US and Russia to meet on January 10 to discuss Ukraine and nuclear arms control

U.S Y Russia will discuss nuclear weapons control and tensions over Ukraine on January 10, a National Security spokesman informed AFP on Monday.

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“The United States hopes to engage (in a dialogue) with Russia,” the National Security Council spokesman said.

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A meeting between Russia and NATO could then take place on January 12, followed, on January 13, by a meeting between Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is also a member of the United States, the source added.

“Russia will be able to put its concerns on the table and we will be able to put ours, particularly Russia’s activities,” he said.

The bilateral meeting on January 10 will take place within the framework of the strategic security dialogue launched by Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin during their Geneva summit last June.

Although this format is primarily intended to renegotiate post-Cold War nuclear arms control treaties, discussions will also revolve around the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border, where Moscow deployed tens of thousands of soldiers, indicated a senior US government official who also requested anonymity.

Meetings with NATO and OSCE will focus on Ukraine.

On December 17, Russia unveiled two treaty proposals to drastically limit US and NATO influence near its borders.

The documents were published in full tensions between Russia and the West over the border with Ukraine, where the Americans and Europeans accuse Moscow of preparing a military offensive.

The two texts presented – one in relation to NATO and the other to the United States – envisage preventing a new expansion of NATO to the east and the establishment of US military bases in former Soviet countries.

On Thursday, both the European Union and NATO again showed their support for Ukraine.

For seven years now, the Atlantic Alliance has consistently denounced Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula and demanded respect for Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty, undermined by a conflict with pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country since 2014 .

Both Russia and Western countries accuse each other of provocation by increasing their military capabilities on their common borders.

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• European Union threatens Russia with “serious consequences” in case of military aggression against Ukraine
• France warns Russia of “strategic consequences” if Ukraine attacks

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Deshawn