On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wendy Sherman, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, and Sergei Ryabkov, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, will lead bilateral security discussions in Geneva on 10th January amid tensions over Ukraine.
Ahead of the talks, which Moscow anticipates will ultimately hand it new security guarantees, the U.S. President and his Russian counterpart are due to deliberate Ukraine and other subjects by phone-call on Thursday afternoon. The Kremlin said the phone-call was coming about at the request of the Russian leader Mr. Vladimir Putin.
Biden-Putin call seems to have ended with both sides agreeing to talk more (they will on Jan 10 in Geneva) but not much else. Per readouts, Putin told Biden that sanctions would be ‘colossal mistake,’ and Biden told Putin to expect US to ‘respond decisively’ if it invades Ukraine
— Sebastian Smith (@SebastianAFP) December 30, 2021
On Thursday, Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director Valdai International Discussion Club, pointed out that a high-level push is needed before the diplomatic talks. In fact, at present, diplomacy wholly depends on top-level efforts. In the past, representatives used to prepare a plan, and then State heads held meetings, but now it is vice versa – first leaders of state reach some agreements, and then diplomats make preparations.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Pskov told the media the purpose of the interactive communication is to proceed with the discussion of all queries that’re on the agenda of the impartially recent video-call conference.
Weapon Systems Threatening Russian Federation Wouldn’t be Deployed
Moreover, in a telegram wishing President Joe Biden a happy new year on Dec. 30, Vladimir Putin said the United States and Russia must collaborate productively and engage in negotiation based on joint respect and consideration of national interests of each other.
Moscow has alarmed Western nations by extensive military build-up near the Ukrainian border in the recent two months. However, the Federation denies planning to attack Ukraine and expresses it has the right to take its forces on its land as it sees appropriate.
On Thursday, the Director of the Information and Press Department of Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry Maria Zakharova told a briefing that during the talks, they’d seek firm lawful guarantees on Russia’s security from the American side, namely that North Atlantic Alliance wouldn’t move eastwards and the weapons systems threatening Russia wouldn’t be deployed near their borders.
Source: Web
Russian Federation is set to hold discussions with North Atlantic Alliance in Brussels, Belgium on 12th January, before a broader meeting on 13th January involving the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), which includes America and its NATO partners, and Ukraine, Russia and other former Soviet States. Moreover, Zakharova said the 13th January discussions would come about in Vienna, Austria.
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