Will Russia and the United States come to an agreement on the Ukrainian crisis? The two countries began negotiations in Geneva (Switzerland) on Monday January 10, through their deputy foreign ministers, Wendy Sherman and Sergei Riabkov. These talks come after weeks of war of words. Westerners accuse the Russians of wanting to invade Ukraine. For its part, Moscow accuses NATO of threatening its security by strengthening its presence in this neighbor of Russia.
Moscow says it does not want to invade Ukraine
At the end of these negotiations, Russia affirmed that it did not “intend” to attack Ukraine. The two camps claim to want to continue their talks with a view to de-escalation, while repeating their mutual warnings. But during the talks, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed after jumping on an explosive device in the east of the country. They are the first soldiers killed this year on the front line with the pro-Russian separatists.
After the meeting in Geneva, the Russian negotiator assured that the tens of thousands of troops deployed at the borders were a reaction to the increased presence of his Western rivals. “We explained to colleagues that we have no plans, no intention to attack ‘in quotes’ Ukraine”, said Sergei Riabkov.
Wendy Sherman explained that she reiterated to her counterpart that any invasion of Ukraine would result in “significant costs”, “enormous”, for Russia and that Moscow could initiate a “de-escalation” by “sending back to their barracks the soldiers” gathered at the border in recent weeks.
“The situation is not hopeless”
Regarding Russia’s key demand, namely obtaining security guarantees by banning any NATO enlargement and reducing the Western military presence in the vicinity of Russia, the Russian negotiator was more positive than the day before. “We have the impression that the American side took the Russian proposals very seriously”, he said.
According to him, “the situation is not hopeless” so, but “We must not underestimate the risks linked to a worsening of the evolution of the confrontation”. “A real gesture towards Russia must be made”, he hammered, assuring that “never ever” Ukraine should not join the Atlantic Alliance. For him, concessions must be made “quickly”, the negotiation process should not take “months and years”.
For her part, Wendy Sherman explained that the American side had presented his ideas “from which our two countries could take reciprocal measures in accordance with our security interests and likely to improve strategic stability”. Here too, the tone is more conciliatory. The diplomat warned Moscow, however, that the “open door policy” NATO would continue despite Russian demands.
These discussions in Geneva launch an intense diplomatic week. A NATO-Russia meeting is scheduled for Wednesday in Brussels, before a meeting on Thursday in Vienna of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), an East-West dialogue platform resulting from the Cold War.