U.S Secretary of State cancels meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister
Feb 23, 2022: According to a report by AFP, U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had cancelled a planned meeting with Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov set for later this week, as Russia had started an invasion of Ukraine.
“Now that we see the invasion is beginning and Russia has made clear its wholesale rejection of diplomacy, it does not make sense to go forward with that meeting at this time,” Blinken said.
Yesterday, President Joe Biden condemned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognise the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk and to authorise the deployment of Russian troops to “maintain peace” in the regions. U.S President Joe Biden has announced a package of new sanctions against Russia, calling Moscow’s recognition of two separate territories in eastern Ukraine “the beginning of a Russian invasion” of its neighbor.
The Biden administration initially responded with sanctions targeting trade in the two regions specifically, but Tuesday’s measures go after Russia itself.
Germany halted the approval of the Nordstream-2 pipeline. The United Kingdom announced sanctions on three Russian billionaires and five banks, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Russia will have “pariah status” if it continues to invade Ukraine.
Blinken and Lavrov were due to hold talks in Geneva on Thursday, following a meeting last week in hopes of ending Russia’s threatening attack on Ukraine. Blinken, however, said the attack had already begun, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin had already announced his goal of “complete Ukrainian domination.” Blinken told a joint news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba at the State Department that Washington would “always pursue” any possibility of stopping any attack on Ukraine.
“If Moscow’s approach changes. We remain, I remain, very much prepared to engage,” he said.
“But Moscow needs to demonstrate that it’s serious. The last 24 hours has demonstrated just the opposite,” he said, referring to Moscow’s statements that it would send troops into Ukraine breakaway regions Donetsk and Luhansk.
Referring to the trade sanctions, Blinken said, “If Russia continues to escalate, so will we,”
Kuleba welcomed the sanctions. He said that the U.S strategy of imposing sanctions on waves, rather than at the same time, is “something that can work if it continues in a sustained manner,” he added.
Meanwhile, a statement from Russia yesterday said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was still ready for talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, after President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine’s two separatist regions.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a video stream on YouTube, “Even during the most difficult moments we say: we are ready for negotiations,”
“We are always in favour of diplomacy,”
On Tuesday, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that he would meet with Blinken in Geneva on Thursday to address rising tensions in Ukraine.
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Russia still ready for talks with U.S Secretary of State: Foreign Ministry
