U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is ready to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov when the time is right, State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a briefing Wednesday.

"The secretary of state is ready to meet with Lavrov at a suitable time, and he has made that clear to the foreign minister. The Russian side has had our response for weeks now, the Russian side has said a couple of weeks ago that their response is on the way. We expect to get it, we will consider it as quickly as we can. As far as dialogue and diplomacy, whether on the phone or anywhere in Europe, we're certainly willing and ready for discussions with Russia," Price said.

"The U.S. Secretary of State has communicated to Lavrov that we expect to receive a Russian response to our message, and we hope that it will provide a basis for continued dialogue and discussion, and of course we are willing to continue that dialogue," the State Department spokesman said.