Ukraine: the head of American diplomacy in Europe to avoid escalation
The US Secretary of State on his departure for Ukraine, January 18, 2022. AP - Alex Brandon
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The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken is going to Kiev on Wednesday, before Berlin and then Geneva on Friday, where he will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
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“
We are at a stage where Russia can launch an attack in Ukraine at any time
,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Tuesday, speaking of an “
extremely dangerous situation
”. A US State Department official warned of
Russian troop movements Tuesday in Belarus
, Ukraine's neighbor. "
The fact that we are observing these movements clearly gives the Russians a new approach, should they decide to take further military action against Ukraine
," she said.
But on the side of the American Secretary of State, we hammer: “
Diplomacy is not dead
”.
Antony Blinken is "
150% involved in looking for a diplomatic way out and that's really what motivates
" the meeting with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs "Friday in Geneva, indicates a source in Washington.
Immutable positions
Before this, the two ministers exchanged on the telephone, at the initiative of the United States, underlines the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The opportunity to take stock at the end of a week of intense talks in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna. But the positions did not change. Washington continues to worry about the large presence of Russian soldiers on the Ukrainian border and Russian troop movements in Belarus. Moscow insists on legal guarantees for its security, in particular the commitment never to expand NATO towards the East.
Russia denies any belligerent ambition in Ukraine and says it is threatened by the strengthening of the Atlantic Alliance in the region.
During his interview with Antony Blinken, Sergei Lavrov also asked his American counterpart not to "
spread speculation about an alleged imminent
"Russian aggression", reports the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
But during a press conference
with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock
, the head of Russian diplomacy rejected the Western request to withdraw the tens of thousands of Russian soldiers deployed on the Ukrainian border, assuring that these troops did not threaten anyone.
All the options on the table
This Wednesday, Anthony Blinken will report on the discussions to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
The US Secretary of State will then travel to Berlin for talks with the UK, France and Germany on Ukraine, as Westerners have warned Russia that it will face serious consequences if it fails. invasion of Ukrainian territory.
"
No option is excluded
" on the American side to respond to such an attack, said the White House spokeswoman, when asked in particular about an exclusion of Russia from the Swift network.
Another sanction regularly mentioned against Russia would be to strike the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which leads to Germany.
Jen Psaki repeated on Tuesday that targeting this infrastructure, which does not yet work, would constitute "
credible
" leverage against Russia, while Berlin expressed reluctance to this idea.
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