US Secretary of State Blinken cancels meeting with Lavrov in Geneva
In view of the recent escalation in the Ukraine conflict, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has canceled a planned meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. In view of Moscow’s actions, there was no point in holding on to the talks originally scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, Blinken said after meeting with Caribbean Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Washington. He informed Lavrov of this decision in writing, Blinken said. He has also consulted with international partners on this.
Blinken stressed that he agreed to the meeting with Lavrov on the condition that Russia would not invade Ukraine. Now that Moscow has decided to launch an invasion and is completely against diplomacy, there is no point in holding this meeting. In principle, the US government is still ready for diplomatic talks. “But Moscow has to show that they are serious. The past 24 hours have shown the opposite.” Should Russia change course, they are open to talks.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had previously announced that it wanted to stick to Lavrov’s and Blinken’s appointment. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday on the Soloviev.Live YouTube channel: “Even in the worst moments, we have always said that we are ready for the negotiation process.”