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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on his departure for Kiev
Photo: Alex Brandon / dpa
Tensions in the Ukraine conflict are increasing, and Russia is now even massing more troops in neighboring Belarus.
In the midst of the crisis, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has landed in Kiev for talks.
To kick off his visit, Blinken has now underscored his government's determination to support Ukraine.
The Russian troop deployment on the common border gives President Vladimir Putin the opportunity "to take further aggressive measures against Ukraine at very short notice." Ukrainian capital. President Joe Biden has therefore given him the task of underpinning the United States' determination in the conflict. He hopes his scheduled meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Friday will keep diplomatic channels open, Blinken said.
In Kiev, Blinken wants to speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
"This is a diplomatic effort to de-escalate tensions surrounding the unprovoked Russian military buildup on Ukraine's borders," Blinken said on Twitter.
After the visit to Ukraine, Blinken first wants to travel to Berlin to discuss how to proceed with Russia with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
The foreign ministers of France and Great Britain are also expected in Berlin.
According to US information, Blinken wants to urge the Russian government to take immediate steps to ease the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border during his talks with Lavrov on Friday.
Despite all diplomatic efforts, Russia has so far pursued the opposite of de-escalation.
Putin could attack Ukraine anytime, anywhere.
“We emphasize once again: Russia will not attack anyone”
For months, the United States and NATO have accused Russia of planning an attack on Ukraine. Russia denies this every day. "We reiterate: Russia will not attack anyone," Moscow's embassy in Washington said. For its part, Russia accuses the USA and its allies of having been militarily arming Ukraine themselves for years with weapons and military trainers and maneuvers, thereby fueling the confrontation.
"We call for an end to the hysteria and to stop building tensions over the problem in Donbass," the statement said. According to the Russian representation in Washington, the "hotheads" in Kiev should not be encouraged to engage in new provocations in the Donbass conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. "If the United States is truly committed to diplomatic efforts to resolve the intra-Ukrainian conflict, then it should desist from plans to supply Ukraine's armed forces with new weapons," the statement said. Moscow called on Washington to persuade the Ukrainian government to comply with the Minsk peace plan.
On Tuesday, Scholz and Baerbock again warned Russia against an attack on Ukraine.
During her first visit to Lavrov in Moscow, however, Baerbock also underlined the importance of relations between Germany and Russia.
"Tens of thousands of people could die"
Great Britain also emphatically warned Russia of an attack.
The first industrialized, digitized war between two cutting-edge armies in Europe in generations may be just weeks away, James Heappey, Secretary of State at the UK Defense Ministry, told Times Radio.
'It's not something that should be considered bloodless in Moscow.
This is not something for the rest of the world to sit by and ignore,” Heappey said.
"Tens of thousands of people could die."
Heappy said it was right to exhaust all diplomatic avenues.
“I just hope that now that we're on the verge of the brink, the people of Moscow will start to think that thousands will die.
That's something no one should be remotely relaxed about," stressed the conservative politician.
At the same time, he emphasized that it was not "in the remotest way realistic" that British soldiers would fight against Russian troops.
Earlier, Great Britain announced that it would supply anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.
A small number of British army personnel are to train the Ukrainian military in the use of the weapons.
The German government has so far rejected arms deliveries to Ukraine, but several FDP MPs are in favor of it.
mrc/dpa/AFP/Reuters
