Meeting With Foreign Minister Lavrov In Geneva, Foreign Minister Blinken Promises A Fast And Hard Response If Russia Attacks Ukraine

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

JAKARTA - United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he warned Moscow would face a swift, strong and united response against Ukraine when he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday.

Foreign Minister Blinken said after talks in Geneva, Switzerland, Washington had agreed to provide written comments to Russia on demands for security guarantees, including a promise that Ukraine would never join NATO.

He described Friday's talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, which are meant to de-escalate tensions that have risen since Russia amassed troops near the Ukrainian border, as honest and fruitful.

"We are clear, if any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border, it is a new invasion. It will be met with a swift, strong and united response from the United States and our partners and allies," Foreign Minister Blinken said at a press conference Friday, citing Reuters, January 21.

Western countries fear that Moscow is planning a new offensive in Ukraine, after sending troops into the former Soviet republic in 2014, to annex the Crimean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, Russia denies planning an attack but says it will take unspecified military action if its security demands are not met.

Foreign Minister Blinken said Washington had been trying during Friday's talks to determine whether Moscow was ready to take a diplomatic route to defuse tensions over Ukraine.

Both sides agree that it is important to continue the diplomatic process, said Foreign Minister Blinken

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Lavrov said that after meeting Foreign Minister Blinken he hoped that emotions would subside in Ukraine. He repeated Russia's statement that they pose no threat to its neighbors.