U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are likely to have more talks next week, said Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” yesterday, reported TASS. “We’ve heard some signs that the Russians are interested in engaging on that proposal, including the fact that Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Lavrov will likely speak this week,” she said. “We want to settle these issues through diplomacy, through arms control. Putin has given himself that option, but he has also given himself the option of a major invasion [in Ukraine]. So we have to be ready for that, too,” Nuland claimed. When asked whether there are any signs of de-escalation on the part of Russia, she said, “On the contrary, he [Putin] has moved more forces since we’ve been encouraging him to de-escalate.”
(https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-victoria-nuland-face-the-nation-01-30-2022/)
