US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Kiev today, the first stop of his European tour dedicated to the crisis between Russia and the West over Ukraine.
Russia has deployed tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine in recent weeks. However, he denies that he intends to invade the neighboring country and stresses that the de-escalation of the situation goes beyond providing guarantees for its security, especially the commitment that NATO will not expand to the east.
Blinken is expected first at the US embassy in Kiev and then will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and then with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba.
After a round of talks with Russia last week, Russians and Westerners spoke of major differences in their positions, but US diplomacy still hopes to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis, although the US is now issuing stern warnings to Russia.
"We are at a stage where Russia can launch an attack on Ukraine at any time," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Tuesday, referring to an "extremely dangerous situation."
Source: RES-EAP
