Top envoys meet at 'critical moment'

GENEVA－Top diplomats of Russia and the United States met on Friday in Geneva in an urgent bid for a diplomatic solution over the Ukraine crisis, the worst tensions between Moscow and the West in decades.

The talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken came just 11 days after their deputies met in Geneva and agreed to preserve dialogue.

Speaking at a news conference after the talks, Lavrov said that dialogue would continue and Moscow expects written responses from Washington next week, repeating Russian assertions that it poses no threat to its former Soviet neighbor.

He described Friday's talks as open and useful.

Unlike the Jan 10 session, which lasted for nearly eight hours, the two veteran diplomats were expected to determine whether diplomacy remains possible.

During the meeting, both sides adhered to their so-far-irreconcilable red lines.

"You have said you are not expecting any breakthroughs," Lavrov said as the talks began.

"We are not expecting a breakthrough from this meeting either, we are expecting answers to our concrete questions," Lavrov said.

Blinken said: "We don't expect to resolve our differences here today. But I do hope and expect that we can test whether the path of diplomacy or dialogue remains open. This is a critical moment."

Russia has demanded security guarantees that NATO never admit Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, or expand further eastward.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday laid out its planned agenda for the meeting: Texts of two proposals by Moscow for new treaties with both the US and NATO on security guarantees.

Further guarantees

Earlier on Friday, it went a step further in its demand for guarantees, saying Moscow wants the "withdrawal of foreign forces, hardware and arms" from countries that were not NATO members before 1997, including Bulgaria and Romania.

Even while rejecting the core Russian demands, the administration of US President Joe Biden has said it is willing to speak to Moscow about its security concerns.

Blinken stressed that Washington remained open to finding a diplomatic solution, but warned of a "united, swift and severe" response if Russia does attack Ukraine, an intention that has been denied by Moscow many times.

Moscow accused the West on Thursday of plotting "provocations" in Ukraine, citing the delivery of weapons to Kiev by British military planes in recent days.

According to Agence France-Presse, one proposal by the US was to revive restrictions on missiles in Europe that had been set by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a Cold War deal trashed by former president Donald Trump's administration as it accused Moscow of violations.

Blinken headed to Geneva after a trip to Kiev and talks with officials of the United Kingdom, France and Germany in Berlin.

Biden bluntly assessed on Wednesday that Moscow is likely to "move in" on Kiev and warned of a "disaster for Russia".

The West has warned of severe sanctions for an alleged invasion.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded on Thursday that Biden's remarks would not help reduce soaring tensions over Ukraine and could even destabilize the situation further.

Agencies Via Xinhua