Geneva, Europe Brief News – Washington and Moscow’s top diplomats met Friday in Geneva in a last-ditch bid for a solution over Ukraine.
The meeting came as the US increasingly fearing that Russia will invade despite warnings of severe reprisals.
The talks between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov came just 11 days after their deputies met in Geneva and agreed to preserve dialogue amid Russia’s build-up of tens of thousands of troops on Ukraine’s border.
Unlike the January 10 session, Blinken and Lavrov have a concise exchange as they determine whether diplomacy remains possible.
It marked the latest effort to defuse tensions over Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia. Ukrainian officials say more than 100,000 Russian troops deployed there.
The build-up has further prompted concern in the West, with the Washington threatening Mr Putin with sanctions if Ukraine comes under attack.
Russia, however, denies it is planning to invade the country and says the troops are there for exercises. It says it can move its troops freely on its own soil.
New Agreement
Russia and Ukraine have earlier reached a new agreement to restore a 2020 ceasefire deal in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak hailed the deal, saying the coming holidays “should be peaceful”.
The deal was brokered by Europe’s OSCE security organisation as a step towards de-escalation.
The agreement coincides with heightened tensions in the region.