Diplomacy

The US, NATO, the EU and their members and partners believe Russia is about to intervene militarily in Ukraine. The message from US Secretary of State Blinken to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, at their talks in Geneva on Friday was clear and simple, "Don't do it, because the consequences will be swift and severe".

Russia this week rolled out the red carpet for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. His visit included a rare invitation to address the State Duma, as well as a long meeting with president Putin. Raisi gave Putin the draft of "a document on strategic cooperation between our two countries" which he said can determine or at least clarify the co-operation between the two countries for the next two decades.

A delegation of EU diplomats is currently in the South Caucasus to follow-up on discussions held in Brussels last December in the framework of the VI Eastern Partnership Summit, particularly as related to Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. The delegation is led by Toivo Klaar, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and  Isabel Dumont, the French President's Adviser on Continental Europe and Turkey.  France currently has the rotating presidency of the European Union.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Kiev for talks with the Ukrainian leadership as fears increase of an imminent Russian invasion. In Brussels, European Union officials are bracing themselves for the biggest crisis on the European continent since the war in Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. There are still some hopes that Russia will de-escalate the situation, but most observers think this is now unlikely and that some sort of aggression - even if not an all-out invasion - is imminent.

Speaking at a press conference after the meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussles, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who chaired the meeting, said: “This was not an easy discussion, but that is exactly why it was so important.” He noted that NATO Allies are ready to meet again with Russia to discuss a number of topics in greater detail and to put concrete proposals on the table. “There are opportunities for constructive engagement which should not be missed, in the interest of security in Europe,” he said.