Monday, January 10, 2022
Crisis discussion in Geneva
Hardly any movement between Russia and the USA
The Deputy Foreign Ministers of Russia and the USA call the talks “difficult”, but “open” and “profound”. In terms of content, however, there seems to be little movement between the world powers, especially not in the Ukraine crisis. There is another chance on Wednesday.
During the crisis talks in Geneva, the USA and Russia discussed possible disarmament steps in Europe. In the Ukraine crisis, however, there was no rapprochement. Both sides insisted on their positions today, as emerged from explanations by US Deputy Foreign Minister Wendy Sherman and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov at the end of the talks.
The USA and the western defense alliance NATO are calling for Russian troops to be withdrawn from the border with Ukraine. Russia demands a US troop and arms reduction in Europe and an assurance that NATO will not be expanded further east. Further talks will take place on Wednesday in Brussels, where the Western defense alliance NATO is meeting with Russia, and on Thursday at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna.
Sherman once again called on Russia to de-escalate the Ukraine crisis. “This week Russia will hear a unified message from the United States and our allies and partners that it is up to Russia to de-escalate tensions so that we have a real chance of finding diplomatic solutions.”
The US is calling for Russian troops to be withdrawn from the border area with Ukraine. You speak of 100,000 soldiers transferred there. That is the prerequisite for diplomatic progress. They threatened Russia again with massive consequences in the event of a military escalation. These aimed, among other things, at financial institutions, export controls, a larger NATO presence in European countries and more aid for Ukraine. Ukraine fears a Russian attack. The country sees itself at war with the neighboring country. The background to this is the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014 and Moscow’s support for the separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Russia: No plan to attack Ukraine
Ryabkov said he had assured the US side that there were no plans to raid Ukraine. Sherman subsequently described the nearly eight-hour talks as “open and direct”. In a press conference broadcast live by the Tass state agency, Ryabkov described the conversation as “difficult, but very professional, profound and specific. The US is ready to discuss issues such as maneuvering limits and missile deployment,” Sherman said. For example, the INF treaty banning land-based medium-range nuclear weapons systems could be revived, which the United States had withdrawn from under President Donald Trump, adding that the US troop presence in Europe was not an issue.
However, Sherman again rejected Russia’s demands for a guaranteed end to NATO’s eastward expansion: “We will not forego bilateral cooperation with sovereign states that want to cooperate with the United States.” Each country decides independently on its foreign policy. The US would also not make any decisions about Ukraine, Europe or NATO without the affected parties being involved.
Ryakbkov said that there was no further progress in Geneva with a view to ending NATO’s eastward expansion. “I would say: no, we have not been able to make any improvement.” Moscow had made it clear that progress had to be made on key demands. These included the end of NATO expansion to the east and the abandonment of the western military alliance to stationing offensive weapons near the Russian borders. Russia will not abandon these demands.
Ukraine requests arms delivery
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the Western alliance not to make any concessions. “The Cold War is over, so are spheres of influence,” he wrote on Twitter. The Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, Andrij Melnyk, once again called for arms deliveries from Germany. “Germany bears the same historical responsibility for Ukraine as it does for Israel,” he told the Funke media group.
The NATO-Ukraine Commission met in Brussels to prepare for the first meeting of the NATO-Russia Council since mid-2019 this Wednesday. The Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Olga Stefanischina described this as a “strong demonstration by the Allies of their unwavering and ongoing support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine”. In a statement with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, she said that Russia is not entitled to the “aggressor” to make demands.