Simon Lewis and Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters] -U.S. President Joe Biden’s top diplomat will attempt to calm a Russian crisis over Ukraine. He meets Russian Foreign Minister in Geneva next week after meeting with Ukrainian leaders and European officials at Berlin.

Antony Blinken is the Secretary of State. He will visit amid worries expressed by Ukraine and its Western allies regarding the thousands of Russian soldiers amassed near and within Ukraine.

The United States is not interested in conflict. “We want peace,” said a high-ranking official from the U.S. State Department on Tuesday.

According to the Russian official, Putin is willing to do everything in his power to calm the crisis and allow the United States to have a normal relationship with Russia.

Russia has denied any plans for a military offensive, but it made numerous demands. It said that it may take unspecified military actions if the West does not agree to these.

Blinken and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zilenskiy will be accompanied by Dmytro Kuleba (Foreign Minister) on Wednesday.

He will then meet with the German Foreign Minister Annalena Bock in Berlin, and the Transatlantic Quartet, which refers to an arrangement that includes the United States of America, Britain, France, and Germany.

The State Department stated that the talks would be centered in part on the readiness of allies, to impose severe economic and massive consequences on Russia.

The senior official stated that Blinken would meet Sergei Lavrov (Russian Foreign Minister) in Geneva Friday to discuss a possible diplomatic off-ramp for Moscow.

Blinken spoke on Tuesday with Lavrov and the official stated that they decided to make a call.

Lavrov also stated that Moscow welcomes U.S. diplomatic efforts, and repeated Russian accusations of Ukraine “sabotaging agreements” aimed at ending conflict between pro-Russian separatists from eastern Ukraine and the Ukrainian government.

However, Washington still has not seen Russia ease tensions, despite several diplomatic contacts this month. According to a senior official, Moscow could attack Ukraine in January or February.

The official stated that “We now stand at a point where Russia could launch an attack against Ukraine at any time.”

On Tuesday, a second State Department official expressed concern over Russian troops deployed in Belarus since Monday to the south flank of Ukraine. This is for joint military drills that Moscow and Minsk claim will take place.

Officials stated that the Russian troop numbers are higher than what America would expect from a normal exercise. They could potentially be used against Ukraine.

Biden warns of serious economic consequences for Moscow in the event that Russia invades Ukraine.

Baerbock was in Moscow to meet her counterpart on Tuesday. She stated that Germany is ready to pay an economic high price in order to protect its core values during the Russia-Ukraine war.

Kyiv is seeking weapons from Western nations in order to strengthen its defence. Britain announced Monday that it began supplying Ukraine anti-tank weapons in order to assist it with its defense.