Tensions grow over Ukraine with the trading of threats

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met face-to-face with his Russian counterpart to demand Russia pull back troops from the border with Ukraine. The meeting comes as tensions and suspicions grow in a confrontation over Ukraine’s increasingly close ties with NATO and the West. The West, fearing that Moscow could invade Ukraine, has threatened the Kremlin with the toughest sanctions yet if it launches an attack. Russia has sternly warned that any presence of NATO troops and weapons on Ukrainian soil represents a “red line.” Fears that Russia would invade its neighbor or seek to undermine the Ukrainian government have dominated Blinken’s travels this week to meet with European allies.