NEW: Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Russia's foreign minister in Geneva on Friday after visiting Kyiv — a meeting that suggests a diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine crisis may still be on the table.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Friday, following a trip to Kyiv to reinforce U.S. support for Ukraine in the face of a possible Russian invasion, according to a senior U.S. official.
He'll then travel to Berlin to meet German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and attend a meeting of the "Transatlantic Quad" — France, Germany, the U.K. and U.S.and is part of the administration's diplomatic efforts to seek de-escalation and ensure a "united approach" to Russia.Germany has a key role to play in deterring Russia or responding to any invasion due to its significant economic relationship with Russia.
Baerbock, who supports a more hardline approach to Russia than many of her colleagues in government, met with Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday.it's "hard not to see" Russia's massive military buildup as a threat to Ukraine, and warned that the European Union will impose serious consequences if Moscow proceeds with an invasion.
Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has been criticized for declining to commit to specific sanctions, said Tuesday that all options will be on the table if Russia attacks Ukraine — including halting the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline.Russia said after the "very disappointing" security talks last week that it would wait for the U.S. and NATO to provide written responses to its demands before deciding how to move forward.
Russia is seeking legal guarantees that NATO will halt its eastward expansion — including a ban on membership for Ukraine and Georgia — and roll back its forces to the alliance's 1997 borders.a pretext to invade Ukraine, which Moscow has denied.Go deeper
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