State Dept says Blinken to meet Russia’s Lavrov on Thursday in Stockholm

RIGA (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to have a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Cooperation on Europe (OSCE) summit in Stockholm on Thursday, a senior State Department official said.

The meeting comes at a time when tensions between the Western military alliance and Russia have been on the rise due to Moscow’s troop build-up near Ukraine’s border. Before his meeting with Lavrov, Blinken will have a separate meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on the margins of the summit, the State Department official said.