Key appointment to avoid a warlike conflict in Europe. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets today Friday in Geneva (Switzerland) with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. The purpose of the meeting reduce the high tension around Ukraine, by the strong fear of the West that Russia will invade that country at any other time.
It is a meeting that the Executive of President Joe Biden describes as “an opportunity” to share his great concerns with Russia about the situation in Ukraine and find common points to continue the diplomatic path.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that it has planned this invasion, but the significant presence of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border, with some 100,000 troops, and the new military maneuvers announced by Moscow for the coming weeks they have increased the nervousness of the United States and NATO.
Thus, as part of the dialogue and the diplomatic channel, Blinken landed last Wednesday in Ukraine for two meetings with the president of that country, Volodímir Zelenski, and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba. He then went to Berlin, where he met on Thursday with the foreign ministers of Germany, France and the United Kingdom and from where He reiterated his commitment to dialogue with Russia in the face of the escalation of tension in Ukraine.
In this context, The United States government yesterday sanctioned four Ukrainians which he has accused of being linked to the activities “influenced by Russia to destabilize Ukraine” in the context of the growing tension around the situation of the border between the two countries.
The United States has specified that sanctions seek to “undermine and expose Russia’s ongoing destabilization effort in Ukraine” and has specified that they are not related to the measures that the North American country and its allies are preparing to inflict “severe costs” on Moscow in the face of a possible invasion of its neighboring country.
In fact, the president of the United States, Joe Biden warned this thursday that any kind of Russian incursion into Ukrainian territory will be considered “an invasion” and will have a “severe response”.
Speaking to the press from the White House, Biden assured that “if any Russian unit crosses the border with Ukraine, that is an invasion.” If that happens, he warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that “will be met with a severe and coordinated economic response” from the United States, the European Union (EU) and NATO. “There is no doubt. Let there be no doubt, that if Putin makes this decision, Russia will pay a high price,” the president reiterated.
Spain will mobilize a frigate to the Black Sea and values sending fighters to Bulgaria
As the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, advanced this Wednesday, Spain will send the Blas de Lezo frigate to the Black Sea in “3 or 4” days. The minister recalled that Spain has spent years participating in all deployments organized by NATO, and in this specific case the departure of the ships has been advanced, within what has been agreed with the organization.
Robles has pointed out that he also the possibility of an air deployment in Bulgaria in which Spain participates is being assessed, which would be added to the one that is part of every year in Lithuania.
In any case, referring to the Ukraine crisis, he said that Spain’s position, like that of the Atlantic organization as a whole, is that to solve it there is a diplomatic response that favors de-escalation of tension in the area.
Precisely today, the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, assured that “Spain is not hiding” in the face of the crisis facing Russia and Ukraine, while insisting that there is still room for dialogue.
Spain “It is a country that is committed to dialogue and democracy”, he said, while acknowledging that in the face of the current crisis between Russia and Ukraine the international community is “holding its breath” but has insisted on continuing to bet on the path of dialogue to achieve de-escalation. “But dialogue is not negotiation,” he stressed.
Likewise, he has warned that it is “unacceptable” to try to “go back” to the time when “one country dictated to another what security scheme it could have, who could be members of a certain organization.” “This is not how peace and progress have been achieved in Europe.pa”, he underlined.
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
