In Kyiv, Blinken will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba “to strengthen the United States’ dedication to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” in accordance with State Department spokesman Ned Price.
In Berlin, Blinken will “talk about current diplomatic engagements with Russia and joint efforts to discourage additional Russian aggression in opposition to Ukraine, together with Allies’ and companions’ readiness to impose large penalties and extreme financial prices on Russia.”
Blinken will meet with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, adopted by a gathering with the Transatlantic Quad, which additionally contains the UK and France, in accordance with Price.
Blinken’s go to follows final week’s diplomatic talks between the West and Russian officers that ended with no dedication from Russia that it could deescalate and pull again the tens of 1000’s of troops it amassed on the Ukrainian border, main a senior US official to warn that the “drumbeat of battle was sounding loud.”
Ahead of the highest US diplomat’s travels to Kyiv, Blinken spoke on Tuesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about final week’s diplomatic engagements and “careworn the significance of continuous a diplomatic path to de-escalate tensions surrounding the deeply troubling Russian army build-up in and close to Ukraine,” Price mentioned in a readout of the decision.
The US has been assuring Ukraine of its dedication to the nation, amid new warning indicators and US intelligence that counsel Russia is making ready a Ukraine invasion.
The US has info indicating Russia has prepositioned a gaggle of operatives to conduct a false-flag operation in jap Ukraine in an try and create a pretext for an invasion, which CNN first reported and the White House later confirmed. These operatives are “skilled in city warfare and in utilizing explosives to hold out acts of sabotage in opposition to Russia’s personal proxy forces,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki mentioned Friday. Russia has additionally begun evacuating its embassy within the Ukrainian capital, which may probably be preparation for a looming battle, The New York Times reported. Russia has denied the report and mentioned the embassy is working as typical.Blinken would be the newest US official to go to with Zelensky, after CIA Director Bill Burns met with the Ukrainian chief final week and a delegation of US senators met with Zelensky on Monday.
This story has been up to date.