The talks between the US and Russia this week were useful and allowed the parties to express their positions, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on briefing for journalists on 13 January.
“We have completed a week of active diplomatic engagement: the Strategic Stability Dialogue, the Russia-NATO Council and the OSCE. Russia has expressed its concern, we have expressed ours, including with regard to Russia’s actions that could undermine security in Europe,” he said.
Sullivan said the US position was reciprocal, firm, and clear on where to make progress and where not to start.
“The discussions were frank and direct. They gave us and our allies something to think about. We will now think and consult with partners on how to proceed. We are ready to continue negotiations in the Euro-Atlantic format in order to be equally prepared if Russia chooses other ways of further action,” the adviser added.
Sullivan stressed that the United States was quite straightforward with the Russian side about the consequences in the event of continued military activity or possible destabilization in Ukraine.
In Vienna on January 13, consultations at the OSCE site ended. Prior to that, on January 10, a meeting of Russian and US delegations was held in Geneva. It lasted approximately 7.5 hours. As a result, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov noted that the conversation was “difficult, long, very professional, deep, concrete.” He added that Moscow hopes for NATO’s ability over the next two days to understand the danger of an impasse for the dialogue on security guarantees and to take a step towards the Russian proposals.
On January 12, a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council took place in Brussels. As a result of this meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Grushko said that NATO was determined to contain Russia. He noted that the Russian Federation and the alliance do not have a unifying positive agenda at all. The diplomat pointed out that the conversation between the two sides turned out to be frank, direct and intense, and also revealed many discrepancies.
Negotiations on security guarantees took place in three stages. On January 10, a meeting of the Russian and US delegations took place in Geneva. On January 12, a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council was held in Brussels, and on January 13, consultations ended at the Vienna site of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
