US diplomat Donfried to visit Moscow and Kiev December 13-15 – State Department – Worldwide

WASHINGTON, December 11. / TASS /. Karen Donfried, U.S. Assistant Secretary in the Office of European and Eurasian Affairs, will visit Moscow and Kiev from December 13 to 15, then travel to Brussels to consult with allies and partners, the U.S. State Department said in a statement. Saturday press release.

“Deputy Secretary of the Office for European and Eurasian Affairs, Dr Karen Donfried, will travel to Kiev, Ukraine and Moscow, Russia from December 13-15 to meet with senior government officials to discuss the military build-up of the Russia and to strengthen the United States’ commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Deputy Secretary Donfried will stress that we can make diplomatic progress to end the conflict in Donbass through the implementation of the Minsk agreements in support of the Normandy format, ”the press release said.

“Dr Donfried will then travel to Brussels, Belgium, December 15-16 to consult with NATO allies and EU partners on efforts to seek a diplomatic solution,” the department concluded. State.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday stressed that the West’s irresponsible behavior towards Ukraine paves the way for serious military risks, even leading to full-scale conflict in Europe. The ministry added that Moscow had taken note of the willingness of US President Joe Biden, expressed during his talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on December 7, to establish a serious dialogue on Russian security issues.

Nonetheless, according to the ministry, various open-ended interpretations of Russia’s position have mushroomed in recent days, prompting Moscow to once again make it clear that escalating a confrontation with Russia is unacceptable. Instead of setting up their Ukrainian proxies, NATO countries are pushing Kiev to take aggressive measures, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.