Blinken arrives in Ukraine ahead of critical talks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made the journey to Europe amid mounting fears that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Ukraine ahead of high-stakes talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, before meeting with his British, French and German counterparts in Berlin.

Blinken’s agenda on Friday will consist of a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva.

Russia has repeatedly denied any plans to launch an attack on neighbouring Ukraine, as tensions between the two nations rise.

Invasion “at any point”

On Tuesday senior US officials revealed that the Putin lead nation could launch an invasion at “any point”.

The White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Russia’s build up of tens of thousands of troops near its border with Ukraine had created an “extremely dangerous situation”.

Psaki stated that “no option is off the table” to avoid conflict breaking out on the border, adding that “what Secretary Blinken is going to go do is highlight very clearly there is a diplomatic path forward” as a way to resolving tensions.

According to AFP news agency, a senior state department official, speaking on condition of anonymity said that Mr Blinken will seek to offer Mr Lavrov a “diplomatic off-ramp” from the crisis during talks on Friday.

The diplomatic tour follows inconclusive talks between Moscow and Western nations last week

The top US diplomat is also expected to seek to shore up support among Western allies to impose what officials called “massive consequences and severe economic costs on Russia” should an invasion occur.

But Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov urged Western governments to impose immediate sanctions on Moscow.

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin’s government has made a raft of demands to Western governments, including a demand that Nato’s expansion any further to the east is stopped and that it limits its activities in other eastern states, such as Poland.