Blinken and Lavrov talk, agree to meet

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke by phone on Jan. 18, and agreed to meet in
Geneva on Jan. 21. The meeting comes after last week’s three rounds of talks by
the U.S., NATO, and OSCE with Russia in attempts to de-escalate tension in
eastern Europe. During the call, Lavrov “urged the secretary of state not to
replicate speculation about allegedly impending ‘Russian aggression,’”
nytimes.com reported on Jan. 18 based on the Russian readout of the call.

Blinken is in Kyiv on Jan. 19 to meet President
Zelensky and other officials before flying to Berlin for meetings with
government officials on Jan. 20. The meetings will focus on assessments and
consensus before the Geneva meeting with Lavrov.

James Hydzik: Before the
negotiations, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov had warned about
attempts at stalling and endless talks from Ukraine’s allies. But after days of
stalling by Russia, the Foreign Ministry is ready to meet again. While tensions
are very high, this is likely to be a steady state for a short time.

Other forms of attack against Ukraine are in gear
as well, with waves of bomb threats closing parts of Kyiv’s metro and forcing
schools in Chernihiv and Mykolaiv oblasts to switch to online learning.