Jolie won’t meet with Russian counterpart during international summit – National

Canada’s foreign minister has said he will not meet with Russia’s foreign minister as the two cross paths at an international summit over the next few days.

Melanie Jolie says she is open to the idea of ​​working with China on certain issues, but says Russia must be treated like a pariah.

Jolie has attended a series of world summits attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

She said she would not meet with Lavrov if invited to either the current Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit or next week’s G-20 meeting, which would justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

0:35China challenges Melanie Jolie’s characterization of Asian nations, says comments ‘faulty’

Mr. Jolie recently said Canada is trying to limit its relationship with China on everything from human rights to intellectual property.

Still, Jolie says Canada wants to work together on issues like climate change and will be open to meetings with China’s leaders.

In fact, Jolie said he expects to sit next to Chinese officials within days at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

0:53Jolie warns Canadian companies of ‘risks’ of doing business with China

“There’s a power battle going on,” Jolie said. “Our goal is to isolate Russia economically, politically and diplomatically.”

Jolie said the pressure on Russia was mounting, pointing to Lavrov’s withdrawal from the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting last summer.

“There is a growing consensus that what is happening in Ukraine is completely unacceptable.”