US Secretary of State John Kerry would meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov next week in Europe to find a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis.
"Kerry will travel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Paris, France today in advance of a to-be-scheduled meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov early next week in Europe," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said today.
The Secretary of State will remain in close touch with Martin Indyk, US Ambassador to Israel, and his negotiating team on the ground in Jerusalem and Ramallah in the event he needs to go back to the region from Paris in advance of NATO, Psaki said.
Also Read
Meanwhile, two top American Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have expressed concern over reports that Russian military forces are increasing their presence and activities on the borders of Ukraine.
"We are deeply concerned by media reports that Russian military forces are increasing their presence and activities on the borders of Ukraine. Considering President Putin's track record of lies and aggression, it is prudent now to expect and plan for the worst," they said in a joint statement.
McCain and Graham called on President Barack Obama together with the NATO allies to immediately fulfill the Ukrainian government's request for military assistance.
"No one denies that Ukraine is overmatched militarily by Russia. But as Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatsenyuk said again this week, if Russian forces invade mainland Ukraine, patriotic Ukrainians will fight to defend themselves and their homeland," they said.
"The West should act now to help them - not to raise false hopes, or to harbor them ourselves, but because giving victims of aggression some better means to defend their sovereign territory against further acts of aggression is simply the right and decent thing to do," they said.
Noting that the events in Crimea and the growing Russian threat in Europe's east must be a wake-up call to NATO, the Senators said the alliance must urgently conduct contingency planning and military exercises to deter aggression and defend alliance members.
