Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images
The Secretary of State of the United States, Anthony Blinken, and the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, concluded what for both diplomats translates into “useful and substantive” talks about the current tension in Ukraine.
Blinken again insisted that NATO could trigger a response to any invasion by of Russia, while his Russian counterpart guaranteed once again that his country does not represent any threat.
“I believe that we can develop this mutual understanding and reach agreements that guarantee our security, but all this depends on Russia putting an end to its aggression in Ukraine“, said the US secretary, after the meeting held in Vienna and in which Russia again denied that a military incursion into Ukraine is being prepared.
“We are committed to the path of diplomacy to try to resolve our differences. But if that proves impossible and Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine, we will give a united, swift and severe response,” Blinken told a news conference after the meeting with Lavrov.
Furthermore, Blinken assured that the United States is willing to address any Russian concerns about the regional deployment of NATO , but asked his counterpart for “greater transparency” on the transfers of Russian soldiers on the border with Ukraine in a “spirit of reciprocity”.
However, the US secretary insisted again that “there are things that are not going to happen and NATO will not close its open doors to Ukraine ” and instead offered Moscow the possibility of new agreements on security. “You can choose this path or you can choose the path of international condemnation,” he warned.
For his part, his counterpart in Moscow also stated that his country does not represent no threat to the people of Ukraine and attributed the current situation to “anti-Russian hysteria” fueled by a “Russophobic minority”.
“I want to remind once again those who are analyzing our position, that Russia has never, anywhere, threatened the Ukrainian people,” Lavrov said.
Blinken will meet with President Joe Biden in the next few hours to draft a written response to security assurances regions proposed by Russia in recent days.
Lavrov will do the same with President Vladimir Putin and it is expected that the ideas put forward at the Vienna meeting will be developed next week with new meetings at the ministerial level and, perhaps at the level of leaders.
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