Kiev, 19 January 2022 (dpa/MIA) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to Kiev on Wednesday as part of international efforts to address the Ukraine crisis with Russia. Blinken plans to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky and his counterpart Dmytro Kuleba while in the Ukrainian capital. The aim of the visit is to reaffirm Washington's commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to the US State Department. On Thursday, Blinken is scheduled to travel onward to Berlin, where he plans to meet German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. After speaking on the phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday, Blinken is now also set to meet his Russian counterpart on Friday in Geneva. Blinken stressed the importance of diplomacy in the current crisis, according to State Department spokesman Ned Price. Any discussion on European security must include NATO partners and allies in Europe, including Ukraine, he said. Tensions in the Ukraine conflict have increased sharply recently. Negotiations between the United States and Russia, in the NATO-Russia Council as well as in the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) last week remained largely inconclusive.