Blinken to Meet With Russian FM After Ukraine Visit

 

NATO is also seeking more talks with Russia

by Dave DeCamp 

Posted onJanuary 18, 2022CategoriesNewsTagsRussia, Ukraine

Despite the apparent impasse between the US and Russia last week during talks on Ukraine, the two powers are continuing a dialogue. The State Department said Tuesday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet Russian Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Friday after a stop in Kyiv.

In Kyiv, Blinken will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday. The US has been hinting at increasing support for Kyiv through more military aid, but such a move would exacerbate tensions with Moscow.

Also on Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he was seeking more talks with Moscow. A date isn’t set, but Stoltenberg said a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council could be held in the “near future.”

During talks last week, the US and NATO publicly rejected Russia’s call for a guarantee that Ukraine won’t join the Western military alliance. But both sides signaled they were prepared for more dialogue on the deployment of missiles and other arms control issues.

The Biden administration won’t give up on the narrative that Russia is planning to invade Ukraine even though Moscow has repeatedly denied the accusation. The White House said Tuesday that Russia could attack its neighbor at “any point,” but it’s not clear what that assessment is based on.

https://news.antiwar.com/2022/01/18/blinken-to-meet-with-russian-fm-after-ukraine-visit/