After an intense round of talks finished in Geneva on Monday between American and Russian diplomats, the two countries remain far from an agreement in meeting the other one’s security concerns. The two sides left the first round Monday tamping down any expectations for diplomatic breakthroughs.
In nearly eight hours of intense diplomatic talks, Russia downplayed the threat to Ukraine, saying there was no reason to fear an escalation of tensions, and the U.S. pushed back on demands that it labeled as “non-starters.”
With more than 100,000 Russian troops amassing along the country’s borders with Ukraine, diplomats from the U.S. and Russia made it clear that while they would continue speaking, they were far from agreement.
Russian officials said that they had no plans to invade Ukraine and that there was no need to fear an escalation.
U.S. officials said there were security proposals that were non-starters for the U.S., which they pushed back on. Among these proposals are demands that Ukraine not be admitted to NATO, and that NATO ends its security cooperation with Ukraine.
The lead American diplomat, Wendy Sherman, said that the U.S. will not allow anyone to close NATO’s open-door policy. She said that the U.S. will not make decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine, or NATO without NATO, or Europe without Europe.
A diplomatic breakthrough is not expected. Sherman said that it was a discussion leading to a better understanding of each country’s priorities, and not what should be called a negotiation.
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei A. Ryabkov said the tone of the talks increased optimism, but that the main questions are still very much up in the air.
The talks were the first of three sets of bilateral talks occurring this week. NATO talks with Russia are next up, and the third and final will be between Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
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