Thread by @pleasesaveour

Amid US concern over unusual mvmts by Ru troops on Ukr border SOS Blinken left Mon on a trip to Eu where US is looking to consolidate a position among allies at a summit with NATO FMs. SOS will then go to Sweden for a mtg of the Org for Sec and Coop in Eu
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

Admin officials are trying to craft an approach that neither appeases Ru nor provokes significant escalation, which is harder now than it was nearly eight years ago, when Moscow annexed Crimea and fueled a separatist war in Ukraine’s east that has left more than 13K people dead

The Russian and Ukrainian militaries are more advanced, the West remains divided on how tough to be on Moscow, and Putin has grown increasingly bold about pressing Russia’s claims on Ukraine.

“When you say things like, ‘Ukraine does not now and has never had a right to exist as a sovereign state, there is no such thing as the Ukrainian people,’ where has rhetoric like that led in the past? It has pretty consistently been a prelude to conflict.”