In a press conference today with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, following their meeting in Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Tony Blinken delivered yet more threats against Russia, just days away from next week’s U.S. Russia Strategic Stability Dialogue, and talks at the NATO-Russia Council and at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The message he delivered was that the outcome of these talks will depend entirely on Russia, since it is Russia that is at fault—the one threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity, threatening to invade it “again,” and pushing the “false narrative that Ukraine seeks to provoke a conflict with Russia.” Of course, he said, the U.S. prefers diplomacy, and it will listen to Russia’s concerns, but then insisted that since those have already been aired publicly, it will all really boil down to whether Russia will opt to “de-escalate.” We, he said, “will raise our concerns about Russia’s destabilizing actions and violations of international norms.” This will be a serious dialogue? (https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-and-german-foreign-minister-annalena-baerbock-at-a-joint-press-availability/)
Blinken, with Baerbock nodding her head, reported that the two had discussed China as well, underscoring that trans-Atlantic coordination is necessary because China “poses a significant challenge to our shared values; to the laws, rules and agreements that foster stability, prosperity and freedom worldwide.” Germany and the U.S. stand shoulder to shoulder, he said, in deploring China’s “bullying” poor Lithuania.
