Russia’s top diplomat advised President Vladimir Putin to continue talks with the West on Russian security demands amid tensions over Ukraine.
The statement by foreign minister Sergei Lavrov appeared to signal the Kremlin’s intention to stay on a diplomatic path even though the US has warned that Moscow could invade Ukraine at any moment.
Speaking at the start of a meeting with Mr Putin, Mr Lavrov suggested that Moscow should maintain a dialogue with the US and its allies even though they have rejected Russia’s main security demands.
Moscow wants guarantees from the West that Nato will not allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members, and that the alliance will halt weapons deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe.
Mr Lavrov noted that even though the US and its allies have flatly rejected those demands, Washington has offered to conduct dialogue on limits for missile deployments in Europe, restrictions on military drills and other confidence-building measures.
Mr Putin has yet to formulate Russia’s formal response to those proposals.
Asked by Mr Putin if it made sense to continue diplomatic efforts, Mr Lavrov responded that possibilities for talks “are far from being exhausted”, and he proposed to continue the negotiations.
The talks “can’t go on indefinitely, but I would suggest to continue and expand them at this stage,” Mr Lavrov said.
Their meeting came as Germany’s chancellor began a trip to Kyiv and Moscow for a last-ditch attempt to head off a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine that some warn could be only days away.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine on Monday and plans to continue on to Moscow for talks with Mr Putin.
Moscow denies it has any plans to invade but has massed well over 130,000 troops near Ukraine and, in the US view, has built up enough firepower to launch an attack on short notice.
“We are experiencing a very, very serious threat to peace in Europe,” Mr Scholz tweeted from Kyiv, adding that Germany wanted to see “signals of de-escalation” from Moscow.
With concerns rising that war could be imminent, German’s military said the first of some 350 extra troops it is sending to bolster Nato forces in Lithuania were en route on Monday.
Six howitzer guns were also being loaded onto lorries for transport to the alliance’s eastern flank.
With the world already on high alert, UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said a Russian attack could “effectively now happen with no notice”.
That follows a warning from US officials that an invasion could come this week, leading to a flurry of diplomacy but also deterrence measures.
