The US State Department said in a statement Saturday evening that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with UK Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss about acute and shared concerns that Russia may be considering launching further military aggression against Ukraine in the coming days.
Blinken emphasized the importance of working with NATO Allies and European partners in the region to impose swift, severe costs on Russia in response to any further military aggression by Russia against Ukraine, the statement added.
This is while Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed reports Friday about Russia's "imminent invasion" of Ukraine as a "mass disinformation campaign" against Russia.
"The White House hysteria is more revealing than ever. The Anglo-Saxons need a war. At any cost. Provocations, disinformation, and threats are favorite methods of solving their own problems,” she wrote in a post on her Telegram channel, Anadolu Agency reported.
Russia has repeatedly denied accusations that it intends to invade neighbouring Ukraine, a purported move that has grabbed headlines for several months.
According to the US State Department's statement, the two foreign ministers also discussed the importance of reaching a successful conclusion on talks with Iran on mutual return to full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The eighth round of talks on the removal of all anti-Iranian sanctions kicked off on Dec. 27 in the Austrian capital of Vienna and is one of lengthy rounds of talks. These days, participants are busy active drafting the text of the agreement and deciding on some controversial issues.
Iran has insisted that a good agreement could be available once it receives guarantees from the Western powers on the removal of the sanctions.
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