With the weekslong standoff over Ukraine at a “critical moment,” top diplomats from Washington and Moscow were meeting on Friday for talks aimed at averting a Russian invasion of its neighbor.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dampened hopes for progress as they gathered early Friday in Geneva, Switzerland — the culmination of a diplomatic scramble across Europe in a bid to ward off a potentially devastating new conflict.
The United States has voiced growing concerns that a Russian invasion could be imminent. The Kremlin has massed as many as 100,000 troops on Kyiv’s doorstep, but repeatedly denied planning to invade.
Previous talks have achieved little progress, with the U.S. and its NATO allies dismissing demands from Moscow about the Western alliance’s relationship with Ukraine and other former Soviet states.
“We don’t expect to resolve our differences here today. But I do hope and expect that we can test whether the path of diplomacy or dialogue remains open,” Blinken told Lavrov. “This is a critical moment.”
Lavrov, meanwhile, said he did not “expect a breakthrough at these negotiations either. What we expect is concrete answers to our concrete proposals.”
The U.S. and its allies have sought to present a united front, warning of “severe” consequences including harsh economic sanctions.
“We have been very clear throughout if any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border and commit new acts of aggression against Ukraine that will be met with a swift severe united response from the United States and our allies and partners,” Blinken told reporters Thursday.
His comments came after President Joe Biden predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin would invade. “My guess is he will move in, he has to do something.”
Biden came under fire for making a distinction between a “minor incursion” and a full-blown attack, suggesting there were divisions within the transatlantic alliance over how to react to a smaller-scale Russian operation.
“It depends on what it does. It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and we end up having to fight about what to do and not do,” the president said at a news conference Wednesday to mark a year in office.
Biden’s comments drew quick criticism from Washington to Kyiv, with some accusing the president of giving Russia the go-ahead to launch an attack.
He sought to clarify his comments on Thursday, saying that any Russian troop movement into Ukraine would be seen as an invasion.
After meeting with Ukraine’s president in Kyiv and top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany in Berlin this week, Blinken faces Lavrov in a meeting that is shaping up as a possible last-ditch effort at dialogue.
Russia wants binding security guarantees, including a permanent prohibition on Ukrainian membership in NATO and the removal of most of the U.S. and allied military presence in eastern Europe.
The U.S. and its European partners say they are willing to consider certain less-dramatic gestures but that the Russian demands are out of the question and that Putin knows they are nonstarters.
Abigail Williams , Dan De Luce, Tatyana Chistikova and Associated Press contributed.
— via www.nbcnews.com
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The Chenab Times News Desk