US-Russia hold urgent talks in Geneva amid mounting invasion fears

US State Department says Blinken will try to give Russia “diplomatic exit” to ease tensions

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are set to hold dialogue in Geneva on Friday as fears of an imminent Russian invasion into Ukraine mount.

The US state department said that Blinken would attempt to give Lavrov a “diplomatic exit” in order to ease tensions. Following a discussion with British, French and German officials on Thursday, Blinken said that a Russian incursion would drag the region into an unstable time.

His remarks came a day after US President Joe Biden predicted that Russia would move forward into Ukraine. He warned that the move would be disasterous for Russia. However, Biden suggested that a minor incursion could invoke a weaker response from US and its allies.

The statement was rebuked by Ukrainian President Volodymyr who said that there were no minor incursions. He added that casualties and grief over lives lost was not a minor thing.

Earlier during the week, Britain said that it was providing Ukraine with extra troops for the purpose of training along with weapons to be used for defensive purposes.

The US president was facing increasing pressure to make a pre-emptive strike on Russia.

Meanwhile, Russia has posted 100,000 troops at the border but rejects that it plans to invade Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a list of demands from the West, which includes stopping Ukraine from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).