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US-Russia Talks Over Ukraine Crisis: Expectations low
Nato chief warns Moscow of ‘severe costs’ if Kyiv attacked
National flags of Russia and the U.S. fly at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
With diplomats publicly pessimistic, the United States and Russia began difficult negotiations in Geneva yesterday that Washington hopes can avert the danger of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine without conceding to the Kremlin's far-reaching security demands.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said the diplomacy could end after a single meeting, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken played down expectations for the high-stakes talks.
"I don't think we're going to see any breakthroughs in the coming week," Blinken said in a CNN interview on Sunday night.
The talks between Ryabkov and Deputy US Secretary of State Wendy Sherman began at the US diplomatic mission in Geneva with US-Russia relations at their most tense since the Cold War ended three decades ago. The pair made only brief eye contact when they posed for photographs beforehand.
Sherman said "the US will listen to Russia's concerns and share our own" in an earlier Tweet from Geneva, adding that no discussions on European security would be held without the presence of other allies. Discussions will move to meetings in Brussels and Vienna later this week.
Nearly 100,000 Russian troops are gathered within reach of the border with Ukraine in preparation for what Washington and Kyiv say could be a new invasion, eight years after Russia seized the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine.
Russia denies invasion plans and said it is responding to what it calls aggressive behavior from the Nato military alliance and Ukraine, which has tilted toward the West and aspires to join Nato, reports Reuters.
Last month, Russia presented sweeping demands including a ban on further Nato expansion and an end to the alliance's activity in central and eastern European countries that joined it after 1997.
The United States and Nato say large parts of the Russian proposals are non-starters.
Meanwhile, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg yesterday warned Russia of "severe costs" if it launches a further attack on Ukraine, saying he hoped crunch talks could chart a way towards a diplomatic solution, reports AFP.
"We are working hard for a peaceful political path and we are ready to continue to work with Russia to try to find that path towards a peaceful solution," Stoltenberg said before meeting Ukraine's deputy prime minister.
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna, appearing alongside him, said Russia's demands "cannot be considered as a negotiating position".
She told reporters the "aggressor is not in a position to put conditions" while Russian tanks remained near the Ukrainian border.
US President Joe Biden has repeatedly warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States and European allies would impose tough sanctions if Russia chose to invade Ukraine. Putin said new sanctions could lead to a "complete breakdown in ties."
In a preliminary meeting with Ryabkov on Sunday evening, Sherman emphasized Washington's commitments to sovereignty, territorial integrity "and the freedom of sovereign nations to choose their own alliances," the State Department said.
Ryabkov told reporters his meeting with Sherman had been "complex but businesslike," Russian news agency Interfax said.
If diplomacy fails, and Moscow acts against Ukraine, the US has been discussing with allies and partners in Europe and Asia a range of trade restrictions against Moscow, a source familiar with the plan said.
