Diplomats meet in Moscow, Berlin as Russia holds drills

Moscow: Britain’s top diplomat urged Russia on Thursday to defuse tensions over Ukraine and take the path of diplomacy even as thousands of Russian troops engaged in sweeping maneuvers in Belarus as part of a military buildup near Ukraine that has fueled Western fears of an invasion.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss again warned Russia that attacking its neighbor would “have massive consequences and carry severe costs,” urging Moscow to abide by its international agreements that commit it to respecting Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty. Seated across a table from Truss with a grim face, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov set a stern tone for the talks, emphasizing that Moscow won’t accept Western lecturing. “Ideological approaches, ultimatums and moralizing is a road to nowhere,” Lavrov said, noting that his talks with Truss marked the first meeting of the two countries’ top diplomats in more than four years. Russia-U.K. ties have been badly strained by the March 2018 poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in England and other sources of tension.

Russia has concentrated more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s border and launched a series of military maneuvers in the region, but says it has no plans to invade the nation. Moscow wants guarantees from the West that NATO won’t allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members, and for the alliance to halt weapon deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe.

The U.S. and NATO flatly reject these demands. Russia’s military buildup includes the deployment of troops on the territory of its ally Belarus for sweeping joint drills that entered a decisive phase Thursday. The Ukrainian capital is located about 75 miles (47 miles) south of the border with Belarus, and Western nations voiced worry that Russia could use Belarusian territory to invade Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when protests drove Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly leader from office, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine. The fighting between Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed over 14,000 people. —AP