US warns of consequences as Russia cites Ukraine war risk

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned his Russian counterpart of “serious consequences” if Moscow makes a military move on Ukraine as the Kremlin said it sees rising risk of attack by its neighbor on Russiabacked separatists there.

Calling it a “critical moment,” Blinken said Thursday the U.S. has “deep concerns about Russia’s plan for renewed aggression against Ukraine.” Sitting next to him before their talks, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said any further expansion by the U.S. and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies in the east would constitute a threat to Russia.

The two diplomats’ 30-minute meeting in Stockholm appeared likely to pave the way for a conversation between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin. After the session, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow hopes the long-sought call will take place in the next few days, the Interfax news service reported. Biden said last week he expected to speak to the Russian leader on the Ukraine crisis soon.

The session between the top diplomats was the first face-to-face talks between their countries in weeks as tensions surge over what the U.S. says is a major buildup of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine.

So far, the Kremlin has shown little sign it’s been deterred by rising demands from western capitals to pull back its troops. Instead, it accused Kyiv of planning to attack the separatists that Russia supports in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

“The risk of military action in Ukraine is still high,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday. “We see an increasing intensity of provocative actions on the line of contact” between Ukrainian forces and the separatists, he said.

Earlier Thursday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba pledged restraint, saying his country has “no intentions to provoke them or to hold any military operations in Donbas.” Still, speaking after a meeting with Blinken, he said Kyiv is seeking a “deterrence package” that would make “President Putin think twice before resorting to military force.”

Lavrov warned in a speech Thursday to a summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that NATO expansion toward Russia raises the “nightmare scenario of military confrontation.” He said Moscow will soon propose a plan for security guarantees it wants from the West that would block further spread of the alliance and its weapons, a plan that’s likely to find little support with the U.S. and its allies.