Blinken also defended the United States' veto of UN Security Council resolutions seeking a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. According to him, North American diplomacy believes that the resolution alone does not have the power to end the conflict and is not the best negotiating strategy.
The G20 meeting comes at a time of growing international concern over Israel's impending ground attack on the Rafah region in the southern Gaza Strip. The region is home to about a million Palestinians who live in precarious conditions and lack water, food and medical assistance.
There are differences of opinion on certain aspects and particularly on this topic [a comparação de Lula], I deeply disagree. Friends do this, we can disagree and continue the important work we do together. We have common goals: to free the hostages, implement a ceasefire and end this conflict. That was the nature of our conversation.
Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State
At the end of yesterday's meeting, Lula and Joe Biden's top assistant on international affairs posed smiling for photos and tried to convey a positive assessment of the meeting. There were no charges against Lula's speech.
Against Russia
At the press conference this Thursday, Blinken also said that the American government would soon impose new sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. He said the persecution of Alexei Navalny, an opponent of Vladimir Putin who recently died in an Arctic prison, shows the weakness of the Kremlin regime.