WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Russian and US foreign ministers are set to hold fresh talks on Tuesday after a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine, with Washington working to strengthen sanctions with Western allies. Vowed, if Moscow decides to attack its neighbor.
Despite the Kremlin’s denial, the Security Council is due to convene later on Monday on the crisis as fears of an imminent incursion grow.
Russia announced that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would hold talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“There will be a telephone conversation between Lavrov and Blinken on Tuesday,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a press briefing.
The upcoming call is the latest in a flurry of diplomatic meetings between senior diplomats from Moscow, Brussels and Washington over disagreements over the conflict in Ukraine and security concerns in Europe.
The United States and Britain on Sunday flagged new and “disastrous” economic sanctions against Russia, as Washington and its allies step up efforts to deter any aggression.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacts during a meeting with the President of Switzerland and the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis during the US-Russia Foreign Minister’s meeting in Geneva, Switzerland January 21, 2022 was seen. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Pool via AP)
With tensions rising, the United States said it was ready to back down against any “disruption”, in what Moscow expects to be one of the closest UN sessions in years.
Russia may try to block the 15-member council from holding its US-requested meeting on Monday, “but the Security Council is unified. Our voice is unified in calling on the Russians to explain themselves,” said the UN envoy to Washington. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told ABC News.
“We’re going to go into the room ready to hear them, but we’re not going to be distracted by their promotion,” she said on Sunday. “And we’re going to be prepared to respond to any propaganda they try to spread during this meeting.”
‘Putin won’t stop’
US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland told CBS that a resolution on security issues presented to Russia by the US and NATO last week may have sparked interest in Moscow.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee took a tough stance, saying it is important that Washington sends a powerful message to President Vladimir Putin that the cost of any aggression against Ukraine will be very high.
“Putin will not stop with Ukraine,” Senator Bob Menendez said on CNN, indicating that Russia’s actions already in Ukraine could be fined and “warning of catastrophic sanctions that would eventually crush Russia.” Will give” should attack Moscow.
Nuland said the White House is working closely with the Senate, and any sanctions measures would be “very well aligned” with sanctions coming from European allies.
Putin “will feel it intensely,” she said.
State Department Under Secretary for Public Affairs Victoria Nuland speaks during a briefing at the State Department on January 27, 2022 in Washington. (Susan Walsh/AP)
In London, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Britain would unveil sanctions legislation targeting a “very wide variety” of Russian economic goals.
The Kremlin on Monday condemned Britain’s move, calling it a “clear attack on trade”.
“The Anglo-Saxons are increasing massive tensions on the European continent.”
Analysts say a series of sanctions imposed on Russian banks and financial institutions will not only affect daily life across Russia but could affect major economies in Europe and elsewhere.
Carrots and sticks
Western leaders are taking a two-pronged approach, increasing military aid to Ukraine but also making a full-judicial diplomatic effort to defuse the crisis.
Britain is preparing to offer NATO a “major” deployment of troops, weapons, warships and jets, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday. At the same time, he is expected to speak to Putin next week.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Sunday welcomed the increase in military support, backing London’s diplomatic initiative.
Canada on Sunday announced the temporary repatriation of all non-essential staff from its Kiev embassy. And its defense minister, Anita Anand, said Canadian forces in Ukraine were being moved to the west of the Dnieper River in a protective way.
security demands
Relations between Russia and the West are at their lowest level since the Cold War.
But Russia has repeatedly denied being a threat to the Soviet republic and said on Sunday it wants “respectful” relations with the United States.
Ukrainian soldiers check their tanks at a military unit near Kharkiv, Ukraine, January 31, 2022. (Andrew Marienko/AP)
Russia has placed a demand for security before Washington and the US-led military alliance, citing the presence of NATO near its border.
They included a guarantee that NATO would not accept new members, especially in Ukraine, and that the United States would not establish new military bases in former Soviet countries.
In the face of Russian construction, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the West to reduce rhetoric.
This plea from a country too eager for Western support – especially since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014 and began fueling a deadly separatist conflict in the country’s east – raised eyebrows in Washington.