The US has warned of a ‘united, swift and severe’ response if Putin invades Ukraine as Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived for talks with his Russian counterpart.
Blinken, arriving at the Geneva hotel where the crunch talks will take place, said Washington is ‘committed to a path of diplomacy’ for resolving border tensions between Russian and its ex-Soviet neighbour.
But he added that America stands ready with a ‘united, swift and severe’ response if Moscow marches its troops into Ukraine.
Both sides said they are not expecting a ‘breakthrough’ moment today, though there are fears that a complete failure of diplomacy could spark a Russian invasion and the most-serious East-West conflict since the Cold War.
Lavrov stressed ahead of the talks that Moscow is expecting a ‘concrete’ response to its security demands, including that Ukraine be banned from joining NATO.
Antony Blinken is sitting down for talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva today (pictured) to try and find a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine border crisis
Blinken told Lavrov that the US remains committed to diplomacy but is ready with a ‘severe’ response should Moscow invade
Lavrov (pictured yesterday) said he is not expecting a breakthrough, but does expect a ‘concrete’ response to Moscow’s demands including that Ukraine be banned from NATO
Ukrainian troops are pictured manning their posts in a trench close to frontlines where they have been fighting a years-long war with Russian separatists
Fears are mounting that a major conflict could break out in Europe, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson cautioned that Russia marching on Ukraine would have repercussions beyond the continent. ‘It would be a disaster for the world,’ he said.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, speaking in Australia amid talks on the new AUKUS submarine pact, today warned Putin to ‘desist and step back’ from Ukraine before making ‘a massive strategic mistake’.
‘Invasion will only lead to a terrible quagmire and loss of life, as we know from the Soviet-Afghan war and conflict in Chechnya,’ she said.
‘We need everyone to step up. Together with our allies, we will continue to stand with and urge Russia to de-escalate and engage in meaningful discussions. What happens in eastern Europe matters for the world.’
Meanwhile Russian lawmakers in the lower house floated the idea of asking Vladimir Putin to officially recognise self-declared breakaway republics in the east of Ukraine.
Russian-backed separatists have for years been fighting Ukrainian forces in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, under the banner of the Lugansk and Donetsk people’s republics. Both regions contain significant minorities of ethnic Russians.
Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house, said it is time for Russia to take concrete steps to ‘ensure the safety of our citizens and countrymen’.
His comments parrot Kremlin propaganda pushing the idea that overseas Russians are under threat from Ukraine, which observers fear Putin could use as a pretext to justify invading.
Moscow insists it has no plans to invade but has at the same time laid down a series of demands – including a ban on Ukraine joining NATO – in exchange for de-escalation.
Washington has rejected Moscow’s demands as ‘non-starters’ and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg this week insisted that the alliance ‘will not compromise on core principles such as the right for each nation to choose its own path’.
Russian sappers are pictured taking part in mine-clearing exercises in the Voronezh region, which is close to the border with Ukraine
Russia sappers take part in drills to practice mine-clearing in Voronezh, close to Ukraine
A Russian rocket artillery vehicle takes part in live-fire drills in the Voronezh region
Rockets explode during live-fire drills in the Voronezh region, near the border with Ukraine
Moscow has for weeks been massing tens of thousands of troops, tanks and artillery pieces along its eastern flank, sparking fears of an invasion, though the Kremlin has insisted it is merely a defence force (pictured, Russian forces currently massed in border regions)
Upping the ante, Russia announced new naval drills that will see it deploy to the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic and Mediterranean ‘more than 140 warships and support vessels, more than 60 aircraft, 1,000 pieces of military equipment, and about 10,000 servicemen’.
The announcement followed an angry condemnation from the Kremlin of what it described as ‘destabilising’ remarks from US President Joe Biden, after the American leader vowed a ‘severe’ response to any invasion of Ukraine.
Russia already held joint military drills Wednesday with forces of ex-Soviet republic Belarus, which also neighbours Ukraine.
A US official said the exercises could presage a permanent Russian military presence involving both conventional and nuclear forces in Belarus.
The West has repeatedly warned Russia it would pay a ‘high price’ of economic and political sanctions should it invade Ukraine.
Hours before Blinken arrived in Berlin to coordinate the possible response to Russia, Biden sparked controversy as he appeared to indicate that a ‘minor incursion’ might prompt a smaller reaction from NATO allies.
‘It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion, and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, et cetera,’ he said.
Blinken in Berlin clarified the comments, saying that ‘if any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border and commit new acts of aggression against Ukraine, that will be met with a swift, severe response from the United States and our allies and partners.’
Speaking to the German television channel ZDF on Thursday, Blinken added that any crossing of the border into Ukraine by Russian soldiers would constitute a very clear aggression, irrespective of whether it was a single soldier of a thousand, according to a German translation of his remarks.
Biden also took pains to calm frazzled nerves, saying that any entry of Russian troops into Ukraine will be treated by the West as ‘an invasion’.
But smarting from Biden’s Wednesday remark, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hit back that there was no such thing as ‘minor incursions’.
A Ukrainian soldier sits inside a trench along the frontline where government forces have been fighting against Russian-backed rebels for years
Ukrainian troops move through a trench network close to the frontlines with Russian-backed rebel forces in the east of the country
Russian S-400 anti-aircraft batteries are moved to the frontlines with Ukraine as Putin continues to mass his troops
S-400 anti-aircraft batteries are loaded on to transports to be taken to the frontlines
‘We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations. Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones,’ Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
The West’s diplomatic machine has been running on full power over recent weeks to defuse tensions, but with positions entrenched on both sides, a series of talks between Western and Russian officials in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna has failed to yield any breakthrough.
NATO allies have signalled their willingness to keep talking but Moscow has demanded a written response on its proposals for security guarantees.
On the Russian wish list are measures that would limit military activities in the former Warsaw Pact and ex-Soviet countries that joined NATO after the Cold War.
But in Kyiv on Wednesday, Blinken said he would not present such a formal response at Friday’s talks with Lavrov in Geneva. Rather it was on Russia to dispel fears of any expansionist intentions.
Ukraine has been fighting Moscow-backed forces in two breakaway eastern regions since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.
More than 13,000 people have been killed, and the latest Russian troop build-up has also greatly rattled neighbours in the Baltics.
Washington said Thursday it has approved requests from the Baltic nations to ship US-made weapons to Ukraine.
Britain has also said it would send defensive weapons to Ukraine as part of a package to help the country secure its borders.
In a speech in Sydney Friday, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will warn Russian President Vladimir Putin against making a strategic blunder and becoming embroiled in a ‘terrible quagmire’ if Russia invades Ukraine, according to prepared remarks.