The US authorities will continue to supply Ukraine with defensive weapons. This was stated by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
“We have made it clear that we will continue to support Ukraine by providing it with defensive military equipment so that it can defend itself,” he said in an interview with the TV channel. CNN ahead of the US-Russian security talks.
According to the Secretary of State, NATO will be strengthened “in the event of further Russian aggression.”
On January 9, a Russian delegation arrived in Geneva to participate in talks with the United States on security guarantees. The interdepartmental delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. On the part of the Russian diplomatic service, it is headed by Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov. American diplomacy will be represented by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova specified that the first round of Russian-American talks in Geneva is scheduled for the evening of January 9th. The main day of the talks is scheduled for Monday, January 10th.
As Ryabkov noted, Moscow is going to the meeting “not with outstretched hand”, the Russian side has a “clearly formulated task” that it will solve on its own terms. The deputy minister also noted that Russia is not optimistic on the eve of negotiations with the United States.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Russia and the United States and NATO on security guarantees. It follows from the documents that the alliance should refuse to conduct any military activity on the territory of Ukraine and other states of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia. Also, Russia and NATO commit themselves not to create conditions that could be regarded as a threat by the other side.
The Russian side has repeatedly denied statements by Western politicians about an allegedly planned “invasion” of Ukraine. The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov pointed out that such messages are “empty, groundless escalation of tension.”
Also in Moscow, they criticized discussions about the supply of weapons to Ukraine. In November, Peskov stressed that NATO should stop provocative activities near the borders of the Russian Federation, and also stop “pumping up Ukraine with modern weapons.” He added that the West is artificially whipping up hysteria.
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