U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Tuesday discussed by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov the recent talks on security in Europe and the need to de-escalate the situation around Ukraine, the State Department said.
"Secretary of State Anthony Blinken held a conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. They discussed the Jan. 10 dialogue on strategic stability, the Jan. 12 meeting of the NATO-Russia Council and the Jan. 13 meetings of the OSCE Permanent Council," the U.S. State Department said in a statement.
The document said Blinken stressed the importance of "continuing to use diplomacy to de-escalate tensions related to the troubling concentration of Russian forces near Ukraine."
In addition, he stated that it was impossible to discuss European security without Ukraine, NATO countries and European partners of the United States.
The Secretary of State reiterated the "unwavering U.S. commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The telephone conversation between the foreign ministers of the USA and Russia took place against the background of Blinken's January 18-20 visit to Ukraine and Germany. On 19 January, the secretary of state plans to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv.
