Simon Lewis

KYIV (Reuters – U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken, arrived in Kyiv Wednesday to conduct a diplomatic effort to calm tensions between Moscow and Ukraine. He warned that Russia might launch a second attack “very quickly”.

Blinken will be meeting Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian President. After that, he will travel to Berlin to hold talks with his allies. He then heads to Geneva to meet Sergei Lavrov (Russian Foreign Minister) after last week’s negotiations failed to produce any breakthrough.

Russia is assembling tens to thousands of troops close to Ukraine’s border in preparation for what Kyiv, its allies and others fear will be a military offensive against Ukraine.

Russia sent additional troops to Belarus this week, ahead of planned joint exercises that Minsk stated were scheduled for next month. Moscow has denied plans to attack, but Washington is pressing for security assurances. This includes a ban on Ukraine joining NATO.

Blinken, speaking to U.S. diplomats in Kyiv said that he hoped Russia would follow a diplomatic, peaceful and respectful path during his meeting with Lavrov. However, he warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin may give orders to strike at any moment.

“As you all know very, very well, we have been engaged in the past couple of months in an intense focus on Ukraine because of the significant buildup we’ve seen of Russian forces we’ve seen near the Ukrainian border,” Blinken said.

He said that the Russian buildup was occurring with no provocation or reason.

Blinken explained that while we know there are plans to grow that force, President Putin has the capability to, on very short notice as well, take additional aggressive actions against Ukraine.

He said that Russia’s actions attracted Washington’s attention, as well as its allies in Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration last month approved the provision of an additional $200 million https://www.reuters.com/world/us-approved-200-mln-defense-aid-ukraine-december-state-department-official-2022-01-19 in defensive security assistance to Ukraine and gave more such aid last year than at any point since Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

U.S. SUPPORT for UKRAINE

Ned Price, spokesperson for the State Department said that Blinken visited Ukraine “to reinforce our support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Washington warned Russia that it could face severe sanctions if they launch a new offensive and promised to increase its European security presence.

A State Department official stated that “Should Russia invade Ukraine further, we will provide additional defense material to the Ukrainians beyond what we are currently in the process of providing,” ahead of Blinken’s arrival.

Blinken will be meeting Zelenskiy, Foreign Minister Dmytrokuleba and Zelenskiy 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.

Germany signalled on Tuesday that it could halt the Nord Stream 2 https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-signals-it-could-halt-gas-pipeline-if-russia-invades-ukraine-2022-01-18 pipeline from Russia if Moscow invades Ukraine.

Blinken spoke to Lavrov Tuesday, and they decided that it would benefit them both to meet up in person.

Lavrov also stated separately that Moscow welcomes U.S. diplomatic initiatives and reiterated Russian claims about Ukraine’s “sabotage” of agreements meant to end conflict between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed troops in Eastern Ukraine.

Washington still has not seen Russia ease tensions despite diplomatic efforts this month. A senior U.S. official stated earlier that Moscow could attack Ukraine in January and February.

According to the official, “We’re now at a place where Russia could at anytime launch an attack upon Ukraine.”

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