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US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman (L) and Russian deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov (R) attend security talks on soaring tensions over Ukraine, at the US permanent Mission, in Geneva, on January 10, 2022. - A top Russian official said he had a "difficult" conversation with his US counterpart on January 9, 2022 as preliminary talks on Ukraine got under way amid fears of a Russian invasion of its pro-Western neighbor. "The conversation was difficult, it couldn't have been easy," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency after meeting US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman during a working dinner in Geneva. (Photo by DENIS BALIBOUSE / POOL / AFP) (KEYSTONE/POOL/DENIS BALIBOUSE)