US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed Wednesday that Russia must de-escalate tensions on the border with Ukraine in order for upcoming diplomatic meetings to succeed, saying "it's very hard to make actual progress in any of these areas in an atmosphere of escalation and threat, with a gun pointed at Ukraine's head."
source https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/05/politics/blinken-russia-two-paths/index.html
