US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman briefed NATO countries on Tuesday January 11 on talks with her Russian counterpart the day before on Ukraine, affirming Washington’s willingness to work “in close collaborationwith his allies.
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The chief negotiator of the United States met with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the ambassadors of the NATO countries, at the headquarters of the Alliance in Brussels, the day after her discussions in Geneva with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov, who did not allow a breakthrough on Ukraine. A NATO-Russia meeting is to be held on Wednesday in Brussels, then a meeting on Thursday in Vienna of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the platform for East-West dialogue resulting from the Cold War.
Some European officials have lamented that Washington is leading negotiations with Moscow, worrying about being sidelined in attempts to ease tensions on the Ukrainian border and avoid a confrontation with Russia. Wendy Sherman, however, assured on Twitter that the United States was “determined to work closely with their allies and partners to encourage de-escalation and respond to the security crisis caused by Russia“. With Jens Stoltenberg,we affirmed a unified NATO approach towards Russia, striking the balance between deterrence and dialogue, and underlined our unwavering support for Ukraine“, she added. In a message to Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emin Djaparova, she also assured Kiev that the allies “would not make a decision on Ukraine without Ukraine“.
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After more than seven hours of tense talks Monday in Geneva, US and Russian officials expressed their willingness to continue the dialogue. Westerners accuse Russia of having massed 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine in recent weeks to prepare an attack against this country, which Moscow denies. They threaten Moscow with heavy economic sanctions in case of aggression. Russia, for its part, wants Western guarantees on a halt to the enlargement of NATO to its borders, in particular to Ukraine.