There he wants to discuss the threat posed by the militarily superior neighbor Russia with the state leadership on Wednesday, before the high-level diplomatic meetings in Berlin and Geneva. At the same time, the US government is concerned about a Russian ally, because Russia transferred soldiers to Belarus at the weekend, according to the State Department in Washington.
The White House had recently warned in no uncertain terms of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. “To be clear, we consider the situation to be extremely dangerous. We are now at a stage where Russia could launch an attack on Ukraine at any time,” Presidential spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in Washington on Tuesday. Blinken has promised Ukraine further military support and wants to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kiev.
“Should Russia continue to invade Ukraine in the coming weeks, we will provide the Ukrainians with additional defense materials beyond what we are already providing,” the US State Department said. In view of the Russian troop deployment to Belarus, a warning was also issued to Moscow and Minsk: “Complicity” by the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko in such an attack would be “completely unacceptable”.
The timing of the transfer of troops to Ukraine’s neighboring country is remarkable and raises fears that Russia may intend to attack Ukraine from the north, a senior US official said. She left it open what kind of troops or weapons should have been transferred to Belarus.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry had announced joint maneuvers with Russia for February and has now published photos showing Russian tanks and military trucks on railway wagons. “This is neither an exercise nor a normal troop movement,” the US State Department said. Rather, it is “a show of force” aimed at triggering a crisis or creating a false pretext for a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The US government reiterated that diplomacy is the only way out of the crisis. In fact, Blinken’s visit to Kiev is only the first of several crisis meetings in Europe. On Thursday he wants to exchange views with Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Berlin, and on Friday he will meet with Russia’s chief diplomat Sergey Lavrov in Geneva. “Russia has two options: diplomacy and de-escalation, or escalation and massive consequences,” the US State Department said in advance.
Germany is an “excellent partner” in this regard, according to Washington. Both allies fully agree that any further military aggression in Ukraine by Russia will require measures that have not yet been considered.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had called on Russia on Tuesday to reduce its troops on the border with Ukraine and again warned of “high costs” in the event of an invasion. When asked whether there would also be consequences for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the event of an invasion, Scholz (SPD) replied “that everything must be discussed if there is a military intervention against Ukraine”.
Negotiations between the US and Russia in the NATO-Russia Council and within the framework of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the past week remained largely unsuccessful. Baerbock then met President Zelenskyy and her counterpart Kuleba in Kiev on Monday before receiving Lavrov for her inaugural visit to Moscow the following day. In the presence of Lavrov, Baerbock campaigned for a speedy resumption of peace negotiations in the Ukraine conflict.
The Chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, spoke out in favor of toughness instead of a willingness to engage in dialogue with Russia. “Talking to the Russians about their unspeakable behavior is a gesture of concession,” said the FDP politician to the “Berliner Zeitung” (Wednesday). “Foolishness, someone is starting a fire and we must now offer a solution so that the arsonist does not burn his fingers.”