US, Germany say Russia poses urgent challenge to stability

The United States and Germany said Wednesday that Russia's military buildup near Ukraine's border poses an “immediate and urgent challenge” to European security and that any intervention will draw severe consequences.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock presented a unified front on Russia after a meeting in Washington. The severity of any response to a Russian invasion of Ukraine hinges largely on Germany, Europe's biggest economy and a diplomatic heavyweight within the 27-nation European Union.

The Blinken-Baerbock meeting followed a telephone call last week between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a conversation Sunday between Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and a group discussion Tuesday among Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his counterparts from the five Nordic nations.

It also preceded a flurry of meetings involving NATO foreign ministers, senior U.S. and Russian officials, the NATO-Russia Council and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe set for next week.