Antony Blinken set to meet with Russian counterpart next week in Europe

(Image credit: Leon Lord/AFP via Getty Images)

published 18 February 2022

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accepted an invitation to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, with the conference likely to take place late next week in Europe, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday.

The meeting will take place "provided there is no further Russian invasion of Ukraine," Price clarified. "If they do invade in the coming days, it will make clear they were never serious about diplomacy."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

The U.S. began warning in January that Russia might use a false-flag operation to launch an invasion of Ukraine, and during an address before the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, Blinken shared several scenarios that might come up, such as the fabrication of a "so-called terrorist bombing inside Russia, invented discovery of a mass grave, a staged drone strike against civilians, or a fake, even a real attack using chemical weapons."

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox