US and Russia don’t want to budge when talks begin in Geneva

Negotiations will begin Sunday in Geneva between representatives of the US and Russian governments with the goal of de-escalating tensions in Eastern Europe.

Nearly 100,000 Russian troops have massed on the Ukrainian border, and intelligence analysts warn that an invasion is possible.

However, both sides have issued statements suggesting that the talks are unlikely to produce any workable solution that Russia and the US can agree on.

New York Times report On Sunday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei A. Ryabkov said the US was entering the negotiations with “a lack of understanding of what we need.” Russia’s goal, he said, is “to bring NATO back to positions that are essentially equivalent to the 1997 case”.

NATO began expanding into Eastern Europe in 1999 with the admission of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic.

On the US side, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that he did not expect the negotiations to be fruitful, NBC News report. Last month, Russia submitted draft treaty proposals with several ultimatums. NATO, the Russians insist, must reduce its troop deployment in Eastern Europe and provide a binding guarantee that Ukraine will never join the alliance. “Neither of those are on the table,” Blinken said on CNN’s State of the Union.

Of course, this may be exactly what Russian President Putin wants. “If Putin believes he can achieve it [territorial gains in Ukraine] easily by force and thus demonstrating the West’s inability to contain him, he may prefer short-term conflict to a relatively favorable resolution,” said Noah Millman Written in Week.

Blinken also predicted that if Russia invaded Ukraine, NATO would likely “consolidate positions along its eastern flank, the countries bordering Russia.” He also said that there would be “major consequences for Russia if it continues to be aggressive towards Ukraine.”

On December 7th call With Putin, President Biden ruled out the possibility that the United States would unilaterally send troops to defend Ukraine, but he warned Putin that, in the event of an invasion, Russia would face sanctions. economic sanctions “like never before”.