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US, German, French, UK top diplomats discuss coordination on Ukraine and Russia

The sides also discussed their shared concerns about the pace of developments in Iran’s nuclear program as time runs short for Tehran to return to the JCPOA

WASHINGTON, December 30. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed coordination of approaches to the situation around Ukraine and joint response in case of Russia’s "aggression" with German and French Foreign Ministers, Annalena Baerbock and Jean-Yves Le Drian, and British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss, US Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price said in a written statement on Wednesday.

"They discussed the importance of continued coordination to deter any further Russian aggression against Ukraine and affirmed the consensus among Allies and partners to impose massive consequences and severe costs on Russia for such actions," the statement says. "The Secretary and his counterparts also discussed their shared concerns about the pace of developments in Iran’s nuclear program as time runs short for Tehran to return to the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program - TASS]."

Other topics included Lithuania’s relations with China and the situation around the organization of elections in Libya.

Recently, Western countries and Ukraine have been speaking about Russia’s possible aggression against Ukraine. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov slammed such statements as hollow and groundless with the intention of fanning tensions. He stressed that Russia is a threat to no one but did not rule out possible provocations to justify such statements and warned that attempts at using force to settle the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have the most serious consequences.

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