All news

US has ‘very concrete ideas’ on European security — Blinken

US Secretary of State said that his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would take place in Europe on February 24

MUNICH, February 20. /TASS/. In the light of his upcoming meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country has "very concrete ideas" about strengthening the security of Russia, the United States and Europe.

"I proposed a few days ago that Foreign Minister Lavrov and I see each other again next week in Europe. He responded a couple of days later and said yes, and I in turn responded and said good, I look forward to seeing you, provided, of course, Russia has not invaded Ukraine in the interim," Blinken said in an interview with Suddeutsche Zeitung.

"I think are some very concrete ideas for discussion that we put forward that on a reciprocal basis could strengthen security for Russia, for the United States, for Europe, and so we’ll continue to see if Russia is willing to engage on those," he said.

In an interview with the Dozhd TV channel (designated as a foreign agent in Russia), Blinken said that his meeting with Lavrov would take place in Europe on February 24, on the condition that there is no conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Finland and Switzerland were named as possible venues for the talks. According to Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin, the venue of the talks is yet to be chosen.

The West and Kiev have been echoing allegations about Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded", serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such claims and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.