The Canadian Foreign Minister said she will not meet with her Russian counterpart when the two paths cross at international summits in the coming days. Melanie Joly also said she is open to the idea of working with China on certain issues and says Russia should be treated as an outcast.

Joly is traveling to a series of global summits, two of which are attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. She also added that she will not meet with Lavrov if invited to do so either at the current Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit or the Group of Twenty meetings next week, saying that would legitimize Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Likewise, Joly recently said that Canada will try to restrict its relations with China due to concerns ranging from human rights to intellectual property. However, Joly says she will accept a meeting with Chinese leadership because Canada wants to cooperate on issues like climate change.

In fact, Joly said she expects to sit alongside a Chinese official in a few days at the Group of Twenty summit in Bali, Indonesia, as these summits often include countries in English alphabetical order, adding: "There is a battle for influence happening, our goal is to isolate Russia economically, politically, and diplomatically."

Additionally, Joly pointed out that Lavrov left the G20 foreign ministers meeting in early last summer, attributing that to increased pressure on Russia. She continued: "There is a growing consensus that what is happening in Ukraine is completely unacceptable."