Secretary Of State Blinken Meets Russian And Ukrainian Officials, US State Department: We Want Peace

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Wikimedia Commons/US Department of State)

JAKARTA - US President Joe Biden's top diplomat will seek to defuse the crisis with Moscow over Ukraine when he meets Russia's foreign minister in Geneva this week after visits with Ukrainian leaders in Kyiv and European officials in Berlin.

Foreign Minister Antony Blinken will travel amid concerns voiced by Ukraine and its Western allies about the tens of thousands of Russian troops being amassed in and near Ukraine.

"The United States does not want conflict. We want peace," said a senior US State Department official, citing Reuters January 19.

"President (Russia) (Vladimir) Putin has the power to take steps to de-escalate this crisis, so that the United States and Russia can pursue a relationship that is not based on hostility or crisis," the official told reporters.

Russia denies planning a new military strike, but has put forward several demands and has said it will take unspecified military action unless the West agrees.

During this visit, Foreign Minister Blinken will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday. Later in Berlin, he will meet with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and then follow the Transatlantic Quad, referring to a format involving the United States, Britain, France, and Germany.

Illustration of the United States meeting with Russia. (Wikimedia Commons/US Department of State)

A State Department statement said discussions would focus in part on readiness among allies to impose "grave consequences and severe economic costs on Russia."

Later, Foreign Minister Blinken will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Friday, to seek diplomatic relations with Moscow, the senior official explained.

Earlier, Minister Blinken spoke with Lavrov on Tuesday, with senior officials saying the two decided in a phone call the importance of holding face-to-face meetings.

Lavrov separately said Moscow would welcome US diplomatic efforts and repeated Russia's accusations that Ukraine was "sabotaging" an agreement aimed at ending the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Despite diplomatic engagements this month, Washington has yet to see Russia de-escalating tensions and Moscow could launch an attack on Ukraine any time in January or February, the senior official said.

"We are now at a stage where Russia can launch an attack on Ukraine at any time," the official said

Meanwhile, another senior official at the State Department on Tuesday voiced concern about Russian troops being deployed since Monday in Belarus close to its southern flank with Ukraine for what Moscow and Minsk said would be joint military exercises.

The Russian troop numbers exceed what the United States expects in normal drills, potentially being used to attack neighboring Ukraine, the official added.

To note, Kyiv has sought weapons from Western countries to shore up its defenses. On Monday, Britain said it had started supplying Ukraine with anti-tank weapons to help defend itself.