U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken canceled a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, which was to be held on February 24 in Geneva.
According to CNN, he announced this on the evening of February 22.
"Now that we see the invasion beginning, and Russia has made it clear that it rejects the diplomatic route, it makes no sense to have such a meeting," the secretary of state said, noting that he had sent a letter to Lavrov informing him of the decision.
He added that he consulted with U.S. allies and partners before doing so, and they agreed with those considerations.
Blinken said the U.S. continues to support the diplomatic route - "if Russia is willing to take demonstrative steps to give the international community some confidence that the Kremlin is really serious about seeking de-escalation and finding diplomatic solutions."
Recall that Secretary Blinken offered Lavrov a meeting last week, noting that it was only possible if Russia had not launched an invasion of Ukraine by then.
"We will not allow Russia to pretend that it wants diplomacy and in the meantime move even faster toward conflict and war," Anthony Blinken added.
The meeting with Lavrov was also canceled by the French foreign minister, it was planned for this Friday.
Recall that on February 22, Joe Biden made a new speech about Russian aggression against Ukraine and announced new sanctions for Russia's recognition of the "independence" of the occupied ORLOs.
On the eve of February 21, the White House called Russia's decision to recognize the "LDPR" a new invasion, the US President signed a package of sanctions against the ORDLO.
