US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Ukraine to discuss Russian invasion threat

Antony Blinken arrived in Ukraine’s Kyiv on Wednesday as a show of support for the country as tensions about Russia’s possible invasion are rising. The United States Secretary of State is scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The last moment trip, aimed at de-escalation of tensions in the region, will also include meetings with other international officials. These include Blinken’s Russian counterpart in Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva. In Berlin, Blinken will also meet allies to discuss the matter.

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White House press secretary Jen Psaki underscored the urgency. “We’re now at a stage where Russia could at any point launch an attack in Ukraine. And what Secretary Blinken is going to go do is highlight very clearly there is a diplomatic path forward,” she said Tuesday, according to reports from Associated Press.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was blamed for escalating the standoff by the White House and was further warned about “severe economic consequences” if Russia decided to cross the Ukrainian border.

Blinken’s meetings follow inconclusive diplomatic talks between Moscow and the West in Europe last week that failed to resolve stark disagreements over Ukraine and other security matters.

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Instead, those meetings appear to have increased fears of a Russian invasion, and the Biden administration has accused Russia of preparing a “false flag operation” to use as a pretext for intervention. However, Russia has denied the accusations.

From Kyiv, Blinken will travel to Berlin, where he will meet with his German, British and French counterparts to discuss a possible response to any Russian military action. In Geneva on Friday, Blinken will be testing Lavrov on Russia’s interest in a “diplomatic off-ramp” for the crisis, a senior State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

(With AP inputs)