NEW YORK: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accepted an invitation to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov next week “provided there is no further Russian invasion of Ukraine,” the State Department said.
The meeting, which was initially suggested by the United States, was initiated “because we believe the only responsible way to resolve this crisis is through diplomacy and dialogue,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
Blinken told the UN Security Council that Russia must abandon the “path of war” and urged Russia to declare unequivocally that it would not invade Ukraine. Hours earlier, Moscow expelled the US deputy chief of mission in a move the White House slammed as “unprovoked”.
“I am here today not to start a war, but to prevent one,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the UN Security Council on Thursday. He urged Russia to abandon the “path of war” and declare it had no plans to invade Ukraine.
“The Russian government can announce today – with no qualification, equivocation or deflection – that Russia will not invade Ukraine,” he said, before reiterating allegations that Moscow plans to manufacture a pretext for an attack that he said could include a fake or real assault using chemical weapons.
“Russia says it’s drawing down those forces,” he said. “We do not see that happening on the ground. Our information indicates clearly that these forces – including ground troops, aircraft, ships – are preparing to launch an attack against Ukraine in the coming days.” Blinken also said he had sent a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov proposing an in-person meeting in Europe next week.
Meanwhile, Moscow has expelled the US deputy chief of mission to Russia, Bart Gorman, a State Department spokesperson said, warning of a US response amid heightened fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Russia’s action against our DCM was unprovoked and we consider this an escalatory step and are considering our response,” the spokesperson said.   
READ MORE: Russia building up troops near Ukraine, not withdrawing: US
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that pro-Russian forces in the eastern Donbass region had shelled a kindergarten and called the move a “big provocation”. “It’s important that diplomats and the OSCE remain in, their monitoring activities are an additional deterrent. We need an effective mechanism for recording all ceasefire violations,” Zelenskiy said on Twitter.
NATO is worried Russia could be trying to create a pretext for an invasion in Ukraine, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday, commenting on reports of shelling in the eastern Ukrainian region of the Donbass.
“We are concerned that Russia is trying to stage a pretext for an armed attack against Ukraine, there is still no clarity, no certainty about the Russian intentions,” Stoltenberg told reporters after a two-day meeting of NATO defence ministers at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also pointed the finger at Moscow: “Reports of alleged abnormal military activity by Ukraine in Donbass are a blatant attempt by the Russian government to fabricate pretexts for invasion. This is straight out of the Kremlin playbook,” Truss said on Twitter, adding that Britain would “continue to call out Russia’s disinformation campaign”.
The Kremlin rejected what it called “unfounded accusations” by the United States and NATO that it was not withdrawing forces from its border with Ukraine, saying it would take time to wind down military exercises.
“It’s clear the grouping for the (military) exercises was built up over many weeks, and it is of course impossible to withdraw it in a single day. They can’t just take off and fly away… it takes time,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a news briefing in Moscow. “As always, unfounded accusations,” he added.
