The United States and Russia will hold negotiations on January 10 in Geneva regarding tensions in Ukraine and fears about security in Europe, following Russian demands to limit Western influence on its borders.
“January 10 will be the main day of the Russian-American bilateral consultations,” declared the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Riabkov, to the Tass news agency, adding that he does not expect an agreement to be reached “in a single day.”
Relations between Moscow and Washington were strained by the deployment of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, making the White House and other Western governments fear an invasion of the former Soviet republic.
Russia It claims to act in the face of the threat posed by the advance of NATO and has demanded that the transatlantic military alliance prohibit any future expansion towards its borders and stop all military cooperation in what Moscow considers its area of influence.
A source from the National Security Council of U.S He indicated that these negotiations will be followed by a meeting between Russia and NATO on January 12.
A day later, on January 13, there should be another meeting between Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), founded during the Cold War to promote East-West dialogue and also made up of the United States.
“The first meeting of 2022 of the Permanent Council of the OSCE will take place on January 13,” said a spokesman for this organization.
Zbigniew Rau, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, and new acting president of the OSCE, will speak to the “Council that meets every week and brings together the 57 OSCE participating states, including the United States and Russia,” he detailed.
“When we sit down to discuss, Russia will be able to put its concerns on the table and we will put ours on the table, especially the activities of Russia,” said the spokesman for the National Security Council of the United States.
“Security guarantees”
Moscow denies any warlike intent on Ukraine and he presents himself as a victim of the “provocations” of the West, which supports Ukraine politically and militarily.
Signing that the negotiations will be tough, the head of Russian diplomacy Sergey Lavrov ruled out any “concessions”, stating that Moscow is “in a firm position as regards the defense of (its) interests.”
The Kremlin demands “security guarantees” such that the OTAN do not expand further into the territories of the former Soviet Union, such as Ukraine.
“This is what we have to talk about, they are the proposals submitted by the Russian side,” Riabkov insisted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened “military and technical” measures last week if his demands were not heard.
In response to a pro-Western revolution, Russia already annexed part of Ukraine, the Crimean peninsula, in 2014. He is also accused of sponsoring pro-Russian separatists who have been fighting the Kiev government in the east of the country ever since.
The bilateral meeting on January 10 will take place within the framework of the strategic security dialogue launched by Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin during their Geneva summit last June.
Although this format is mainly intended to renegotiate post-Cold War nuclear arms control treaties, the discussions will also revolve around the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border, indicated a senior US government official who also requested anonymity.
Also meetings with NATO and OSCE should address the Ukrainian question.
“Unacceptable” demands
In a move that breaks the generally confidential nature of diplomatic discussions, Russia recently tabled two draft treaties to prevent any expansion of NATO and to end Western military activities near Russian borders.
Washington said it was “willing to discuss” these documents, noting that they included “some things that the Russians knew were unacceptable.”
Any agreement with Russia will take into account Ukrainian interests, the spokesman for the National Security Council said on Monday.
“Nothing that concerns our allies and partners” will be negotiated “without our allies and partners, including Ukraine,” he insisted.
The identities of the people who will participate in the January 10 negotiations have not been disclosed by either side.
rrg
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx