US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday urged Russia to "de-escalate" a military buildup on its border with Ukraine, reiterating his threat of "serious consequences" if Russia resorts to "aggression" amid scheduled bilateral talks in Sweden.
"We have deep concerns about Russia's plans for renewed aggression against Ukraine," Blinken said on a day he was scheduled to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Blinken delivered the warning a day after declaring that Washington was ready to respond resolutely, including with hard-hitting sanctions, in the event of a Russian attack.
He said Russia and Ukraine should each fully implement their obligations under the 2014 Minsk peace process designed to end a war between pro-Russia separatists and Ukrainian government forces in the east of the former Soviet republic.
Washington was willing to facilitate this, Blinken said, but "if Russia decides to pursue confrontation, there will be serious consequences".
Lavrov told reporters Moscow was ready for dialogue with Kyiv. "We, as President Putin has stated, do not want any conflicts," he said.
Ukraine has become the main flashpoint between Russia and the West as relations have soured to their worst level in the three decades since the Cold War ended. Kyiv says Russia has amassed more than 90,000 troops near their long shared border.
Moscow accuses Kyiv of pursuing its own military build-up. It has dismissed as inflammatory suggestions it is preparing for an attack on Ukraine and has defended its right to deploy troops on its own territory as it sees fit.
But President Vladimir Putin has also said Russia would be forced to act if NATO placed missiles in Ukraine that could strike Moscow within minutes.
Ukrainian soldier killed
A Ukrainian soldier was killed in clashes with pro-Russia separatists in the east of the country, Kyiv said Thursday. The latest death brings Ukraine's toll in the simmering conflict to 61 since the start of the year, according to an AFP tally based on official figures, compared to a total of 50 in all of 2020.
Pro-Russia separatists have reported the loss of some 40 fighters since the start of the year.
In a statement on Facebook, the Ukrainian army accused separatists of firing at its positions with grenade launchers and machine guns.
Its press service told AFP the soldier was killed on Wednesday and that it had lost six other servicemen in the same zone last month.
Kyiv has fought a conflict with pro-Russia rebels in its eastern regions since 2014. The war erupted shortly after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and has since claimed more than 13,000 lives.
Tensions rose in late October, when videos began circulating on social media showing Russia moving troops, tanks and missiles towards the Ukrainian border.
Ukrainian officials said at the time that Russia had moved about 115,000 soldiers to the area.
Kyiv and its Western allies have long accused Moscow of sending troops and weapons across the border to support pro-Russia separatists.
The Kremlin denies those claims.
Putin on Wednesday said Moscow is taking "adequate military-technical measures" in response to what he called a growing threat on its Western border.
He said he wanted "concrete agreements" from NATO that it would not expand eastwards.
Lavrov on Wednesday warned against a Ukrainian "military adventure" after his ministry said Kyiv had deployed some 125,000 troops to the east.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)
