Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken next Thursday (24) in Geneva, Switzerland. It has not been confirmed whether Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will be in the conversation.
The statement was made at a meeting with Russia’s security council on Monday (21).
In it, the Russian president also said that it was necessary to consider an appeal by the leaders of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine for Russia to recognize them as independent.
According to the president, “Russia has tried to resolve the situation in a peaceful way”, but it was “clear that the Minsk Protocol will not be applied”, citing the agreement that sealed the ceasefire after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. .
The self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk and the People’s Republic of Luhansk have asked Putin to recognize them as independent.
If Russia takes that step, it could pave the way for Moscow to openly send military forces to both regions, using the argument that it is intervening as an ally to protect them against Ukraine.
Furthermore, Putin said the threat to Russia would increase substantially if Ukraine followed through on plans to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The president raised reservations about a clause in the NATO admissions treaty that states that countries participating in the organization must always support each other militarily, which would be a problem for Russia if Ukraine generates any conflict in the region.
Putin also said that claims that Ukraine was not ready to join NATO were not a concession to Russia, but a fulfillment of Western plans.
Furthermore, the Russian president stated that Emmanuel Macron said that the US had “changed its stance”, but the French president would not have responded what those changes were.
Pro-Russian citizens carry out evacuation in separatist city in eastern Ukraine
Source: CNN Brasil
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