Lavrov, Sergey V

Biden Says Putin Has Chosen ‘Catastrophic’ War Over Diplomacy

WASHINGTON — President Biden said on Friday that the United States has intelligence showing that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has made a final decision to reject diplomatic overtures and invade Ukraine, in what Mr. Biden said would be a “catastrophic and needless war of choice” in Eastern Europe. Speaking from the Roosevelt Room […]

With Buildup on Land and Sea, Russia Closes in on Ukraine

MOSCOW — Thousands of Russian troops on Thursday began 10 days of exercises in Belarus, and Ukraine warned of upcoming Russian naval drills so extensive they would block shipping lanes, as the Kremlin continued to tighten its military vise on Ukraine. In Moscow, Russia’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov, gave a bleak assessment […]

U.S. and Russia Take More Measured Stance in Ukraine Talks

GENEVA — The United States and Russia scaled back their confrontational rhetoric over Eastern European security on Friday, agreeing to extend negotiations as the Biden administration pursues a fragile diplomatic path to averting a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov, in a […]

On Ukraine, Biden Flusters European Allies by Stating the Obvious

Her party leader and chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has been more circumspect, saying after a meeting with the NATO secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, on Tuesday that Germany was ready to discuss halting the pipeline should Russia attack Ukraine. “It is clear that there will be a high price to pay and that everything will have to be […]

Russia, at an Impasse With the West, Warns It Is Ready to Abandon Diplomacy

VIENNA — Russian officials signaled that they could abandon diplomatic efforts to resolve the security crisis surrounding Ukraine, bringing a whirlwind week of European diplomacy to an ominous end and deflating hopes that negotiators could forge a path toward easing tensions in Eastern Europe. One senior Russian diplomat said that talks with the West were […]

Iran Nuclear Talks Head for Collapse Unless Tehran Shifts, Europeans Say

BRUSSELS — Western negotiators trying to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal said on Friday that the new, more hard-line government in Iran is proposing unacceptable changes to the existing draft agreement, even as it is proceeding apace with its nuclear program. Unless Tehran shifts its stance quickly, the diplomats from Britain, France and Germany […]