US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to meet his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Berlin on Thursday, amid diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions with Russia over Ukraine.
On Friday, the top US diplomat is scheduled to travel onwards to Geneva, where he will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Blinken arrived in Europe on Wednesday amid efforts to address spiralling tensions with Russia over the Ukraine conflict.
In Kiev, he met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During that visit, he again threatened Moscow with sanctions and promised Ukraine support.
The United States and its NATO partners are concerned by the deployment of around 100,000 Russian soldiers to the border with Ukraine. They fear that Russia could be planning to invade Ukraine.
Moscow has argued that these are its own troops on its own territory.
Prior to her meeting with Blinken on Thursday, Baerbock is scheduled to hold talks with her counterparts from France and Britain.
Source: DPA
