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Blame game over Ukraine

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Russia to abandon plans for a potential invasion of Ukraine, calling for a peaceful resolution to an intensifying showdown between Moscow and the West.

Blinken’s warning in talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Moscow could face dire consequences over Ukraine, and Lavrov’s assertion in turn that Nato is threatening Russian security, underscored the obstacles to defusing the brewing crisis.

Their meeting in Stockholm, on the margins of a European cooperation conference, comes as the Biden Administration threatens ‘‘high-impact’’ economic retaliation if Russia launches an offensive against Ukraine.

But the US has stopped short of promising military action in response to what it says is Russian invasion planning.

‘‘The best way to avert a crisis is through diplomacy,’’ Blinken, seated beside Lavrov, told reporters at the beginning of a half-hour meeting. ‘‘If Russia decides to pursue confrontation, there will be serious consequences.’’

The US says a Russian incursion into Ukraine, nearly eight years after Moscow’s annexation of Crimea

kicked off a separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine, would undermine global principles of sovereignty and threaten security in Europe.

Blinken spoke a day after Nato nations wrapped up talks in the Latvian capital, Riga, that officials said cemented an alliance position in support of Ukraine.

Nato countries, however, provided few details of what consequences they would unleash if Russian troops invaded Ukraine. Ukraine is not a Nato member but has voiced its desire to join the security bloc.

Russian leaders have denied an invasion plot, and instead accuse the West of pushing weapons and troops into areas on Russia’s border.

‘‘We ... do not want any conflicts,’’ Lavrov said. ‘‘No-one can guarantee their own security at the expense of the security of others. Nato’s extension ... will infringe on our security.’’

Earlier, Blinken met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, once again condemning Russia’s massing of troops and weaponry and promising support in seeking a diplomatic denouement. Kuleba asked partner nations to prepare a new package of deterrence measures.

The US has provided military support to Ukraine, including weapons such as Javelin antitank missiles.

Biden Administration officials have said they are looking for ways to expand support to countries on Nato’s eastern flank.

In eastern Ukraine, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic told Russian state TV yesterday that he could not rule out asking Moscow for help if Kyiv used force in that part of the country.

‘‘Certainly, we count on our own forces, but considering that Ukraine has been inviting external forces more and more, which we clearly see, and the number of exercises with the United States and Nato countries this year has grown compared to last year, and the plans for next year envision another substantial increase [in the number of joint exercises], it’s going to be tough,’’ Denis Pushilin said.

–Washington Post

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The Observer,

World

en-nz

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282312503354786

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