(6 Jul 2022) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4387319 ASSOCIATED PRESS Berlin - 20 January 2022 1. STILL: Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a media availability ANNOTATION: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be prepared to "engage fully" during the G20 summit this fall. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Washington, DC - 5 July 2022 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ned Price, State Department spokesperson: "The Secretary (of State Antony Blinken) intends to engage fully in the G20. I'm not going to speak to any plans on the part of (Russian) Foreign Minister (Sergey) Lavrov or any other ministerial-level participant, but I can tell you the Secretary will be a full and active participant in the G20, which we see as a valuable forum. And again, we are committed to the success of this G20 and the success of Indonesia's stewardship of it." ++WHITE FLASH++ 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ned Price, State Department spokesperson: "And I suspect you will hear the United States speak clearly with our allies and partners against what Russia is doing in terms of its invasion of Ukraine and the disastrous implications it is having for countries around the world in terms of rising food, commodity prices, and other implications." ++EDIT ENDS ON SOUNDBITE ++ STORYLINE: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be prepared to "engage fully" during the G20 summit this fall leading to a possible exchange with the Russian foreign minister, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday. "The Secretary intends to engage fully in the G-20. I'm not going to speak to any plans on the part of Foreign Minister Lavrov ... but I can tell you the secretary will be a full and active participant in the G-20, which we see as a valuable forum," Price told reporters. Secretary Blinken will see his Chinese counterpart this week at a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 20 bloc of nations that will likely exacerbate splits over Russia's war in Ukraine. While strained U.S.-China ties will be the focus of Blinken's talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the broader G-20 gathering in Indonesia of leading industrialized nations will almost certainly be overshadowed by the Ukraine conflict and its effect on global food and energy security. And, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be there, marking the first time that he and Blinken will be in the same room, let alone the same city, at the same time in nearly six months. The State Department announced Tuesday that Blinken would meet with Wang in Bali, but had little to say about the possibility of him meeting Lavrov, who the U.S. has shunned since the Ukraine invasion in February. U.S. officials have accused Lavrov and other Russian diplomats of a lack of seriousness in the run-up to the Ukraine war. The Biden administration has ruled out "business as usual" with Russia while it remains in Ukraine and U.S. officials said there would be no formal discussions between Blinken and Lavrov in Bali. But, they could not rule out the possibility of a chance encounter, which would their first since they last met in Geneva in January. =========================================================== Clients are reminded: (i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: info@aparchive.com Subscribe for more Breaking News: http://smarturl.it/AssociatedPress Website: https://apnews.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP Facebook: https://facebook.com/APNews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/9fda84e8415b42e187d7d4809708af83