Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba announced that he had a “great call” with U.S. Secretary Blinken on Jan. 7 in which they coordinated the “positions of Ukraine and the U.S. ahead of diplomatic engagements with Russia” this week. Kuleba also lauded the “strong sense of solidarity with Ukraine among NATO allies” in the same message.
“I reiterated unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine in my call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba today. We are working hand-in-hand with Ukraine, and NATO allies, and partners to deter further Russian aggression.” tweeted U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken with reference to the large build-up of Russian forces within and near the Ukrainian border at the present time.
“Over the last decade, Russia has repeatedly committed acts of aggression against neighbours” in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova stated Blinken on Jan. 9, as he underlined that fundamental principles are at stake in ongoing talks with the Russian Federation such as; the principle that “one country can’t change the borders of another by force,” and the principle that one country can’t dictate the foreign policy, choices, or associations that another country keeps.
The U.S. diplomat shared his view that dialogue will have a better atmosphere if Russia de-escalates forces within and near Ukraine rather than maintaining “an atmosphere of escalation with a gun to Ukraine's head”.
He indicated that the U.S. is open to discussing any concerns that Russia might have while expecting Russia to reciprocate. And, the diplomat made clear that nothing happens without allies and partners being fully involved.
Preliminary bilateral talks began in Geneva on Sunday, Jan. 9 with Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman representing the United States and S Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov representing the Russian Federation according to Ned Price, spokesperson for the Department of State.
In the talks, Sherman stated that the U.S. position that progress by diplomatic dialogue is most desirable and she asserted the U.S. “commitment to the international principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the freedom of sovereign nations to choose their own alliances.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov referred to the dialogue as “ difficult, but businesslike” as reported by Ria Novosti on Jan. 9/10. Ryabkov said that the talks focused upon ‘security guarantees’ that Russia was asking for and that the Russian delegation had a “clearly formulated task that needs to be solved,” also that “ the unilateral approaches promoted by the United States and NATO cannot be the basis for a dialogue on security guarantees. At the same time, the diplomat emphasized that there are always chances to come to an agreement”.
Ryabkob also concluded that the Russian Federation would like to “come to an agreement with the United States to check to what extent they are able to take responsible decisions at this current alarming moment” for European security.
“President Putin talks about lots of things he is concerned about and the very actions he has taken have precipitated much of what he wants to prevent,” said Antony Blinken with reference to the history that multiple Russian invasions into other nations have pushed those nations away from dealings with Russia and towards building international defensive partnerships and alliances to deter and to defend against further illegal Russian expansion attempts.
Secretary Blinken made clear that he doesn't know what President Putin will decide with regard to invading Ukraine again, but the Russian President has two paths forwards; the first is “a path of dialogue and diplomacy to resolve our differences and avoid confrontation”, and the second is “a path of confrontation and massive consequences for Russia if it renews its aggression.” against Ukraine.
Blinken added that Kremlin attempts at exerting ‘spheres of influence’ over former Soviet states are unacceptable, as they are recipes for continuous instability and conflict, and have led to previous world wars.
“Let’s call a spade a spade” said Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba on Jan. 9, “Putin’s demands are illegitimate and harmful to international peace and security.”
Russian Federation demands to the U.S. and NATO were published in mid-December and include a demand for rejection of Ukrainian membership of NATO, non-expansion of NATO, and non-deployment of intermediate and short range missiles close to Russia.
The U.S., NATO and the E.U. have strongly supported the right of Ukraine and other nations to decide their own futures and alliances as a non-negotiable principle according to international law.
However, room for negotiation may exist according to U.S. Secretary Blinken in an interview at the weekend, on the issues of deployment of certain U.S. missiles and troops to Europe if Russia de-escalates and returns verifiably to international legal norms.
On the other hand, both the U.S. and NATO leaders have been clear in multiple statements that an escalation by Russia will lead to a reinforcement of allied territories, increased support to Ukraine, and significant costs to the Russian Federation.
Talks continue this week in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna.
