US and Russia hold ‘frank’ talks on Ukraine tension

Russia’s foreign minister and his US counterpart have held what they called “frank” talks to try to reduce the chance of a wider conflict in Ukraine.

Sergei Lavrov repeated denials that a huge Russian force assembled near Ukraine’s borders would be used to invade Ukraine.

Antony Blinken said America would respond severely to any invasion.

Pro-Russian rebels control large parts of eastern Ukraine since a ferocious war erupted nearly eight years ago.

Some 14,000 people were killed and at least two million fled their homes before fragile peace agreements were brokered.

The US and its allies have threatened new sanctions if the Russian military takes action.

Washington is expected to put its position in writing next week, and then further discussions will be held.

With an estimated 100,000 Russian troops deployed near Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has issued demands to the West which he says concern Russia’s security, including that Ukraine be stopped from joining Nato.

He wants the Western defensive alliance to abandon military exercises and stop sending weapons to eastern Europe, seeing this as a direct threat to Russia’s security.

For Mr Blinken, the talks were “frank and substantive” while for Mr Lavrov, they were also “frank” with an agreement to “have a reasonable dialogue”.

“I hope emotions will decrease,” Mr Lavrov added.

Mr Blinken warned his Russian counterpart of a “united, swift and severe” response if Russia invaded.

Speaking after the talks, he said the US was prepared to pursue possible means of addressing Russian concerns in the spirit of reciprocity.

Beforehand, analysts mooted this might include more transparency on military exercises in the region, or reviving restrictions on missiles in Europe. These rules were previously set out in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a Cold War-era pact that the US scrapped in 2019, after accusing Russia of violating the deal.

Mr Blinken also urged Russia to stop what he called its aggression towards Ukraine, saying the troop build-up gave it the ability to attack Ukraine from the south, east and north.

He said the US knew from experience that Moscow, which annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region back in 2014, also had an “extensive playbook” of non-military ways of furthering its interests, including cyber attacks.

He confirmed the US would continue deliveries of “security assistance” to Ukraine in the coming weeks. America sent anti-tank guided missile systems to Ukraine last year, as well as small arms and ammunition.

Mr Blinken said the talks had also touched on Iran and negotiations over its nuclear capabilities, which he called an example of how the US and Russia can work together on security issues.

For his part, Mr Lavrov described the talks as open and useful but he accused Nato of working against Russia. He reiterated Moscow’s position that it had “never threatened the Ukrainian people” and had no plans to attack Ukraine.

He also accused the Ukrainian government of using “state terrorism” against the rebels in the east and “sabotaging” the Minsk peace agreements on the conflict there.

Russia’s foreign minister said the US would send “written responses” to all of Russia’s proposals next week but Mr Blinken only said America hoped to share its “concerns and ideas in more detail in writing next week”. (BBC)