Will war or dialogue precede the Ukraine crisis?

After the US called for a return to the negotiating table in the Ukraine crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared that they wanted “dialogue, not conflict.”

“We have chosen the route of diplomacy for decades,” Sergey Lavrov said in a statement.

“We need to work with everyone,” Lavrov said in an interview broadcast on Russian television and radio stations.

“If it was up to Russia, there would be no war.”

Negotiations with the West on security assurances are still ongoing, and we will not allow anyone to disregard our interests,” he said.

Although the door for discussion between the United States and Russia was maintained open, Russia replied on Thursday to the United States’ rejection of Moscow’s request for “security guarantees” in the Ukraine conflict.

The United States is putting pressure on Russia through the Nord Stream 2 gas project. “If Russia invades Ukraine in any way, Nord Stream 2 will not proceed,” said Victoria Nuland, a US State Department official.

The gas pipeline in question connects Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, tripling its capacity for gas transit. The project has been completed but has not yet been placed into operation.

The US also requested that the United Nations Security Council meet publicly on Monday.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron will speak via phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Whether it will be conflict or dialogue, Vladimir Putin will say it,” Macron added.

“Now it’s up to Putin,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL. “The situation is quite dangerous,” Le Drian added, noting that it should not be hidden and that there is a risk that Moscow could invade Ukraine.

Approximately 100,000 Russian soldiers are currently stationed on the Ukrainian border. Russia dismisses the invasion charges, claiming that it is threatened by NATO expansion. Russia wants NATO to officially cease enlargement, mainly to Ukraine, and to return Western troops to the borders they occupied in 1997. The US and NATO, on the other hand, have rejected Moscow’s request.