US and Russia meet for talks in Geneva as fears of Ukraine invasion continue to grow

The United States and Russia sought to lower the temperature in a heated stand-off over Ukraine, even as they said no breakthrough was imminent in the crisis that has raised fears of a possible Russian invasion.

Armed with seemingly intractable and diametrically opposed demands, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Geneva at what Mr Blinken said was a "critical moment".

Mr Blinken said Mr Lavrov repeated Russia's insistence that it had no plans to invade Ukraine, but stressed that the US and its allies were not convinced.

Mr Lavrov, meanwhile, called the talks "constructive and useful" and said the US agreed to provide written responses to Russian demands on Ukraine and NATO next week.

The US and its NATO allies have flatly rejected those demands and said Russian President Vladimir Putin knew they were nonstarters.

He said the US and its allies were committed to diplomacy, but also to a "united, swift and severe response" if that proved impossible and Russia decided to pursue aggression against Ukraine.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its demands Friday that NATO not expand into Ukraine, that no alliance weapons be deployed near Russian borders and that alliance forces pull back from Central and Eastern Europe.