Hitler decided against Germany’s officially establishing a biological warfare program for reasons that are not entirely clear. Speculation has centered on his experience of being gassed in World War I and on a personal phobia about microbes.

That may have stopped the Nazis from putting in place the type of aggressive effort instituted by the Japanese that led to devastating attacks on Chinese cities with the likes of plague and cholera. The German war machine, moreover, never attempted to approximate the biowar capabilities that the Allies had in place, if needed.

That didn’t put a lid entirely on the Nazis’ interest in biological weapons. Research continued at more than one institute under the guise of enabling troops to defend against bioweapons attacksxe2x80x94and a defensive program can morph easily into one used against troops and civilians. Klaus Reinhardt, a research fellow at the University of Tuebingen has published a recent article in the journal Endeavour that provides evidence that a program at Dachauxe2x80x94a brainchild of Heinrich Himmler’xe2x80x94went as far as developing malaria-carrying mosquitoes that could be delivered by air as bioweapons in a military campaign.

When it was established in 1942, the purpose of the Entomological Institute of the Waffen SS centered primarily on preventing the types of louse-borne typhus epidemics that had ravaged troops during World War I. It also was intended to preserve the lives of concentration camp prisoners from insect-borne disease so they could work as slave labor for arms and chemical companies.

The entomologist Eduard May headed up the program, chosen, not least, because of personal views that were politically correct to the Third Reich. In his writings, he had railed against Einstein’s theory of relativity and called for a natural science built on the “spirit of Indo-Germandom.” Karl Ritter von Frisch, who later received a Nobel Prize, along with Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinbergen, for work on how honeybees communicate using a waggle dance, was another candidate, but his reputed non-Aryan grandmother probably didn’t help his chances.

In May 1943, May received funds for a program to develop pesticides to counter any Allied attempt to destroy crops by dropping insects from the air and also to study “the habits of insects harmful to humans in order to clarify the questions concerning specific uses and heightened defense against them.” Documents found by Reinhardt showed that May’s program began to research Anopheles mosquitoesxe2x80x94the carrier of the malaria parasitexe2x80x94to determine whether a malaria bioattack against Germany was possible.

The documents also showed that perhaps the program may have had more sinister motives. One record details a research protocol to test how long mosquitoes could survive without food while carried for an air drop. Anopheles maculipennis females were capable of enduring longer than A. bifurcatus. “This result appears to me particularly important,” May wrote, “inasmuch as for the practical execution one should make efforts to employ A. maculipennis.”xe2x80x94wording that appears to suggest that consideration was being given to the details of how to deploy the insects against an enemy. Reinhardt thinks the program was at an embryonic stagexe2x80x94 “not very sophisticated, and probably not very effective either.”

There was no indication, he notes, that the Entomological Institute of the Waffen SS had any connection with experiments carried out at Dachau by notorious tropical medicine specialist Claus Schilling who infected prisoners with malaria. The documents Reinhardt found did not turn up any connection to another piece of evidence about the Nazis’ involvement with bioweapons. Yale historian Frank Snowden has written about a Nazi-initiated bioattack using malaria-laden mosquitoes in Italy.

Whether entomologist May really led an offensive program needs further confirmation, but many of the critical documents were destroyed by the Germans and the Soviets. So it still remains an open question to what extent the entomological institute at Dachau was involved in developing biological weapons of mass destruction, despite the Fuhrer’s squeamishness.

Image Source: Zentralbild Reichsfxc3xbchrer SS Heinrich Himmler (Aufnahme 1938)

Pontiac xe2x80x94 The U.S. Marshals andxc2xa0the Oakland County Fugitive Apprehension Team searchedxc2xa0Friday night for the parents of Ethan Crumbley, the 15-year-old Oxford High sophomore charged with first-degree murder in the slayings ofxc2xa0four students in Tuesday’s mass shooting.

The search camexc2xa0hours afterxc2xa0James and Jennifer Crumbley of Oxfordxc2xa0were charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of thosexc2xa0fourxc2xa0students byxc2xa0 Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who announced the chargesxc2xa0at a noon press conference.

At one point Friday, authorities sayxc2xa0each parent had stopped respondingxc2xa0to their attorneys.

“The action of fleeing and ignoring their attorney certainly adds weight to the

charges,” Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said in a statement. “They cannot run from their part in this tragedy.xe2x80x9d

By late Friday night,xc2xa0U.S. Marshals announced a reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to their arrests.

Several hours after the search began, the couple’s lawyers,xc2xa0Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman, said the husband and wife were returning to the area to be arraigned.

“On Thursday night, we contacted the Oakland County prosecutor to discuss this matter and to advise her that James and Jennifer Crumbley would be turning themselves in to be arraigned,”xc2xa0Smith and Lehman told The Detroit News atxc2xa0mid-afternoon Friday. “Instead of communicating with us, the prosecutor held a press conference to announce charges.

“The Crumbleys left town on the night of the tragic shooting for their own safety. They are returning to the area to be arraigned. They are not fleeing from law enforcement despite recent comments in media reports.”

But by Friday evening, federal marshals said they had “adopted the case of the search for James and Jennifer Crumbley” and would be working in conjunction with the Oakland County Sheriffxe2x80x99s Office.

The Crumbleys’ case is charged in 52-3 District Court in Rochester Hills, and an arraignment wasxc2xa0tentatively set for 4 p.m. Friday. But the court closed late Friday afternoon without any sightings of the Crumbleys.

xe2x80x9cTheir attorney had assured us that if a decision was made to charge them, she would produce them for arrest,xe2x80x9d Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said earlier Friday.xc2xa0

That agreement with attorney Smithxc2xa0was sometime in the morning, McCabe said around 2 p.m. Friday. xe2x80x9cOur last conversation with the attorney was that she had been trying to reach them by phone and text, and they were not responding,xe2x80x9d he said.xc2xa0

McCabe said Fugitive Apprehension Team officers were out searching for the couple as of mid-afternoonxc2xa0Friday. The Crumbleysxc2xa0ownxc2xa0a 2021 blackxc2xa0Kia Seltos with the licensexc2xa0plate DQG5203 and a 2019 white Kia Soul with the license plate DZH8994, according to the sheriff’s office and Secretary of State records.

McCabe said a conversation with law enforcement was initiated by the parents’xc2xa0attorney Friday morning when it was announced the prosecutor was holding axc2xa0press conference to announce whether a decision had been made to charge anyone else in the deaths.

xe2x80x9cWe didnxe2x80x99t even know they had been charged with anything until we were informed this morning by the media,xe2x80x9d McCabe said.

McDonald’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment. But the prosecutor defended how the charges were pursued during a CNN Friday night interview.

xe2x80x9cThe prosecutorxe2x80x99s office doesnxe2x80x99t arrest people,xe2x80x9d McDonald told CNN host Anderson Cooper.xc2xa0

A day and a half before the press conference, McDonald said she asked an assistant prosecutor if police had xe2x80x9ceyesxe2x80x9d on the parental suspects. She said she was told police knew where the Crumbleys were.

xe2x80x9cThey will be apprehended, one way or another,xe2x80x9d McDonald said.xc2xa0

Late Friday night, McCabe pushed back against the prosecutor’s claims. McCabe said his office was not contacted by an assistant prosecutor about, and at no time did the department indicate to prosecutors that “eyes” on the Crumbleys.

The prosecutor earlier laid out numerous reasons for her decision, including the fatherxe2x80x99s purchase of the handgun, which was a Christmas gift for their son, and a meeting at the school in which they were shown a graphic drawing made by their son depicting a shooting victim.xc2xa0Each count is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

xe2x80x9cI have spoken to (victimsxe2x80x99 parents) and indicated what charges were coming,xe2x80x9d McDonald said at her Friday noon press conference. xe2x80x9cThese parents are deep in grief.

xe2x80x9cI have tremendous compassion and empathy for parents with children who are struggling, for whatever reason,xe2x80x9d she added. xe2x80x9cBut the factsxc2xa0in this casexc2xa0are so egregious. The notion that a parent could read those words, and also know their son had access to a deadly weapon.xe2x80x9d

The Crumbleys’ son, Ethan,xc2xa0has been charged as an adult with one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He faces up to life in prison without parole if convicted.xc2xa0

Scott Weinberg, a former Macomb County assistant prosecutor and a longtime Oakland County defense attorney, said Friday that xe2x80x9cattorneys have just so much powerxe2x80x9d and cannot compel the presence of a client.

xe2x80x9cAs an attorney, youxe2x80x99re their adviser,xe2x80x9d Weinberg said, “not their keeper.xe2x80x9d

xe2x80x9cSometimes, people get scared,xe2x80x9d he added. xe2x80x9cThey begin to wrap up personal affairs, they pay the mortgage, just so they donxe2x80x99t have to do it from jail.xe2x80x9d

Arrangements for clients to turn themselves in make sense both for police, who can avoid a manhunt, and for the suspect, Weinberg said. Clientsxc2xa0who turnxc2xa0themselves in willingly might get a favorable bond at their arraignment, he said.

xe2x80x9cWhen and if they are picked up now, itxe2x80x99ll be hard to make that argument with a judge,xe2x80x9d Weinberg said. xe2x80x9cThey might not get the reasonable bond they couldxe2x80x99ve gotten.xe2x80x9d

Weinberg has had clients who did not show up to surrender themselves.xc2xa0

xe2x80x9cThat happens all the time,xe2x80x9d Weinberg said.

William Winters, a 38-year veteran defense attorney in Detroit, said such arrangements are xe2x80x9cnot generallyxe2x80x9d made in homicide cases.

xe2x80x9cPolice usually want a time and location,xc2xa0either at the police station or the courthouse,xe2x80x9d when suspects surrender, Winters said.xc2xa0

A defense attorney xe2x80x9ccanxe2x80x99txe2x80x9d know if their client will honor the arrangement, hexc2xa0said.xc2xa0

xe2x80x9cIxe2x80x99d want to be with the defendant in that case,xe2x80x9d Winters said, to ensure a safe arrest.

<a href=”mailto:mmartindale@detroitnews.com”>mmartindale@detroitnews.com</a>

Staff Writer Robert Snellxc2xa0contributed.

ALLEGED shooter Ethan Crumbley’s parents were charged with involuntary manslaughter on December 3 and police are trying to find the couple after they disappeared.

The couple disappeared after the charges were brought against them and police are currently on the hunt for Ethan Crumbley’s parents.

Who is Jennifer Crumbley?

The shooting at Oxford High School on Monday left four students dead and six injured after 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley allegedly opened fire on his classmates.

Text messages have surfaced revealing Ethan Crumbleyxe2x80x99s mother, Jennifer Crumbley, texted her son on the day of the shooting.

Jennifer had previously advocated for gun use prior to the school shooting at Oxford High School.

In November 2016, she wrote a detailed letter to Donald Trump on her blog, which was deleted on December 3, where she appeared to praise the former president and his views.

xe2x80x9cAs a female and a realtor, thank you for allowing my right to bear arms,” she wrote. “Allowing me to be protected if I show a home to someone with bad intentions. Thank you for respecting that Amendment.xe2x80x9d

On the day before the shooting, a teacher claimed they saw Ethan looking at ammunition on his phone, and when the teacher called Jennifer, there was no response.

However, McDonald said text messages show Jennifer texted her son and told him, “lol, I’m not mad at you, you have to learn not to get caught.”

The following morning, Jennifer was called to the school after his teacher said he was drawing a semi-automatic handgun that pointed at the words, “The thoughts won’t stop, help me.”

There was also a section in the note that showed a bullet with the words, “Blood everywhere” above it.

When Ethan and his parents were called into the office after the teacher flagged the note, they refused to put their son in counseling and insisted he stay in school.

That was mere hours before the shooting.

Who is James Crumbley?

Ethan Crumbleyxe2x80x99s father, James Crumbley, purchased the gun used in the Oxford High School shooting, according to the Oakland County sheriff.

He bought the 9mm semi-automatic handgun on Black Friday, which his son allegedly used to kill four students and injure five more and a teacher.

Police confirmed James Crumbley purchased three fifteen-round magazines for the pistol, but two had so far been recovered.

It isnxe2x80x99t clear where James Crumbley purchased the semi-automatic weapon, but the owner of Action Impact Gun Range, Bill Kucyk, said the gun isnxe2x80x99t manufactured or made widely available anymore.

Will James and Jennifer Crumbley face charges? xc2xa0

James and Jennifer Crumbley were charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter on Friday before they disappeared from public view.

Their attorney said they were laying low and would be present for their arraignment, but authorities are continuing to search for them.

“The Crumbleys left town on the night of the tragic shooting for their own safety. They are returning to the area to be arraigned. They are not fleeing from law enforcement,” their attorney said.

Law enforcement was tracking the Crumbley’s whereabouts via cellphone towers, but are no longer able to do so as their phones are turned off.

A law enforcement official toldxc2xa0CNNxc2xa0that James and Jennifer withdrew $4,000 from an ATM on Friday.

They reportedly used an ATM in Rochester Hills, about 15 miles away from Oxford.

Sheriff Michael Bouchard told CNN, “If they think they’re going to get away, they’re not.”

Oakland County prosecutor, Karen McDonald, has said she isnxe2x80x99t ruling out pressing charges against Ethan Crumbleyxe2x80x99s parents.

McDonald told Fox2 News on December 2 that both James and Jennifer Crumbley had been xe2x80x9cdifficult,xe2x80x9d adding Ethan should not have had access to his fatherxe2x80x99s gun.

It has now been reported that James Crumbley bought the gun for Ethan on Black Friday as a Christmas present, which goes against Michigan state gun laws.

McDonald stated, xe2x80x9cWe know owning a gun means securing it properly locked up and keeping ammunition separate and not allowing access to other individuals especially minors.xe2x80x9d

Adding people should be held accountable when a child gets a hold of their handgun she concluded, xe2x80x9cWe will be making a decision swiftly.xe2x80x9d

Ethan Crumbley is beingxc2xa0charged as an adultxc2xa0with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of terrorism, among others for the shooting that killedxc2xa0Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16, and Justin Shilling, 17.

Signed in as Michael_Novakhov

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The West Virginia coal mining accident yesterday killed at least 25, and hope is starting to fade for finding the four missing miners alive. It’s the deadliest mining accident in the United States in more than a quarter-century. A methane explosion appears to be the cause. Normally when DISCOVER covers methane scares, it has to do with the potent greenhouse gas leaking from permafrost or the ocean. But for coal miners, methane represents a more clear and present danger: Underground mines can fill up with the flammable gas, and a stray spark can light it and cause an explosion. As a result, mines are required to have giant fans that blow methane out of the working area. Methane not only appears to have caused the accident, it also held up the rescue effort.

Operations had to be suspended because of a build-up of methane in the mine. It’s hoped that they can resume later today — but it will require drilling about 1,000 feet, through two coal seams, to get to where the men might have been able to find shelter [NPR]

. Methane is ubiquitous in coal mines.

The gas, like coal, is a molecule made of hydrogen and carbon, and it is produced from the same raw material as coal, ancient piles of biological material, by the same processes. Much of the natural gas sold in the United States is drawn from coal seams. In undisturbed coal deposits, the methane is kept loosely attached to the coal molecules by compression; when the area is opened up by miners, the pressure is reduced and the methane bubbles out [The New York Times].

Coal mining is an unavoidably dangerous occupation, but it seems Massey Energy, owner of the mine, was far behind where it should have been in safety compliance.

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration cited the mine for 1,342 safety violations from 2005 through Monday for a total of $1.89 million in proposed fines, according to federal records. The company has contested 422 of those violations [Washington Post]

. The citations at West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch mine included some for the improper ventilation of methane. Just why Upper Big Branch suffered such a catastrophe at this particular time remains unknown. After the incident, geologists noticed that there had been two recent episodes of small seismic activities in the areaxe2x80x94a 3.4 magnitude earthquake on Sunday and some surface blasting on Saturday that initially registered as a 2.9 quake. USGS geophysicist Julie Dutton says that the 3.4 quake could have been strong enough to dislodge methane pockets and contribute to the accidentxe2x80x94but only if it were closer than its distance of 100 miles.

“There’s the definite possibility that that’s what could have happened, but not from this earthquake,” Dutton said. “This one was too far away and days separated. That makes a big difference” [FoxNews.com]

. And from the other side of the world, some slightly better news. Yesterday rescuers saved 115 people trapped underground for eight days at the Wangjialing mine in China.

The rescue was rare good news for China’s mining industry, the deadliest in the world, where accidents killed 2,631 coal miners last year. That’s down from 6,995 deaths in 2002, the most dangerous year on record [AP]

. However, 32 remain stuck underground, and gas buildups are hindering the operations there, too. Related Content: 80beats: Isn’t It Ironic: Green Tech Relies on Dirty Mining in China 80beats: New EPA Rules Clamp Down on Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining 80beats: After Massive Tennessee Ash Spill, Authorities Try to Assess the Damage 80beats: Obama & Chu Push Ahead with Clean Coal Projects Despite the Cost

Image: flickr / NIOSH

The United States and its allies are stepping up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin over two crises on the fringes of Europe that they blame the Kremlin for inflaming.

In the freezing forests and swamplands of the Poland-Belarus border, unrest flared Tuesday after Polish police fired tear gas and water cannons at some of the thousands of migrants stranded there.

Meanwhile, Russia is massing troops on its border with Ukraine, prompting fears of a repeat of 2014 when Moscow invaded the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

Washington and the Europeans accuse the Kremlin of complicity in both issues.

They say Belarus, Putinxe2x80x99s only ally in Europe, is deliberately pushing Middle East migrants toward the border with Poland on the false promise of easy access into the European Union. Belarus has made little effort to stop the migrants, fomenting a tense standoff with Polish police that escalated Tuesday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a tweet Sunday that the manufactured migrant crisis was a deliberate attempt xe2x80x9cto threaten security, sow division, and distract from Russiaxe2x80x99s activities on the border with Ukraine.xe2x80x9d

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Putin by phone Monday. Afterward one of his advisers said that NATO would be prepared to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine if necessary, Reuters reported. Ukraine has campaigned for NATO membership but has been unsuccessful so far.

These allegations have been repeatedly denied by Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was xe2x80x9cwrongxe2x80x9d that the Belarus crisis was meant to distract from Russian troop movements. Putin has instead pointed to what he says are escalatory U.S. military maneuvers in the Black Sea.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko xe2x80x94 an uneasy ally of Putinxe2x80x99s, and often called the last dictator in Europe xe2x80x94 has also held a flurry of calls with Western leaders. On Monday, he spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about xe2x80x9cways and prospects of resolvingxe2x80x9d the migrant crisis, and possible humanitarian aid.

It was Lukashenkoxe2x80x99s first known contact with a Western leader since his disputed election victory last year sparked mass protests and a brutal crackdown by his security services. Dissident activists accuse Russia of aiding the crackdown, which made Belarus even more of a pariah among democracies and deepened its complicated relationship with Moscow.

Some experts say Russia is wary of becoming embroiled in another costly foreign escapade like the ongoing war in Ukraine. Still, Russia last week sent two nuclear-capable bombers over Belarus, as well as paratroopers for joint exercises with Belarusian troops near the Polish border.

It’s not clear whether Russia is directly involved in the Belarusian border crisis, according to Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at the London think tank Chatham House. But it follows “a pattern of escalation by Russia on its western borders,” she said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Russian intelligence is involved in this kind of hybrid operation,” Lutsevych added.

In response to what it says is a confected crisis, the E.U. plans to expand sanctions against xe2x80x9ceveryone who participates in smuggling migrants to this country,xe2x80x9d including Belarusian airlines and travel agents, the E.U.xe2x80x99s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday. The E.U. has already hit Belarus with four rounds of sanctions over the post-election crackdown.

Meanwhile, on Russiaxe2x80x99s border with Ukraine to the south, Moscow has mobilized some 100,000 troops, according to Ukrainian government estimates. This is not the first buildup this year, with similar numbers sending alarm through Western capitals in the spring.

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in conflict since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and began supporting separatists in the countryxe2x80x99s east. That war has rumbled on ever since, costing some 14,000 lives despite a series of shaky ceasefires.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference Monday that the xe2x80x9csignificant, large Russian military buildupxe2x80x9d was xe2x80x9cunusualxe2x80x9d and noted that xe2x80x9cRussia has been willing to use these types of military capabilities before to conduct aggressive actions against Ukraine.xe2x80x9d

Some experts believe Putin is attempting to use these threats to gain extra leverage in the stalled Ukraine peace talks xe2x80x94 and to warn the West that backing Ukraine comes with a cost.

Part of the problem is that the U.S. and Europe have not been strong enough in condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine, and Belarusian repression of opposition activists, Lutsevych at Chatham House said.

xe2x80x9cPutin believes that the West is not serious about the region: He believes itxe2x80x99s just lip service being paid to Ukraine and the Belarusian opposition,xe2x80x9d Lutsevych said. xe2x80x9cThese problems are not going away. The West and Ukraine have to remain vigilant because this is a war of attrition.xe2x80x9d

#xd0xb1xd0xb0xd0xb9xd0xb4xd0xb5xd0xbd #xd0xbfxd1x83xd1x82xd0xb8xd0xbd #xd1x83xd0xbaxd1x80xd0xb0xd0xb8xd0xbdxd0xb0 #sn

Biden told reporters last week he would “in all probability” speak to Putin soon about the situation in Ukraine. He has said direct communication with Putin is the best way to avoid conflict between the two countries.

‘Deep concerns’

The last publicly announced phone call between Biden and Putin came in July, about a month after their in-person summit in Geneva.

Blinken and Lavrov met on the sidelines of the OSCE summit. Their 30-minute conversation did not yield a concrete path forward, but both sides agreed to continue diplomatic conversations, a senior US State Department official told reporters traveling with the top US diplomat.

Blinken also held a bilateral meeting earlier Thursday with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, at which the top US diplomat reiterated Washington’s “unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and its independence.”

Blinken did not lay out the “serious consequences” he has threatened if Russia invades Ukraine, according to the senior US State Department official.

The official, who described Blinken’s meeting with Lavrov as sober and professional, said the meeting resulted in an agreement to continue diplomatic conversations and that the US was able to make clear their concerns about the Russian military buildup.

According to the State Department, Blinken “addressed Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine, including its military movements near Ukraine’s borders” and “reiterated the United States’ call for Russia to pull back its forces and return to a peacetime posture” and to adhere to the 2015 Minsk agreements — an effort to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine — and a ceasefire in the Donbas region.

The Minsk Protocol was written by Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE with France and Germany mediating. On Thursday, Blinken said he told Lavrov that the US was ready to get involved and had already offered to do so with Ukraine’s top diplomat.

“And as with Foreign Minister Kuleba, I also made clear The United States is prepared to work with both parties to support a diplomatic resolution through implementation of Minsk agreements in any way that we can,” he said.

Combat troops

Pentagon spokesman Ned Price said in his readout that Blinken “underscored that the best path forward is diplomacy in conjunction with the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, a process the United States is willing and ready to support.”

The US and NATO say Russia is increasing the number of combat troops near its border with Ukraine, while the Kremlin has repeatedly denied that Russia plans to invade Ukraine and sees NATO support for the country as a threat on Russia’s western border.

In his own remarks to the press after meeting with Blinken, Lavrov stressed that although Russia does “not want any conflicts” with NATO over Ukraine, it maintains the “right to choose ways to ensure its legitimate security interests.”

“And let’s not forget, of course, the proclaimed principle of indivisibility and security, including in the OSCE, in the NATO Council of Russia, which says that no one has the right to strengthen their security at the expense of the security of others,” he said, also adding that “the further advance of NATO to the East will definitely affect the fundamental interests” of Russia’s security.

The United States, meanwhile, warned again that there would be “serious consequences” if Russia engages to “pursue confrontation” with Ukraine.

On Thursday, Blinken told summit attendees that the US holds “deep concerns about Russia’s plans for renewed aggression against Ukraine.”

This aggression would “move us in exactly the opposite direction,” Blinken said, stressing “it’s simply not in anyone’s interest.”

He added that “the best way to avert the crisis is through diplomacy,” calling on Russia to abide by the Minsk peace agreements. The interpretation of Minsk and other core OSCE documents emerged as a sticking point between the two countries, with Lavrov saying it “is clear” that the US and Russia interpret them in “different ways.”

Blinken criticized Russia’s adherence to the Helsinki Final Act, a multilateral agreement dating back to 1975. That non-binding diplomatic accord recognized the inviolability of national borders created after World War II and the importance of noninterference in a nation’s internal affairs, but Russia also saw it as implicitly recognizing its hegemony in Eastern Europe. Blinken said Russia “continues to violate the Helsinki principles and repeatedly obstructs the work of this organization.”

Despite the accusations, the two officials recognized the importance of dialogue, with Lavrov acknowledging “the importance of our two states for global stability and for security, including in the Euro-Atlantic area.”

Price said Blinken raised the cases of two Americans detained in Russia — Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed — “and underscored the priority we attach to their prompt release.”

“The Secretary and the Foreign Minister noted the importance of continued coordination on issues in the bilateral relationship and where interests are aligned, including when it comes to blocking Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon,” he said.

The OSCE summit comes on the heels of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Latvia that was dominated by concerns over recent events in Belarus and Russia’s intentions in Ukraine.

Speaking Wednesday after the meeting in Latvia, Blinken said the US and its NATO partners were prepared to impose costs for further Russian aggression against Ukraine and were preparing for “all contingencies” as Russia continues to make troubling moves.

While Blinken hasn’t detail what those penalties will be, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a Wednesday interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto that the alliance has “a wide range of options: economic sanctions, financial sanctions, political restrictions.”

Putin called Wednesday for specific agreements that would rule out any further NATO expansion eastwards and deployment of its weaponry close to Russia’s borders.

On Tuesday, the Russian President said NATO military expansion close to Russian borders and any deployment of missile systems in Ukraine would be crossing a “red line.”