US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will visit Ukraine tomorrow, at a time of escalating tensions between Washington and Moscow due to a possible Russian invasion of its neighbor, the State Department announced.
Blinken will meet with Zelenskiy and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleb "to confirm the commitment of the US to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine", the State Department said today.
The US Department of State states that Blinken's trip to Kiev comes after "intensive diplomatic contacts with European allies and partners on a unified approach to the threat posed by Russia to Ukraine."
Blinken's trip to Ukraine was hastily organized, after last week's diplomatic talks between Moscow and the West, which did not overcome sharp disagreements over Ukraine and other security issues.
Those meetings, it seems, even increased fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The White House said on Friday that US intelligence has determined that Russia is working to prepare an attack that it will blame on Ukrainian forces in order to use the situation as an excuse to invade Ukraine. Russia strongly rejected the accusations.
From Kiev, Blinken will travel to Berlin, where he will discuss a possible response to a possible Russian military action with the foreign ministers of Germany, Great Britain and France.
The State Department states that Blinken's "travels and consultations are part of diplomatic efforts aimed at de-escalating tensions caused by the Russian military build-up (near the Ukrainian border) and continued aggression against Ukraine."
Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sharply rejected the US accusations that Moscow is preparing an excuse for an invasion of Ukraine. He reiterated that Russia expects a written response from the US and NATO this week to Moscow's request for binding guarantees that the alliance will not expand into Ukraine and other former Soviet republics, and that it will not deploy forces and weapons on those territories.
Washington and its allies resolutely rejected Moscow's demands at last week's negotiations between representatives of Russia and the US and NATO, where no progress was made in stopping the escalation of the crisis.
The negotiations began in the midst of tensions, which have increased since Russia deployed around 100.000 soldiers and heavy weapons near the border with Ukraine. Kiev and the West fear that the build-up of Russian forces near Ukraine foreshadows an invasion of that country.
Bonus video:
