Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Friday before heading into talks with his Russian counterpart amid rising concerns that Europe could again be beset by war.
Former U.S. Diplomat Brett Bruen explains rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The United States and Russia sought to lower the temperature in a heated standoff over Ukraine, even as they reported no breakthroughs in high-level, high-stakes talks on Friday aimed at preventing a feared Russian invasion.
With an estimated 100,000 Russian troops massed near Ukraine, many fear Moscow is preparing an invasion although Russia denies that. The U.S. and its allies are scrambling to present a united front to prevent that or coordinate a tough response if they can’t. Lavrov, meanwhile, called the talks "constructive and useful" and said the U.S. agreed to provide written responses to Russian demands on Ukraine and NATO next week. That could at least delay any imminent aggression for a few days."I can’t say whether we are on the right track or not," he told reporters. "We will understand that when we receive the U.S. written response to all of our proposals.
Blinken said the U.S. would be open to a meeting between Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden, if it would be "useful and productive." The two leaders have met once in person, in Geneva, and have had several virtual conversations on Ukraine that have proven largely inconclusive. Ukraine is already beset by conflict. Russia's Putin seized control of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and backed a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, part of a simmering but largely stalemated conflict with Ukrainian forces that has taken more than 14,000 lives. Putin faced limited international consequences for those moves, but the West says a new invasion would be different.
The State Department, meanwhile, put out three statements – two on Russian "disinformation," including specifically on Ukraine, and another entitled "Taking Action to Expose and Disrupt Russia’s Destabilization Campaign in Ukraine." The documents accused Russia and Putin of trying to reconstitute the former Soviet Union through intimidation and force.
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