Top diplomats for US, Russia meet in Geneva on soaring Ukraine tensions

The top diplomats of Russia and the United States were to meet in Switzerland on Friday to discuss soaring tensions over Ukraine after a flurry of meetings between officials on both sides in the last week produced no breakthroughs.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Geneva for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov following a swing through Europe to shore up U.S. allies commitments to hit Russia with sanctions if it goes ahead with an invasion of Ukraine.

Washington's hopes of building a united front of opposition to Moscow were complicated by U.S. President Joe Biden's comments at a