Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will have a telephone conversation tomorrow. This was reported by the Russian ministry. Meanwhile, according to Ukrainian Interior Minister Monastyrsky, security forces have arrested people who were preparing a riot in Kiev and other regions. Moscow warns that “it will respond to London’s attack on Russian business” if GB passes the threatened sanctions. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the sanctions “will undermine the attractiveness of the United Kingdom for investments”. The US and its allies are preparing “a list of Russian personalities close to Putin to be hit with sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine”.
Lavrov-Blinken telephone interview
Telephone conversation tomorrow between the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The spokeswoman for the Moscow Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, gave the news. Zakharova herself has specified that for the moment there is no meeting between the heads of the two diplomats, who last met in Geneva on January 21st. Last Friday, announcing that he had delivered the answers requested by Russia on security guarantees to Moscow, Blinken had announced a short contact with Lavrov.
“Thoughtful attempt to create unrest, arrests”
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi and Police Chief Ihor Klymenko said officers arrested a group of people planning a riot in Kiev and other regions of Ukraine. The local media reported it. Yesterday in Kiev a group of people planning mass riots in the center of the capital was arrested. “They planned to gather up to 5 thousand people, including 1.5 thousand titushki mercenary agents, who were supposed to organize clashes with the police,” said Minister Monastyrskyi, stressing that the plan included setting fire to the tires. of cars, use fire extinguishers and fireworks.
In the US, an elite sanctions list close to Putin is ready
The United States and its allies have ready a list of elite personalities close to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to be hit with economic sanctions if Moscow decides to invade Ukraine. This was reported by a member of the Biden administration, quoted by the agency Reuters. “The identified personalities”, explained the source, “play a role in the decision-making process of the government or are at least complicit in the destabilizing conduct of the Kremlin.”
London confirms, Johnson-Putin phone call today
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will speak on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin today. This was confirmed by a spokesman for Downing Street to the press, framing the phone call in diplomatic efforts to ease tensions on the border between Russia and Ukraine. Both the premier and his foreign minister, Liz Truss, will be visiting Ukraine tomorrow.
UN Security Council meeting
And today is the meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss, for the first time, the concentration of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine and Moscow’s threatening actions against Kiev, at the request of the United States. All key players should publicly discuss the possibility of a Russian invasion and its global impact. However, Moscow is opposed to the meeting because, said the Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky, it would be a discussion based on “unfounded hypotheses” of a Russian attack. Russia could then begin the meeting by asking for a procedural vote on whether to continue the meeting. To block it, Moscow would need the support of nine of the 15 members. A senior Biden administration official said the US is in regular contact with council members and is “confident” that there is “more than enough support” to hold the meeting.
If the meeting goes ahead, and Russia’s opposition is overcome, the Council will first hear a briefing from a senior UN official followed by statements from its 15 members including Russia, the United States, France, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Albania. . According to the Council’s rules, Ukraine will also intervene. Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun, whose country has close ties to Russia, indicated that Beijing supports Moscow in opposing a council meeting. “Both sides have shown their willingness to continue negotiations,” he told several reporters on Friday, “Let them resolve differences through dialogue, through negotiations.” “Russia has made it clear that it does not intend to go to war,” and the Security Council should “help reduce the tension instead of adding fuel to the fire,” said Zhang.
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