U.S. Finds It’s Hard To Shun Russia

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration likes to say Russia is now isolated internationally because of its invasion of Ukraine. Yet its top officials are hardly cloistered in the Kremlin, and now the U.S. wants to talk. President Vladimir Putin has been meeting with world leaders recently, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a NATO member. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is jetting around the world and posing for photos with foreign leaders. This week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he wants to end months of top-level U.S. diplomatic estrangement with Lavrov to discuss the release of American detainees in Russia as well as issues related to Ukraine.