U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Geneva that talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday were frank and substantive.

“Our collective aim, the goal that we share, was to seek a diplomatic path to de-escalate tensions caused by Russia’s massing of troops along Ukraine’s borders, to address legitimate security concerns put forward by Russia, by the United States, by Europe through dialogue – not through aggression,” Blinken said.

The U.S. Secretary of State stressed that Washington strongly supports Ukraine on the issue of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“If any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border and commit new acts of aggression against Ukraine, that will be met with a swift, severe, united response from the United States and our allies and partners,” Blinken told a news conference with his German counterpart.

"I told him that after consulting with allies and partners in the coming days, we expect to be able to share our concerns and ideas in more detail and in writing with Russia next week, and we agreed to have further discussions after that," Antony Blinken added.