Russia's FM Lavrov sees 'chance' to agree with West on security

Amid raging Ukraine tensions, top diplomat indicates in meeting with Putin that Moscow is prepared to continue talks; UK leader Johnson warns invasion could come within 48 hours

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told President Vladimir Putin that there was a “chance” of reaching an agreement on security with the West, in what appeared to be a possible climbdown amid raging tensions over Ukraine.

“As head of the foreign ministry, I must say that there is always a chance” to find agreement, Lavrov told Putin during a carefully choreographed meeting when asked to comment on ongoing talks with the West.

The United States has warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent, and Western allies have threatened a crippling package of economic sanctions in response.

But speaking to Putin, Lavrov indicated that Moscow was prepared to continue talks with the West.

“Is there a chance to reach an agreement with our partners on key issues or is it an attempt to drag us into an endless negotiation process?” Putin asked Lavrov in televised remarks.

Lavrov replied: “Our possibilities are far from being exhausted, they certainly should not continue indefinitely, but I would suggest continuing and ramping them up.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

He pointed out that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was set to arrive in Moscow for talks Tuesday.

Earlier on Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Putin to step back from “the edge of a precipice,” warning that an invasion of Ukraine could come within 48 hours.

“You’ve got about 130,000 troops massing on the Ukrainian border. This is a very, very dangerous, difficult situation,” Johnson told reporters.

“We are on the edge of a precipice but there is still time for President Putin to step back,” he added, echoing US warnings that an invasion could be imminent.

Johnson called on Western allies to “stand together and show a united front,” and on European leaders to learn the lessons from Moscow’s actions in Crimea in 2014, when Russia annexed the peninsula, and reduce their dependency on Russian gas.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, center left, and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki talk to British troops stationed in Poland on a NATO mission of enhancement of the alliance’s eastern flank in Wesola, near Warsaw Poland, on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. (AP/Czarek Sokolowski)

“All European countries need to get [gas pipeline] Nord Stream out of the bloodstream, yank out that hypodermic drip-feed of Russian hydrocarbons that is keeping so many European economies going,” he said.

Johnson said he had no plans to visit Moscow, but that he would be discussing the crisis with “various leaders, including [US President] Joe Biden, very soon.”