In view of the tense situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has threatened Moscow with "serious consequences" if it intervenes again in the neighboring country.

Before meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday in Stockholm, he said Washington was extremely concerned about Russian plans to attack Ukraine.

In the half-hour conversation, Blinken and Lavrov apparently tried to prepare a phone call for their presidents.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said after the meeting that Moscow hoped that Vladimir Putin's “contact” with Joe Biden could take place in the next few days.

Majid Sattar

Political correspondent for North America based in Washington.

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Friedrich Schmidt

Political correspondent for Russia and the CIS in Moscow.

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Blinken had pointed out that Biden told Putin at their meeting in Geneva that summer that America wanted stable and predictable relationships. "But we have made it clear over the past few weeks that we have big differences in terms of Russia's aggressive plans against Ukraine." Lavrov said Putin made it clear that Russia "does not want any conflict." “But when our NATO partners declare that no one has the right to dictate whether or not to another country that wants to join NATO, we cite rules of international law that say that everyone The state has the right to choose how it wants to safeguard its legitimate interests in the security area. ”A further expansion of NATO to the east would affect Russia's own security interests.

Lavrov was open to talks with the United States in Ukraine.

"Our American colleagues have not just said once that they want to help." Russia is ready to do so.

"We have an interest in pooling efforts to find a solution to the Ukraine crisis," Lavrov said before the talks held on the occasion of the meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized that Lavrov had threatened Blinken with "serious consequences" if Ukraine were drawn "into US geopolitical games".

The “alternative” to Russian “response measures to balance the military-strategic balance” are “long-term security guarantees” for Russia.

After the Russian intervention in Ukraine in 2014, Germany and France established the Normandy format in which they negotiated with Moscow and Kiev and at least prevented the conflict from escalating.

The Obama administration placed particular trust in the commitment of Chancellor Merkel.

Also because of the upcoming change in the Chancellery, the question arises whether the format will last.

Blinken had spoken at the NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Riga on Wednesday that Moscow was planning to destabilize Ukraine from within, as well as large-scale military operations.

Kiev now puts the number of Russian soldiers on the border at 115,000. The Kremlin recently accused Ukraine of having concentrated more than 120,000 soldiers.