At all these meetings, Russian proposals and the situation around Ukraine were discussed (the United States and its allies fear a Russian invasion of the country and have been warning Moscow against it in recent weeks, threatening sanctions). Just during his trip to Ukraine, Blinken phoned Lavrov and invited him to meet in Geneva.
American experts named options for the development of negotiations between the United States and Russia
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It took less than three days to organize an urgent meeting. It lasted an hour and a half. The main positions of the parties by its beginning were already known. Nevertheless, the meeting was needed for a “substantial and fundamental” consideration of all issues, a member of the delegation, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, told reporters.
The January meetings confirmed that the US and NATO are not ready to abandon NATO’s “open door” policy, according to which any country can apply for membership in the alliance. This principle makes it possible for Georgia to join the bloc, which Moscow resolutely opposes – the requirement of non-expansion of the alliance is key for it. NATO members also made it clear that they are not ready to agree with another demand from Moscow – to return the military infrastructure to the 1997 borders (when Poland and Romania, for example, were not yet members of NATO).
Minister Lavrov hoped that the meeting would allow the US to get clarifications on the Russian proposals. “I believe that Foreign Minister Lavrov now understands our position better. And we, too (we better understand the position of Russia), today’s discussion was useful in this sense, and that’s why we held the meeting,” Blinken said at a press conference following the results.
Russia has previously said it expects to receive a written response to its proposals. On Friday, Blinken promised that such a response would be sent. Whether it will be made public should be decided by the American side, the Russian side will ask about it, Lavrov said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that Putin is always ready for contacts with Biden
As follows from the statements of the heads of diplomatic departments, part of the conversation concerned Ukraine. “We have heard from Russian officials that there are no intentions to invade Ukraine. In fact, Minister Lavrov repeated this to me today. But again, we look at what is visible to everyone: these are deeds and actions, not words, in which there is a difference, ”said the Secretary of State. He reiterated that in the event of any hostile action, Moscow would face a strong Allied response.
Assessing the overall negotiation process, Lavrov noted that it is not yet possible to draw conclusions about whether he is on the right track – this will become clear when Russia receives written answers from the American side. Then Blinken and Lavrov agreed to hold another meeting.
“Of course, the very fact of holding a meeting should be regarded positively. It’s good when Russia and the United States continue the discussion at the level of the heads of their diplomatic departments, despite very strongly diverging positions on a number of key issues related to European security,” Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, commented on the talks.
This meeting does not replace a written response from the United States and NATO allies to the Russian proposals, nor does it guarantee that Russian-American relations will begin to develop on an upward track and that the situation in Europe will improve. Nevertheless, the expert continues, it is important that with all the differences and with the diverging agendas of the two countries, there are a number of issues on which agreements are possible, he continues. This may concern actual compliance with the provisions of the INF treaty, from which the Donald Trump administration withdrew, on the non-deployment of intermediate- and shorter-range missiles on the territory of the European continent. Progress on issues of strategic stability is also possible, Kortunov noted.