Negotiations between the USA and the Russian Federation – the fate of Ukraine is at stake: there are already first statements

Important negotiations will take place today in Geneva (Switzerland) on Putin’s ultimatum on security guarantees for Russia, including on Ukraine’s non-adherence to NATO. The meeting of the American and Russian delegations will begin at around 10:00 Kiev time. On January 9, preliminary negotiations were held between representatives of the foreign ministries and there are already the first statements.

Who will be from Russia:

• Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov;
• Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin;
• other representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense.

From USA:

• First Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman;
• Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Bonnie Jenkins;
• Chris Robinson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Eurasia;
• Laura Cooper, Assistant to the Head of the Pentagon for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia;
• General James Mingas, Chief of Operations for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff;
• a number of representatives of the National Security Council, the Pentagon and the US military command.

On the eve, preliminary negotiations between the USA and the Russian Federation took place

The representative of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov held consultations with Wendy Sherman, RBC reports. They talked for over two hours.

“Awesome. The conversation was difficult, but businesslike. I think that tomorrow we will not waste our time.”– he declared.

US State Department spokesman Wendy Sherman emphasized the United States’ commitment to international principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and freedom of sovereign nations to choose their own alliances, the State Department press service reported.

“The United States will welcome genuine progress through diplomacy. The United States will discuss certain bilateral issues with Russia, but will not discuss European security without our European allies and partners. Some issues will be postponed until the NATO-Russia Council meeting in Brussels on January 12 and the Permanent Council. OSCE in Vienna on January 13 “– she said.

What do the parties expect from the negotiations?

On the eve, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that he did not expect any breakthroughs. All that Washington hopes for is to find a common language with Moscow on a number of issues.

“I don’t think we will see any breakthroughs. Any progress we want to make is only possible on a reciprocal basis.”– said the head of American diplomacy.

The Russian Foreign Ministry told about Russia’s mood for today’s negotiations.

“Even a layman understands that demanding concessions from Russia in a situation where NATO has been striving, as they say, to” push back “our country and transfer it, if not to the role of a subordinate, then to a secondary role in international politics. this with direct damage to our security, will no longer work. This is all in the past. And it didn’t work very well before, but now it’s just put an end to it. So NATO needs to collect money and go to the 1997 borders ”– said Sergei Ryabkov.

What Moscow demands from the West

In the draft agreements with the United States and NATO, which Russia sent to Brussels and Washington, the key points are the non-expansion of the military-political bloc:

• The United States undertakes an obligation to exclude further expansion of NATO in the eastern direction, to refuse to admit to the Alliance states that were previously part of the USSR (including Ukraine);
• the participants, which are NATO member states, undertake obligations precluding further expansion of the Alliance, including the accession of Ukraine, as well as other states;
• The United States will not have to create military bases on the territory of the states of the former USSR or use their infrastructure to conduct any military activity, as well as develop bilateral military cooperation with them.

in our material whether the Russian invasion of Ukraine will begin in 2022, which the Kremlin fears if negotiations with the West on security guarantees fail.