US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov had a testy exchange over Ukraine at a dinner with dozens of their colleagues last week, people familiar with the discussions said.
The verbal tension erupted as the US and its European allies seek ways — including possible sanctions — to counter the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troop buildup on the neighboring country’s border.
Lavrov took the floor at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) dinner in Stockholm on Wednesday to revisit Russia’s view that the collapse of a pro-Moscow administration in Ukraine in 2014 was a coup, two of the people said.
He also alleged that NATO and the EU were suppressing dissent and threatening Russia.
Blinken responded by recapping the 2014 events, including that forces loyal to then-Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich fired on peaceful protesters in Kiev, killing more than 100 people, before he fled and surfaced in Russia.
Blinken also told his Russian counterpart that NATO is a defense alliance.
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed suggestions that Blinken won the argument with Lavrov during the exchange at the 57-nation forum.
She was responding on Facebook to Ukrainian media reports that Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba and Blinken had put Lavrov, one of the world’s most senior diplomats, in his place.
Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ann Linde, who hosted the dinner preceding an OSCE meeting on Thursday, said on Twitter that the conversation suggested the formal talks would be “lively, brave and truthful.”
US President Joe Biden and Putin plan to hold a video call tomorrow. Biden would “underscore US concerns” about Russian military activity on the Ukrainian border and reaffirm US support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Saturday.
Biden said on Friday that he anticipates a “long discussion” with Putin over the threat of an invasion of Ukraine.
He dismissed the Russian leader’s warning that deployment of Western weapons or troops represented a “red line.”
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine by military force in 2014, causing a standoff between Moscow and the West that remains unresolved. Putin has denied planning to invade Ukraine.
The US has shared intelligence with its allies setting out Russian plans to potentially invade early next year, should Putin decide to make a move.
White House officials said on Friday that they were considering economic sanctions and security assistance to Ukraine in response to the Russian troop buildup.
The US, EU members and the UK are working on a process for drafting a catalog of sanctions that could be imposed on Russia if its forces invade Ukraine, two of the people said.
That process envisages an agreement to seek a joint package of possible sanctions if Russia does not show signs of backing down by Christmas.
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