In 'extremely dangerous' moment, top US diplomat travels to Ukraine, to meet Russian counterpart

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to Ukraine, Germany, and Switzerland this week - a sign "perhaps that diplomacy is not dead," a senior State Department official said Tuesday.

As Russia continues to mass troops and military equipment near Ukraine's borders, including now in allied Belarus, the U.S. and European countries have become increasingly concerned the Kremlin may be preparing to launch an attack on Ukraine.

But Blinken will meet his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in Geneva on Friday, keeping the door to diplomacy open.

"This is an extremely dangerous situation. We're now at a stage where Russia could at any point launch an attack in Ukraine," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday -- a sharp rise in the United States' rhetorical warnings that Russian lead Vladimir Putin may attack his neighbor.