Blinken and Lavrov Ready to Cooperate US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at Harpa Concert Hall. AFP Vala Hafstað Morgunblaðið reports. Blinken arrived in Iceland Monday, while Lavrov arrived yesterday afternoon. This was their first in-person meeting since the Biden administration took power in Washington. The two men are in Iceland to attend the 12th Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council, held today. Iceland has chaired the council for the past two years, but Russia will take over the chairmanship today for a two-year term. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. AFP “It’s also no secret that we have our differences,” Blinken told reporters prior to the meeting, He added that US authorities wanted a predictable, stable relationship with Russia, which would benefit the two countries and the world as a whole.
Coronavirus Case Among Icelandic Delegation at Eurovision Daði og Gagnamagnið in Rotterdam. Photo/Rúnar Freyr Gíslason Vala Hafstað mbl.is reports. The contest’s grand final is scheduled for Saturday night. The group, before leaving for Rotterdam. Photo/RÚV/Gísli Berg Gísli Marteinn Baldursson, who will be the Eurovision commentator for RÚV, the Icelandic national broadcasting station, tells mbl.is it isn’t clear what the consequences of the COVID-19 case will be for the group, or whether a recording of the group’s performance will be used in tomorrow night’s broadcast.
Blinken Meets With Icelandic Authorities US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Minister for Foreign Affairs Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson. mbl.is/Kristinn Magnússon Vala Hafstað Morgunblaðið reports. In addition, Blinken met with Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir and President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Prime Minster Katrín Jakobsdóttir. mbl.is/Kristinn Magnússon Blinken arrived in Iceland Monday night. He will be attending the 12th Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council at Harpa Concert Hall tomorrow – a meeting held every two years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, participation in the meeting is limited to the foreign ministers of the eight Arctic States, as well as the foreign ministers of the Faeroe Islands and Greenland and representatives of the Indigenous Permanent Participants. Other participants will join the meeting online.