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Antony Blinken and Sergey Lavrov are meeting in Stockholm to discuss the growing concern in eastern Ukraine.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blink has met with his Russian counterpart as the Moscow-Washington split unfolds around Ukraine.
Blinken’s talks with Sergey Lavrov took place on Thursday at the OSCE European Security and Cooperation Organization summit in Stockholm, where 57 foreign ministers discussed key security issues in the region.
The summit between Russia and the US has come after weeks of tension, as Kiev and its western allies are worried about a large deployment of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border.
Moscow denies planning the invasion and accuses Ukraine of building its own forces in the east of the country, where government forces have been fighting Russian-backed separatists since early 2014 after Moscow annexed Crimea from Kiev.
Here are the latest updates:
Russia will announce proposals for a security pact to curb NATO
Lavrov says Moscow will soon present proposals for a new European security pact, which it hopes will stop NATO from expanding eastward.
Speaking to the OSCE, Lavrov said that Europe was returning to the nightmare of a military confrontation and hoped that Russia’s suggestions would be carefully considered.
“NATO refuses to consider our proposals in a constructive manner in order to calm tensions and prevent dangerous events,” he said. “On the contrary, the military infrastructure of the alliance is approaching the Russian borders. He is returning to the nightmare of a military conflict. “
“The risk of something going wrong increases every day”
Bernard Smith of Al Jazeera, from Moscow, says the talks between Blink and Lavrov are an “opportunity” for the two sides to repeat their respective positions.
“For Russia, it is unacceptable … to extend NATO to the east, accepting not only Ukraine but also Georgia as potential new members,” Smith said.
“But the United States has said that it is not up to Russia to decide what to do with independent nations like Ukraine and Georgia. while these sides are confronted.
Ukraine wants to join NATO, now an ally but not a member, and join the European Union.
According to the Kremlin, there is still a high probability of a new conflict in Ukraine
The Kremlin says the likelihood of a new conflict in eastern Ukraine remains high between Kiev’s “aggressive” rhetoric and the escalation of what it says are its neighbor’s provocative actions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call that Moscow was concerned about the possibility of a military move to eastern Ukraine, Kiev has denied planning.
Peskov also said that Russia sees the commitment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to return to Crimea as a direct threat. “Such a wording means that Kyiv can use any option, including force, to try to penetrate a region of Russia,” he said.
Ukraine and the EU have discussed sanctions in the case of Russia’s “attack”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says he has met with top EU diplomat Josep Borrell to launch a new offensive in Moscow to speed up work on specific economic cuts that could affect the Russian economy.
“We discussed the need to speed up Russia and accelerate the work of specific economic cuts that could affect the Russian economy if Moscow decides to launch a new stage of aggression against Ukraine,” Kuleba said.
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