/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/XOWBWTMCLFJYPOP5P6PDJGWDJA.jpg "Blinken to visit Brazil, Argentina for meetings with Lula, Milei")
Feb 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will visit Brazil and Argentina next week, where he will meet with leaders from both countries and attend a gathering of G20 foreign ministers, the State Department said on Friday.
Blinken will travel to Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires from February 20 to 23, where Brazil will host meetings as president of the G20 group of the world's largest economies.
He will meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to discuss the U.S.-Brazil partnership for workers' rights and cooperation on energy transition, the State Department said.
Brian Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said he expected a "robust" conversation on world peace and security between Blinken and Lula, who has been sharply critical of US-ally Israel's war on Gaza, including in Cairo this week.
"I think it's going to be a dynamic conversation," Nicholls told reporters in a phone briefing ahead of the visit, adding that Blinken returned from talks at the Munich Security Conference this week and recently visited the Middle East, his fifth visit. since the October 7 attack there that ignited Israel's bombardment and invasion of Gaza.
In Rio, Blinken hopes to "engage world leaders in our shared commitment to promoting peace and stability" and focus on international efforts to deal with the growing humanitarian crisis and spike in violence in Haiti, the State Department said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also scheduled to attend the G20 meeting, but no meeting between him and Blinken has been scheduled amid heightened tensions over Russia's war in Ukraine.
Blinken, who last met Lavrov last year during a brief exchange on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in New Delhi, said on Friday that Russia was to blame if reports of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death in prison were true.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Trade Affairs Ramin Tolui, also briefing reporters, said he did not foresee any bilateral meeting with Blinken in Rio, but said the U.S. delegation would "underline and continue discussions on the Kremlin's war damage caused by aggression." "
Blinken will then travel to Buenos Aires for a meeting with Argentine President Javier Milli, a right-wing liberal who was sworn in in December promising a "shock therapy" to stabilize the country's battered economy.
Blinken and Miley will "discuss our shared commitment to sustainable economic growth, human rights and democratic governance, critical minerals, and increasing trade and investment," the State Department said in a statement.
