Preliminary talks on security guarantees between the Russian Federation and the United States took place in Geneva on January 9. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov spoke about the results of the first meeting, which lasted more than two hours, quoted by RIA News…
According to Ryabkov, the conversation was difficult, but businesslike, and the meeting was amazing. Ryabkov believes that tomorrow, January 10, representatives of Moscow and Washington will not waste time. “I never lose my optimism, I am always guided by it,” the deputy minister added.
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Ryabkov had previously admitted that the negotiations would be limited to just one meeting. “And the Americans, especially their support group represented by other NATO countries, should not have any illusions about this,” the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister stressed.
It was reported that a Russian interagency delegation arrived in Geneva, Switzerland on January 9. The second round of Russian-American talks is scheduled for the 10th. After the talks, a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council will take place in Brussels and consultations in Vienna at the platform of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Security guarantees
In mid-December 2021, Russia proposed to NATO and the United States draft treaties on security guarantees. The document said that Washington should not create military bases in the territories of the former USSR countries that are not NATO members. The United States also did not recommend using their infrastructure for any military activity and developing bilateral military cooperation with them. The states in the North Atlantic Alliance also called for abandoning plans for Ukraine. The deputy foreign minister said that this way NATO will no longer be able to push Russia back into secondary roles.
NATO needs to collect money and go to the borders of 1997
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Washington does not expect breakthroughs from the upcoming talks with Russia. He considers the main task to be the beginning of a dialogue with Russia in various formats, however, the “bar of success” regarding the negotiations is set quite low.
“Ultimately, if we want to make progress, it will be very difficult to do so,” he stressed.
Kiev also reacted to the talks between Washington and Moscow. On January 9, Ukrainians went to a rally asking world leaders not to allow Ukraine’s surrender. “Russia wants to force Ukraine to surrender on January 10. We went out to appeal to world leaders to say no [президенту РФ Владимиру] Putin. Compromises will only lead to new wars and casualties, ”said one of the protesters.
Forecasts for the future
It was reported that the White House allowed a successful outcome of negotiations with Russia. According to the US administration official, progress on some issues could be achieved within the framework of the bilateral format for the dialogue on strategic stability, or multilaterally within the framework of the NATO-Russia Council or the OSCE, or in both cases. The United States believes that with an effective dialogue, the parties need to assume equal obligations.
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The meeting of the Russia-NATO Council will take place on January 12, and consultations at the OSCE site – on the 13th. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that European security issues will be the main topic of the talks on January 12. “I called a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council for January 12 to discuss issues related to European security, especially the situation in and around Ukraine, as well as issues related to military activity, mutual transparency and risk reduction,” he said.
Earlier, Stoltenberg stressed that there is an opportunity to come to a common political solution to the situation around Ukraine, taking into account Russia’s concerns. Despite this, he stated that the risk of conflict continues to exist.
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