Blinken: Russia must choose between dialogue and confrontation – SME.sk

WASHHINGTON. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that Russia must choose between dialogue and confrontation.

He expressed this on the American State’s “State of the Union” program CNN ahead of Monday’s talks in Geneva, where Russian and US officials are due to talk about growing tensions over Ukraine.

“There is a way for dialogue and diplomacy to try to resolve some of the differences and avoid confrontation,” Blinken was quoted as saying by AFP.

“The second way is confrontation and far-reaching consequences for Russia if it resumes its aggression against Ukraine. We are going to test which (of these two) directions President (Vladimir) Putin is ready to take,” the head of American diplomacy added.

Blinken warned that any positive outcome of the negotiations would depend in part on Russia’s willingness to abandon its aggressive stance, which he likened to an “atmosphere of escalation with a weapon near Ukraine’s head.”

“So if we are to make progress, we will have to see de-escalation, Russia will have to stop being the threat it currently poses to Ukraine,” he stressed.

Blinken also admitted that he did not expect the talks to bring about a significant change, but also stressed that Washington could impose possible economic sanctions if Moscow did not seek a diplomatic solution.

Russia is asking the West to guarantee that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO in the future. The United States and its NATO allies have threatened Moscow with severe sanctions in the event of an attack on Ukraine.

For several weeks now, the North Atlantic Alliance has been warning of the gathering of up to about 100,000 Russian troops near the border with Ukraine. At the same time, he warns Moscow of a possible invasion of Ukraine.

However, Russia categorically denies plans for military intervention in Ukraine and instead accuses Kiev of deploying its forces near territories in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

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Appealing to an unnamed White House official, the AP on Saturday said the Washington government was ready to compromise and negotiate with Moscow on possible restrictions on further missile deployment in Ukraine, as well as setting the maximum number of US and NATO military exercises in Eastern Europe.

However, Russia, through its foreign ministry, said on Sunday that it was ruling out any concessions to the United States in talks on Ukraine and security in Europe.