Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Blinken urges Vladimir Putin to choose ‘peaceful path’

While US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Ukraine, the Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it is sending an additional $200 million in defensive military aid to the nation amid rising worries of a Russian attack.

US Secretary of State calls on Russia to take a “diplomatic and peaceful path” as fears mount over Ukraine invasion https://t.co/PPHHwzBIO8

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 19, 2022

Blinken is also scheduled to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Friday, despite the fact that a flurry of meetings last week yielded no result and dimmed prospects for de-escalation.

Fearing an impending Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US started a new push to end the deadlock on Wednesday, even as Moscow continued to deploy soldiers on its neighbor’s border.

The senior diplomat in the Biden administration attempted to reassure Ukraine’s president of the West’s unifying support, but cautioned that Russia may invade as fears grew about Moscow’s deployment of soldiers to Belarus, which shares a border with Ukraine.

“We have made it perfectly clear to Moscow that if it decides to repeat violence against Ukraine, it will be faced with very grave repercussions,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Blinken went on to add that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ambitions to considerably increase Moscow’s military posture along Ukraine’s border, which now counts over 100,000 troops, in comments to US Embassy workers in Kyiv.

The government and its European allies have charged Putin of fomenting the situation by amassing forces around Ukraine’s borders, and it is now up to him and the Russians to determine whether to attack and face serious economic repercussions.

The US has not determined if Putin intends to invade or whether the display of force is meant to wring security concessions without escalating into a fight. Russia has rejected requests to remove its soldiers, claiming that it has the right to deploy its military anywhere it sees fit on its own territory. You can also read more about Tonga Volcano Eruption.

The Kremlin has maintained its denial that an invasion is being planned, while going to demand that the US and its Western allies rule out further NATO eastward advancement, ensure that Ukraine will never take part the coalition, and protect NATO from creating military facilities in post-Soviet nations.