World leaders in consultation on Ukraine situation | Abroad

In the coming days, the G7 foreign ministers will also discuss the situation around Ukraine at a security conference in Munich. The conference has been held since 1963 and brings together leaders of political, economic and armed forces at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof. The conference in the Bavarian capital takes place from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon.

Traditionally, the conference has been set up to “enter into a dialogue for peace” in a relaxed atmosphere, without formal fuss. The conference is mainly a platform for NATO and/or EU countries, but over the years more and more countries have been invited and joined. There are currently around 350 participants from over seventy countries. But relaxation seems far from being sought this year. Russia is not sending an official delegation for the first time since 1991 due to tensions with the West over Ukraine.

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Among the attendees is US Vice President Kamala Harris, who will speak with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky about the crisis in his country following his speech on Saturday. G7 foreign ministers will also discuss Ukraine at the conference on Saturday. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is the hostess as chairwoman. The G7 is a group of influential Western industrialized nations. Its members are Germany, Canada, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and the United States. The EU also joins but is not officially a member.

On Thursday, Biden reiterated his warning that Russia is about to invade Ukraine. “Everything indicates that we have that they are ready to enter Ukraine,” said the American president.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accepted an invitation to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov next weekend, the US State Department announced Thursday (local time). The meeting is conditional on Russia not invading Ukraine in the meantime, the ministry said.

Blinken said earlier in the day that he sent a letter to Lavrov offering to meet in Europe next week to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine. Later in the day, Blinken reiterated his warning to the UN Security Council that Russian troops are preparing to attack Ukraine in “the next few days”. Russia is said to be planning to create an opportunity for an incursion into the neighboring country, for example in the form of a fake or real chemical weapons attack.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the military scenarios described by Blinken “deplorable” and “dangerous”. He added that some of the Russian soldiers stationed in the border area had just returned home. He also accused Ukraine of repeated attacks on the eastern region of Donbass, in which “thousands of people were killed”.

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