The United States presents to NATO details of dialogue with Russia on the crisis in Ukraine

The main negotiator of U.S about the crisis on the border between Ukraine Y Russia, Wendy Sherman, introduced Tuesday to the OTAN details of his talks the day before with his Russian counterpart, while the Ukrainian government praised Western “unity” and called for an international summit.

Sherman, the US Undersecretary of State, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov held a seven-hour conversation in Geneva on Monday to try to defuse tension on the Ukraine-Russia border.

This Tuesday, Sherman arrived in Brussels to talk with NATO allies.

The transatlantic military alliance is preparing to participate in a meeting of the NATO-Russia council in Brussels on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the parties will travel to Vienna, where they will join a meeting of the permanent council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The Sherman and Riabkov meeting in Geneva attempted to reduce tensions on the border.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested convening a summit on this issue, with the participation of France and Germany.

The White House warned that it is “too early to say whether the Russians … are willing to negotiate seriously.”

Russia can “use these negotiations to pretext that diplomacy does not work” and continue with its “aggressive” actions, Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters aboard the plane that was taking President Joe Biden to the US state of Georgia ( south).

“NATO’s relationship with Ukraine concerns only Ukraine and the thirty NATO allies,” he added.

For its part, Ukraine welcomed the “unity” of its positions with that of Western countries in the face of Russian “ultimatums”.

“The Geneva talks showed that our strength rests on the unity and coherence of our positions in the face of … the Russian ultimatums,” the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said by phone to his US counterpart Antony Blinken, according to a statement by the chancellery in Kiev.

– Inform NATO –

Sherman met in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and ambassadors to the alliance to present details of the talks.

In a message on Twitter, Sherman said that “the United States is committed to working with its allies and partners to urge de-escalation and respond to the security crisis caused by Russia.”

In another tweet, he assured the Kiev government that the allies “will not make decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

Russians and Americans agreed to hold talks, although there were no concrete signs of progress in Geneva.

On Wednesday, the ambassadors of the 30 NATO countries who will meet with Russian representatives at the headquarters of the alliance.

Russia will be represented by Vice Chancellor Alexander Grushko, who expressed his conviction that the meeting will be a “moment of truth” for relations between the country and the transatlantic alliance.

“Our expectations are completely realistic and we hope this will be a serious and deep conversation,” Grushko said in Moscow.

In any case, the Ukrainian government recognized the “efforts” made by Russia and Western countries to reduce tensions.

“We can only welcome the intentions and efforts of the United States and Russia, NATO and Russia, to defuse tensions and resolve all common issues at the negotiating table,” said spokesman Sergey Nikiforov.

– Acute border tension –

Since tensions escalated after Russia concentrated enormous military capacity along the border with Ukraine, European officials have complained that Washington has taken the lead in negotiations with Russia, and the bloc does not want to be excluded from a process. decision-making.

Russia does not accept that Ukraine joins NATO (a step that would put the transatlantic alliance literally at Moscow’s doorstep), but Western countries point out that the Russian government cannot claim a voice in that decision.

For European countries, the demand for NATO membership is a matter for sovereign countries, while the alliance maintains its open-door policy.

Russia presented its list of demands to reduce tensions and the United States warned Moscow of the drastic effects that a military action would have in Ukraine.

Sherman noted that Russia has made no guarantees that it would not invade Ukraine or provide explanations for the concentration of some 100,000 soldiers along the border with that country.

For the US official, some Russian demands are not acceptable, such as the prohibition on NATO to expand into Eastern European countries.