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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva. The two sides are still far apart on Ukraine Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS |
The top U.S. and Russian diplomats made no major breakthrough at talks on Ukraine on Friday but agreed to keep talking to try to resolve a crisis that has stoked fears of a military conflict.
After the talks in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned of a โswift, severeโ response if Russia invades Ukraine after massing troops near its border. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was still waiting for a written response to its demands for security guarantees.
But both said they were open to further dialogue, and Blinken saw grounds to hope that mutual security concerns could be addressed.
โBased on the conversations weโve had โ the extensive conversations โ over the past week and today here in Geneva I think there are grounds for and a means to address some of the mutual concerns that we have about security,โ Blinken said.
He described the talks as โfrank and substantiveโ and said Russia now faced a choice.
โIt can choose the path of diplomacy that can lead to peace and security, or the path that will lead only to conflict, severe consequences and international condemnation,โ Blinken told reporters, adding that diplomacy would be preferable.
โWeโve been clear โ if any Russian military forces move across Ukraineโs border, thatโs a renewed invasion. It will be met with swift, severe and a united response from the United States and our partners and allies.โ
Lavrov said the ball was in Washingtonโs court.
Describing the meeting as open and useful, he said Moscow would understand whether talks were on the right track once it had received a written response to its sweeping security demands from the United States.
Russiaโs demands include a halt to NATOโs eastward expansion and a pledge that Ukraine will never be allowed to join the Western military alliance.
โI canโt tell you if weโre on the right track or the wrong track. Weโll understand this when we receive the American response on paper to all the points in our proposal,โ Lavrov said.
Tatiana Stanovaya, head of political analysis firm R.Politik, commented on Telegram: โThis is partly a trap, of course, because any such written response will be used to discredit the U.S. negotiating position.โ
Blinken said he expected to share with Russia โour concerns and ideas in more detail and in writing next weekโ and said he and Lavrov had โagreed to further discussions after thatโ.
Russia and the United States could hold another meeting next month to discuss Moscowโs demands for security guarantees, Russiaโs RIA news agency quoted a source in the Russian delegation as saying.
โLETโS NOT GET AHEAD OF OURSELVESโ
Lavrov said Russia had worries of its own, โnot about invented threats, but real facts that no one hides โ pumping Ukraine with weapons, sending hundreds of western military instructorsโ.
Asked about the possibility of a summit between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden, Lavrov was circumspect.
โLetโs not get ahead of ourselves, President Putin is always ready for contacts with President Biden, itโs clear these contacts need to be seriously prepared,โ he said.
Blinken said of another potential meeting between Biden and Putin: โIf we conclude, and the Russians conclude, that the best way to resolve things is through a further conversation between them, weโre certainly prepared do that.โ
The two presidents met in Geneva in June last year.
Washingtonโs hopes of building a united front of opposition to Moscow were complicated by Bidenโs comments at a news conference on Wednesday in which he suggested that allies might be divided on how to respond to a โminor incursionโ by Russia into Ukraine.
Biden and his administration sought to row back on that on Thursday, with the president saying that โif any, any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border that is an invasionโ.
Before Fridayโs meeting, Blinken swung through Europe to try to shore up U.S. alliesโ commitments to hit Russia with economic sanctions if it goes ahead with an invasion of Ukraine.
In Kyiv on Wednesday, Blinken assured Ukraine of U.S. support. Blinken, before meeting German, French and British officials in Berlin on Thursday, said Putin could order an invasion imminently.
Blinken spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba over the phone on Friday and briefed him on his meetings with European and Russian officials, the State Department said in a statement, reaffirming Washingtonโs support for Kyiv.
Blinkenโs deputy, Wendy Sherman, and Lavrovโs deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, also met in Geneva last week, without a breakthrough.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the military was looking at a range of options that might be needed in case allies in Europe ask for reassurance and support.
Some of those U.S. military capabilities could come from within Europe or even from the United States if needed, Kirby said.
โOur job is to make sure that weโre ready in case our allies need us,โ he added.
REUTERS