“I would like to believe that,” the diplomat said during a brief meeting with journalists at the United Nations, in response to a question about the assertion of the Russian negotiator in Geneva Sergey Ryabkov that Russia does not intend to attack Ukraine.
Linda Thomas Greenfield added: “I hope he’s telling the truth, they don’t have plans, but everything we’ve seen so far indicates that they are making moves in that direction.”
“If they decide not to move forward (with their plans) because of our dialogue with them over the past few weeks with President (Joe) Biden speaking to President (Vladimir) Putin twice, that’s fine. But we will continue to prepare and plan for our response if they take action against Ukraine,” the US official added. “.
The ambassador noted that the United States is “prepared to impose heavy costs on the Russian economy, strengthen NATO’s presence in frontline allies, and increase defense aid to Ukraine.”
The US negotiator Wendy Sherman and her Russian counterpart Ryabkov had confirmed after the talks in Geneva that they wanted to continue their talks with the aim of de-escalation, while repeating their mutual warnings.
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