Blinken called the relocation and effective closure of the embassy, which followed an earlier evacuation of the bulk of its personnel, a temporary measure, undertaken “for one reason — the safety of our staff,” and repeated that all remaining U.S. citizens in Ukraine should leave the country immediately.”
The move came as Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to leave the door open to further talks with Western leaders, but indicated no change in Russia’s demand, categorically rejected by the United States and NATO, that they pledge that Ukraine will never be admitted to the Western alliance.
Putin met Monday with his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in what appeared to be a scripted moment in which the president voiced opposition to “the endless, in our opinion, and very dangerous expansion of NATO to the East,” according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Lavrov said that NATO wanted to determine Europe’s security architecture without reference to Russia but that talks with the United States and NATO “now must be developed and intensified.”
Lavrov added: “I have already said more than once that we warn against endless conversations on issues that need to be resolved today, but still, probably, being the head of the Foreign Ministry, I must say that there is always a chance.”
Putin, according to the Russian news agency Interfax, responded in the affirmative.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Tuesday that “we have taken note of [Lavrov’s] comments.” But “in order for diplomacy and dialogue to succeed, it has to take place in the context of de-escalation … We have not seen any meaningful, real sign of de-escalation.”
There are a “range of steps that would signal” Russian de-escalation, Price told reporters, noting that there are more than 130,000 Russian troops arrayed along Ukraine’s borders, and ongoing “bellicose rhetoric” from Moscow.
“All of those things could change,” he said. “This buildup has taken place in a couple of months. In the course of hours or days, we could see tangible signs of de-escalation, if Russia makes the political decision to do so.”
Price said Ukrainian national police would guard the U.S. embassy compound in Kyiv once it’s fully vacated.
As massive Russian military drills continued with Belarus, in the Black Sea, in southern Russia and other parts of the country, Putin also met Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who said that some drills were coming to an end and others would be completed “in the near future.”
Diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis continued with the beginning of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s two-day trip to Kyiv and Moscow. Speaking at a joint news conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Ukrainian capital, Scholz said that Russian military aggression against Ukraine would have “serious political, economic and geostrategic consequences for Russia.”
He said sanctions in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine, would be “very far-reaching and effective” but did not specifically mention Nord Stream 2, the controversial gas pipeline between Russia and Germany that both Kyiv and Washington have pressured Berlin to halt in case of a Russian invasion.
Zelensky said there remained differences between Kyiv and Berlin over Nord Stream 2, seen by Kyiv as a Russian “geopolitical weapon.” President Biden said last week that the pipeline, would not go ahead if the Kremlin sends its forces into Ukraine.
The new German chancellor, who has been reluctant to explicitly bar Nord Stream 2 from starting operations if Russia attacks, has been criticized for his relatively low-profile approach to the crisis. Berlin has declined to provide lethal weapons, saying it can better support Ukraine with economic aid. In Kyiv, Scholz announced a new, rapidly-accessible loan of about $170 million to Ukraine.
When he travels to Moscow on Tuesday, Scholz will become the latest in a stream of Western officials to hold talks with Putin. A phone call between Biden and Putin over the weekend, and separate discussions between the Russian leader and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, again failed to yield a diplomatic breakthrough.
Biden also held an hour-long phone call Sunday with Zelensky. Later in the week, Putin is planning to meet with his closest military ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin said.
Moscow has not yet provided its formal response to written U.S. and NATO proposals to decrease tensions. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s chief spokesperson, said Monday that the Russian government would make an announcement once it has handed over its reply, but that Putin had not yet decided whether to make the document public.
The ongoing exchanges appear to have brought no change in positions on either side. In addition to demanding a guarantee that Ukraine will not join NATO, Russia has called from the removal of NATO forces and equipment from former Soviet and Warsaw Pact countries in Eastern Europe. For its part, the United States and its allies have categorically rejected the proposed ban on NATO membership, saying every country has the sovereign right to seek its own security relationships.
The allies have proposed new discussions with Russia over nuclear nonproliferation and other security concerns, as well as confidence building measures. If Russia takes military action against Ukraine, however, they have promised swift and devastating economic and financial penalties.
The showdown over NATO membership is more symbolic than substantive at this point, as the possibility of Ukraine joining the alliance any time in the near future is seen by NATO itself as questionable. In Kyiv, Scholtz said that Ukraine’s sovereignty was not negotiable, but noted that NATO expansion was currently “not on the agenda.” He added that the fact this was being discussed when it was “not possible” was challenging.
Biden said in June that Kyiv has a distance to go to meet NATO standards, including making progress in fighting corruption. In 2008, a NATO summit agreed that Ukraine and Georgia would join, but neither country was given a Membership Action Plan, or road map setting out necessary steps to do so.
Ukraine itself caused confusion Sunday when its ambassador to Britain, Vadym Prystaiko, told the BBC that Kyiv may be willing to “contemplate” withdrawing its membership bid to avoid a catastrophic war — while saying he did not believe Ukraine would actually do so. On Monday, he clarified that, while Ukraine was perhaps willing to make some concessions to avoid war with Russia, that had nothing to do with the intention of joining NATO, something that is written into the nation’s constitution.
Vice President Harris will hold a series of in-person meetings with U.S. allies and partners at the Munich Security Conference later this week, reaffirming Washington’s commitment to security in the region. The conference was launched by Western nations at the height of the Cold War to address military conflicts. The Kremlin has said it won’t send any officials to the conference.
Zelensky has expressed frustration about the grim warnings from U.S. military and intelligence officials about an imminent Russian invasion, which have taken a toll on Ukraine’s economy. In a video posted by his office Monday, he called on the “great people of a great country” not to panic. “They frighten us with a great war and once again set the date for a military invasion,” the video said. “But our state today is stronger than ever.”
The Ukrainian government said Sunday that it would start subsidizing domestic airlines’ insurance costs, in an effort to keep flights coming and going from the country. Ukraine’s SkyUp airline said Sunday that the Irish company that owns its aircraft banned one of its planes from entering Ukrainian airspace, forcing a flight from Portugal to Kyiv to land in Moldova. Also, Dutch carrier KLM suspended flights into Ukraine.
Ukraine also requested a meeting with Russia and other members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe within 48 hours of Moscow’s failure to meet a Sunday deadline to explain its massing of more than 130,000 troops along its border with Ukraine and in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Russia is a party to the OSCE’s Vienna Document, a mechanism through which any member of the European security organization can question another member regarding any military activities they perceive as threatening.
“If Russia is serious when it talks about the indivisibility of security in the OSCE space, it must fulfill its commitment to military transparency in order to de-escalate tensions and enhance security for all,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted late Sunday.
Dixon reported from Moscow, Morris from Berlin, Pannett from Sydney and DeYoung from Washington. David L. Stern in Kyiv, Rick Noack in Paris, and John Hudson, Missy Ryan and Amy B Wang in Washington contributed to this report.