The intense battle for Bakhmut
may finally be nearing an end.
This is a key city in eastern Ukraine,
which has
faced a relentless Russian assault
for weeks.
Well, just hours ago,
the founder of the vodka
mercenary group said
his fighters have now
all but surrounded the city.
And he appealed to Ukraine's president
to order a Ukrainian withdrawal,
saying, quote,
The pincers are tightening.
Russian forces
blew up
a vital supply bridge
connecting the town to nearby areas.
Ukrainian police tells CNN
they hope to repair that bridge
in the coming days.
Meantime, Ukrainian forces blew up
a rail bridge in Baku.
They had previously damaged the military.
Denies it's a sign
that troops are preparing to withdraw.
Well, as that battle
rages, Sergei Lavrov
is hearing
the sound of international ridicule
at Thursday's
gathering of top
G20 diplomats in New Delhi.
The Russian foreign minister
was pushing his boss's
narrative about Moscow's
invasion of Ukraine when this happened.
You know, the war which
we are trying to stop
and which was launched against us
using the Ukraine, your
Ukrainian people
of course, its influence influenced
influenced the policy of Russia.
Hmm.
CNN's Atika Seward is live
from the Indian capital.
You've been monitoring
what's been going
on at these key meetings.
What are the
what do you believe
are the key takeaways at this point?
Well, perhaps
the biggest takeaway would be a day
after the G-20 summit
here in New Delhi,
where the foreign ministers had converged
and convened
to talk about pressing issues Becky.
Mainly emerging from that conflict
in Ukraine with Russia is,
you know,
the rise in prices in food, commodities
and energy.
And India was hoping
to play a leading role
in bringing the West and Russia together
and finding common ground.
But they failed to do that.
And that's essentially
because Ukraine
was the issue over
which there was a sharp divide.
We've seen that on Thursday.
We've seen that again on Friday.
There was a quad meeting today
of the four foreign ministers.
The US Secretary of State,
Antony Blinken,
Japan Foreign Minister,
Australia Foreign Minister,
as well as the Indian Foreign Minister.
There wasn't as a direct statement
or a strong statement
that came out condemning
Russia's invasion
of Ukraine,
and perhaps that's because India has
had a very historic tie
with Russia for decades now.
And they haven't come out
and directly condemned Russia
for the war in Ukraine.
But they did
come out with a joint statement
and they did emphasize
that the use of the threat of use
of nuclear weapons is inadmissible.
Now, Blinken, for a second day
running while in New Delhi,
did send out a strong message to Moscow.
Here's what he had to say Friday morning.
If we allow
with impunity
Russia to do what it's doing in Ukraine,
then that's a message
to would be aggressors everywhere.
That they may be able
to get away with the two
You know, Becky,
Lavrov has repeatedly said that the West
is trying to deflect from other issues.
It's trying to distract the people here
at the G20, foreign ministers
meet by talking only about Ukraine.
You heard the audience
the way they laughed
when he tried to indicate really
that Russia is a victim
and not the aggressor
when it comes to the war in Ukraine.
And that's the response he got.
Now, the biggest takeaway for me,
perhaps as a journalist,
here in New Delhi
at the G-20
summit of the foreign ministers would be
that there's been no joint statement
that only goes on to indicate
how shocked
the divide
is really between the West and Russia
over the issue of Ukraine.
And also an indication
that when the big summit, the G-20
summit of leaders
takes place
in India in September,
there might not be any consensus
all over again, which will be highly
unfortunate, Becky.