Biden discusses Ukraine crisis with key allies on Friday | Abroad

In the coming days, the G7 foreign ministers will also discuss the situation surrounding Ukraine at a security conference in Munich. Host Annalena Barbock will chair the meeting as German Foreign Minister. The Group of Seven, a group of influential Western industrialized nations, consists of Germany, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, and the United States. The European Union also joins but is not officially a member. US Vice President Kamala Harris is also expected.

Russia is not expected to send anyone to Munich due to tensions with the West over Ukraine. So the country was not invited to Friday’s meeting led by Biden.

On Thursday, Biden repeated his warning that Russia was about to invade Ukraine. “All indication we have is that they are ready to enter Ukraine,” the US president said.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has accepted an invitation to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov late next week, the US State Department said Thursday (local time). The ministry said the meeting was conditional on Russia not invading Ukraine in the meantime.

Blinken said earlier today that he had sent a letter to Lavrov proposing to meet in Europe next week to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine. Later that day, Blinken repeated his warning to the UN Security Council that Russian forces were preparing to attack Ukraine “in the coming days.” It is said that Russia is planning to prepare an occasion for an incursion into the neighboring country, for example in the form of a fake or real attack with chemical weapons.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov described the military scenarios outlined by Blinken as “unfortunate” and “dangerous”. He added that some Russian soldiers stationed in the border area are just returning to their base. He also accused Ukraine of launching repeated attacks on the eastern Donbass region, in which “thousands” were killed.