US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the cancellation of a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

He announced this at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.

“Now that the beginning of the invasion is in sight, and Russia makes it clear that it completely rejects diplomacy, it is pointless to hold this meeting at the moment.

I consulted with our allies and partners - everyone agrees - and today informed Foreign Minister Lavrov about this in a letter, ”said the head of the US State Department.

At the same time, Anthony Blinken stressed that Washington is open to further diplomatic interaction with Moscow, “if Russia is ready to take visible steps to give the international community at least a little confidence that it is serious about de-escalation and finding a diplomatic solution.”

Diplomatic Contacts

Earlier, the meeting with the head of the US Foreign Ministry was announced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

It was supposed to take place on February 24 in Geneva.  

The day before, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Washington had not informed Moscow of any changes in its plans for the meeting.

“We have not heard any statements from the other side that would change their plans.

We are always ready for the negotiation process," Zakharova stressed.

The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry also added that Moscow did not refuse any options.

“When there is an opportunity to find some common ground.

Therefore, if something changes, then, probably, not with us.

We, once again, never close the doors,” the diplomat stressed.

Recall that in January, representatives of the United States and Russia held meetings to discuss Moscow's proposals for security in Europe. 

On January 10, a meeting was held at the level of representatives of foreign affairs agencies, and on January 21, Anthony Blinken and Sergey Lavrov held talks in Geneva. 

Moscow noted that despite the readiness of the Russian side for dialogue, the United States and its allies ignored the main concerns of the Russian Federation. 

In particular, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on February 17 that in the absence of the readiness of the United States and its allies to “negotiate on firm, legally binding guarantees to ensure our security,” Russia would be forced to respond, including with the help of military-technical measures.

New sanctions

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also said at a press conference that Washington has begun imposing new sanctions against the Russian Federation and will continue to do so in the event of further escalation around Ukraine.

Blinken announced the introduction of restrictive measures against the Russian state corporation VEB (formerly known as Vnesheconombank) and Promsvyazbank.

According to him, the assets of these organizations in the United States will be frozen, and American companies or individuals will be prohibited from conducting any transactions with them.

In addition, they will be denied access to the US dollar.

The head of the US State Department also announced sanctions against Russia's external debt - American financial institutions are prohibited from trading Russian bonds in the primary and secondary markets.

Sanctions will be imposed against members of the Russian elite and their families, Anthony Blinken added.

These steps complement US President Joe Biden's decrees prohibiting trade and investment in the DPR and LPR, the head of the State Department said.

“In the coming hours and days, in response to any further Russian steps towards escalation, new swift and tough measures will be taken, which will be agreed with allies and partners and will complement those announced today.

Together with our allies and partners, we will continue to support Ukraine, which courageously and steadfastly resists the threats from Russia,” Anthony Blinken emphasized.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is already accustomed to the sanctions that the West will impose against it, regardless of whether there is a reason for this.

  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

  • RIA News

  • © Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

“Our European, American, British colleagues, they will not stop and will not calm down until they exhaust their possibilities for the so-called punishment of Russia,” the head of Russian diplomacy said on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel.

However, Russia is ready for this, Lavrov added.

“Well, we are used to it, the president has already outlined our position, we know that sanctions will be imposed anyway, in any case.

With a reason, without a reason," the Russian Foreign Minister stressed.

"Invasion" by Biden

Recall that earlier US President Joe Biden announced the beginning of the Russian "invasion" of Ukraine and the introduction of new sanctions against the Russian Federation.

According to him, the measures being introduced will cut off the Russian authorities from the Western financial system.

Biden also announced that he was working with the German government to ensure that Nord Stream 2 was not launched.

In addition, the US President decided to send the US military to the Baltics.

At the same time, the head of the White House announced Washington's readiness for diplomacy in order to prevent the "worst-case scenario."  

Thus, Washington reacted to the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics.

On February 21, after the meeting of the Security Council, Vladimir Putin addressed the citizens of the Russian Federation, in which he called this decision necessary because of the actions of the Kiev regime and its Western allies, which lead to the death of civilians of the LPR and DPR.

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin during the signing of decrees on the recognition by the Russian Federation of the Lugansk People's Republic of the LPR and the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), February 21, 2022

  • RIA News

  • © Alexey Nikolsky

The President of the Russian Federation signed decrees in the Kremlin on the recognition of the LPR and the DPR, instructed the Russian Foreign Ministry to establish diplomatic relations with the republics, and the Russian Ministry of Defense to ensure the maintenance of peace in them.

Double standarts

The demonstrative refusal of the head of the State Department, Blinken, to meet with Sergey Lavrov is "playing for the public," says Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“Blinken says that diplomacy does not work, but at the same time, contacts will still not be closed.

That is, he contradicts himself.

It is clear that the negotiation process will and must continue anyway.

The only question is whether it will be fruitful,” the expert noted.

The United States is still interested in conducting a dialogue with Russia, Blokhin emphasized.

“The future of mankind, in the literal sense, depends on our countries, in view of our nuclear potentials.

This does not even concern the Ukrainian issue, since there are many more areas where the interests of Russia and the United States collide.

Therefore, no matter how much they would like, it will absolutely not be possible to isolate Russia, build a new iron curtain, and so on, ”the political scientist emphasized.

Washington continues to pursue a policy of double standards towards the Russian Federation, this is confirmed by the latest actions and statements of US officials on the situation around the LPR and DPR, Blokhin notes.

“Moscow purposefully urged Ukraine to comply with the Minsk agreements for eight years, but it didn’t care about these agreements.

First of all, high-ranking Ukrainian officials spoke directly and openly about this.

At the same time, the United States itself, as it were, urged Kiev to comply with them, but in fact they did not force it.

Objectively, the Minsk agreements have not worked and will not work.

Therefore, we did the right thing by recognizing the sovereignty of the Donbass republics,” the political scientist emphasized.

The refusal of the head of the US State Department to meet with Sergei Lavrov was expected, political scientist Alexander Asafov emphasized in an interview with RT.

“It is worth noting that Blinken contradicts the words of Biden, who previously said that it is necessary for diplomacy to work.

But we see that they themselves reject diplomacy in order to switch to the language of sanctions and only sanctions.

Although it is obvious that even within the American establishment there are voices that say that sanctions do not work and only make things worse for America itself, but this is a convenient and understandable tool, it is easy and understandable to work with it, ”the expert emphasized.

  • Donetsk

  • RIA News

  • © Ilya Pitalev

Alexander Asafov added that the US Congress, upon returning from vacation on February 28, is highly likely to adopt a new bill on sanctions in addition to presidential decrees.

“From the words of Blinken, it is clear that they continue to discuss the absurd “invasion” according to the Biden scenario with the capture of Kiev.

Obviously, this is their political position, in which they plan contacts only to discuss this story, completely rejecting the Russian security proposals sent to them earlier.

This is because overseas colleagues show confusion and do not know what to do in the current situation.

Therefore, they need time to develop new positions in the changed situation, and they take a break for this, ”the political scientist explained.