US, Russia diplomats to talk as tensions over Ukraine rise
Feb 1, 2022: According to a report by AFP, top diplomats from US and Russia will hold fresh talks on the Ukraine crisis on Tuesday, as Western officials say Russia continues to build large-scale military forces along the border with the former Soviet state.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is scheduled to speak on the phone with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, a day after the two sides criticized each other in a heated debate on Ukraine at the UN Security Council. A State Department official said the two are expected to meet in the morning, Washington time.
Ahead of the call late Monday, Moscow sent a letter to Washington expressing its views, outlining the two sides’ positions exchanged over the past two weeks.
The call between Lavrov and Blinken comes as Western officials say Russia is increasing its presence on Ukraine’s borders with more than 100,000 troops and a wide range of military equipment.
US officials say Moscow is ready to invade Ukraine, although no final decision has been made by President Vladimir Putin. US President Joe Biden said Monday that Russia would face “swift and severe consequences” if it did so.
Tuesday’s call will be the first time Lavrov and Blinken have spoken directly since the United States and NATO submitted their written responses to Russia’s demands last week. Both rejected Moscow’s demand for assurances that Ukraine would not join the US-led NATO alliance, and rejected Russia’s insistence that the US withdraw its strategic weapons from Europe.
At the UN Security Council meeting Monday, Russia’s ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said no Russian official had threatened to invade and accused the United States of “whipping up tensions and rhetoric and provoking escalation.”
On the other hand, US officials say the Russian threat is real. On Monday, both London and Washington warned that among measures that could be taken to punish Russia if it does invade are harsh sanctions on the billionaire oligarchs close to Putin. On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to Kyiv for talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on the crisis.
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