According to him, at the Geneva meeting the US plans to explore whether it "can really continue to pursue the diplomatic path to resolving this crisis." "That’s the question. And I think we’ll know more tomorrow - at least I hope we’ll know more tomorrow - about whether Russia is genuinely committed to trying to resolve these differences diplomatically through dialogue or not. Either way, we’re prepared and we’re united," the US Secretary of State added.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that on January 21, the Russian top diplomat would meet with Blinken in Geneva. According to her, the two officials would discuss any further steps related to proposals on security guarantees submitted by Moscow.
Following the consultations on security guarantees, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that the purported threat of Russia invading Ukraine couldn’t be a subject of the talks on security guarantees with the US. He said Moscow had no plans to "attack" Ukraine and there was no reason to be concerned about an escalation. According to the senior diplomat, disinformation by Western intelligence agencies that Russia was allegedly preparing to attack Ukraine was designed to sow discord in Ukraine. He added that Russia would continue to hold military exercises on its territory, despite objections from NATO.