Russia, US hold high level talks in Geneva amid tensions
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E-mail Xinhua, January 21, 2022
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks over security issues on Friday morning in a hotel in Geneva.
Prior to the meeting, a source with the Russian Mission in Geneva said that Lavrov and Blinken will hold a detailed discussion on the drafts of two fundamental documents submitted by Russia last December on security guarantees.
The two sides are also expected to assess the results of the series of talks between Russia, the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) earlier this month.
The U.S. Department of State said earlier that during their Geneva meeting, Blinken will focus on areas of bilateral concern and urge Russia to take steps to de-escalate and remove its troops along Ukraine's border.
"I'll urge that Russia find its way back to the agreements it swore to over the decades and to working with the United States and our allies and partners in Europe to write a future that can ensure our mutual security but also make clear that that possibility will be extinguished by Russian aggression against Ukraine," Blinken said in a speech in Berlin on Thursday.
Blinken began his latest diplomatic trip in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Jan. 19.
He then traveled to Berlin and met with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, followed by a meeting of the Transatlantic Quad which groups the United States, Germany, France and Britain.
On the eve of the meeting, the Russian side accused Washington of keep blowing a bubble with baseless accusations.
"It looks like the United States in advance lays the ground for reducing the discussion on security guarantees in Europe to the notorious 'Russian aggression' against Ukraine," Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov was cited as saying.
A latest statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry also blamed the U.S. government's intention in peddling speculation on Russia's imminent "invasion" of Ukraine.
"We call on Western countries to stop the aggressive anti-Russia propaganda campaign, to stop fanning the flames of Ukrainian militarization by dragging it into NATO, and instead use their influence to encourage Kiev to comply with the Minsk agreements and other international obligations," the Russian statement said.
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