US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has held firm in negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over negotiations in the Ukraine. Blinken is quoted by Al Jazeera as saying that “[Russia] can choose the path of diplomacy that can lead to peace and security, or the path that will lead only to conflict, severe consequences and international condemnation.”
Russia has already put forward a sweeping list of security demands that are widely seen as unrealistic, and an attempt to weaken the United States and NATO. The Biden Administration appears to have little desire to give in to Russia, after they’ve already attempted to interfere in US elections, and appeared to exercise an inappropriate degree of control over the defeated former guy. Moscow has threatened “unspecified military action” if their demands are not met. Russia is in a weakened position however, as a combination of conventional military inferiority is paired with diminishing influence of Russian social media efforts in the US, as American social media outlets become more aggressive about purging accounts that advocate for violence, and American news commenters are becoming more skilled at spotting and calling out likely Russian troll accounts.