US & Russian officials set to meet in Geneva amid Ukraine tensions
US and Russian officials will gather in Geneva on Monday for critical talks on rising tensions over Ukraine.
Worries have been mounting in the US and Europe over Russia's military build-up close to its border with Ukraine.
Russia is pushing for a deal to make sure Ukraine is not allowed to join the NATO military alliance.
However, the US says it will make “no firm commitment” during the talks, and that only security issues will be discussed.
A Russian independent political analyst, Dmitry Oreshkin, says President Putin cannot accept Ukraine or Georgia joining NATO.
"He might have come to terms with the Baltic states being a lost cause, a part of NATO and so on, but he has decided to hold on to the end in Ukraine.”
“And the only way to secure his strong-arm political authority over Ukraine is creating tension at the border," he added.
Meanwhile, in eastern Ukraine, troops remain on high alert, amid fears of a Russian invasion.
Last week the European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, visited the Donbas region.
It was the first trip of an EU foreign policy chief there since the conflict erupted in 2014.
Washington and Moscow have excluded Brussels from the diplomatic talks aimed at de-escalating the situation at the Ukrainian-Russian border.
Borrell did not hide his exasperation last Wednesday during his visit to the region.
"On this dialogue, there are not two actors alone. It's not just US and Russia. If you want to talk about security in Europe, Europeans have to be part of the table," he said.
This sentiment has been echoed by the EU’s ambassador to the UK, João Vale de Almeida, who issued a warning to Russia.
"The European Union and member states have a very common position of strength,” he said.
“The United States is together,
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