian territories.. Representatives of the United States and Russia also discussed the unblocking of grain exports from Ukraine through the Black Sea.

At the same time, the top American diplomat stressed that the United States sees "

Blinken said he urged Lavrov to agree to a US proposal to release two US citizens illegally detained in Russia - Paul Whelan and basketball player Britney Griner.. We are talking about their exchange for the convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout..

“I cannot give you an assessment of our conversation and whether it will give a result,” Blinken said.. “I was talking about exactly what I planned to talk to him about.”.

The official statement of the State Department on the results of the conversation has not yet been made public..

At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that the heads of the foreign affairs departments of the United States and the Russian Federation " Lavrov “outlined Russia’s principled approaches in the light of the special military operation” and once again stated that “its goals and objectives will be fully achieved”.

Also, the Russian side “draws the attention of the Secretary of State” to “the pumping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and national battalions with American and NATO weapons”, which, according to Lavrov, “prolongs the conflict and multiplies the victims”.

As for the possible exchange of imprisoned citizens of Russia and the United States, the Russian Federation asked the United States to return to dialogue in the mode of "

Sergey Lavrov also complained that the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation hinder the implementation of the agreement signed in Istanbul on unblocking the export of Ukrainian grain.

“The situation is complicated by US sanctions, and US promises to provide appropriate exemptions for Russian food supplies have not yet been realized,” he said..

Recall that for almost 5 months of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken took an unchanged position in relation to Moscow - no contacts. The top US diplomat did not meet or have a telephone conversation with high-ranking Russian officials.

The last telephone conversation between US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took place on February 12, 10 days before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine..

On July 27, Blinken announced that he intended to have a telephone conversation with Lavrov. During this conversation, the conditions for the return of American citizens held in Russia were to be announced to the Russian side..

At the same time, he argued that the conversation would not concern Ukraine, stressing that the United States would not discuss Ukraine without Ukraine..

Yesterday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Sergey Lavrov has a “busy schedule” and will be able to talk with the US Secretary of State “when there is free time”.