Isolation complication? US finds it’s hard to shun Russia

By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration likes to say Russia is isolated internationally because of its invasion of Ukraine. Yet its top officials are hardly cloistered in the Kremlin, and now the U.S. is talking to them too. Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with world leaders, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a NATO member. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is jetting around the world and posing for photos with foreign leaders. And, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday ended months of top-level diplomatic estrangement with Lavrov to discuss the release of American detainees in Russia and issues related to Ukraine.