Moscow has said that ties between Russia and NATO are reaching a “moment of truth” ahead of high-stakes talks over Ukraine.
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko’s remarks on Tuesday followed consultations a day earlier between Russian and American officials in Geneva which launched a week of diplomacy aimed at easing tensions.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council is expected to take place in Brussels on Wednesday, January 12, 2022.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that a moment of truth is coming in our relations with the alliance,” Grushko was quoted saying by Russian news agencies.
“Our expectations are entirely realistic and we hope that this will be a serious, deep conversation on key, fundamental problems of European security,” he added, referring to the talks in Brussels.
Washington and Kyiv said Moscow has deployed an estimated 100,000 troops near the Ukraine border in recent months, eight years after it seized the Crimean peninsula from its neighbour.
The military action has raised fears in Ukraine and US President Joe Biden’s White House of another Russian invasion, leading to threats of Western sanctions against Moscow in the event of an attack.
Moscow has, however, denied planning an invasion and is demanding wide-ranging franchises from Washington and its NATO allies, most of which have already been slammed as non-starters by Western powers.
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Russia would demand a comprehensive response regarding the alliance to its proposals.
“We will push for a concrete, substantive, article-by-article reaction to the Russian draft agreement on guarantees.”
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko
Russia’s Demand From Negotiations
The demands of Russia, which were unveiled in December, are aimed at containing the US and NATO in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, saying that the US-led alliance should not admit Ukraine or Georgia as new members or establish bases in ex-Soviet countries.
After more than seven hours of negotiations in Geneva on Monday, Russian and US officials offered to keep talking, though there was no immediate breakthrough.
Moscow’s Stand
Moscow remained sceptical about progress on Tuesday and insisted it would stick to its position, reason that it would not allow its demands to become hindered in circuitous negotiations.
Kremlin (also known as the Russian Federation’s government) spokesman, Dmitry Peskov said: “We will not be satisfied with the endless dragging out of this process.”
US baiting Russia’s Claims to Ukraine
Peskov’s remarks came after US’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda-Thomas Greenfield, told the media on Monday, January 10, 2022, that she “wished” to believe Russia’s claim of not invading Ukraine.
“But everything we have seen so far indicates that they are making motions in that direction,” she said during a press conference at the UN’s headquarters in New York.
“If they have decided not to move forward, because of our engagement with them over the course of the past few weeks… then that’s a good thing. But, we will continue to prepare and to plan for responding should they take any actions against Ukraine.”
US’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda-Thomas Greenfield
Fast forward, Wednesday’s talks will be followed by a meeting in Vienna of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday, January 13, 2022.
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