Moskva sees no point in returning to the negotiating table. How the dialogue with the United States and NATO ended Three rounds of negotiations between Russia and the United States and NATO on security guarantees ended without concrete results. RBC has selected the main quotes that show how Moscow assesses their results
Negotiations on security guarantees for Russia have actually reached an impasse. The West declares the impracticability of Russian demands, Moscow is waiting for a quick written response to the proposals and threatens with consequences. Moscow believes that there is no point in returning to the negotiating table yet, and they are outraged by the plans of American senators to impose new sanctions against Russia. And in Washington, they say that they hear the sound of “drums of war” in Russian rhetoric.
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There is nothing to talk about yet
- “There is no reason to sit down (at the negotiating table.—RBC) in the coming days, I do not see meeting again and starting the same discussions. <…> On the key elements of these texts (Russia’s requirements on security guarantees.—RBC) The United States and its allies are actually telling us “no”. And where they tell us: “Yes, let’s continue to discuss,” we, in turn, note that for all the importance and seriousness of these particular plots, they are secondary to the same non-expansion of NATO. To a certain extent, this is a dead end or a difference in approaches,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with RTVI .
- “The negotiations were initiated in order to get concrete answers to the specifically posed fundamental questions. And disagreements have been recorded on these fundamental issues. This is bad,” Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of Russia, told reporters .
- “NATO and the Americans categorically reject our right to seek non-expansion of NATO. But our position is not based on NATO documents. <…> It is based on documents adopted at the highest level in the OSCE, including the Istanbul Summit of 1999, where freedom of choice of alliances is directly conditioned by the need to ensure the indivisibility of security, so that no one takes any measures in their own interests to the detriment of the security of any other state. <…> NATO is now showing complete incompetence,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an interview with the program “Big Game” on “Channel One”.
- “The Russian ideas that we discussed in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna at the OSCE platform are, in fact, a moment of truth that should determine whether we will agree on those lines that cannot be crossed and those principles that cannot be violated. Or the situation will go according to a scenario that can lead to catastrophic consequences,” said Permanent Representative of Russia to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich at the end of consultations on Russian proposals.
Negotiations between Russia and the United States on security guarantees were held in Geneva on January 9–10, and on January 12, a meeting of the Russia— NATO Council was held in Brussels, at which, in particular, the non-expansion of the alliance to the east was discussed. The third meeting dedicated to the topic of security was held on January 13 in the OSCE.
Week to reply
- “The Americans promised us to try, but we told them that we need to try very hard, to make our counter-proposals next week. Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of NATO, on behalf of the North Atlantic Alliance, also volunteered to put his reaction on paper,” Lavrov said.
- “I have no doubt that there will be no shortage of political will to continue negotiations further. But with one understanding: there cannot be a process for the sake of a process on these fundamental issues…>Still, we can expect some specific written formulations in the coming days,— added Peskov.
- “If we do not hear a constructive response to the proposals made within a reasonable time, and the aggressive line of behavior towards Russia continues, we will be forced to draw appropriate conclusions and take all necessary measures to ensure strategic balance and eliminate unacceptable threats to our national security,” said Lukashevich.
Negotiations under threat of sanctions
While negotiations with Russia were underway in Europe, more than two dozen Democratic senators in the United States introduced a bill providing for sanctions against Moscow in the event of a significant escalation of hostile actions in Ukraine. The document provides for the possibility of blocking sanctions against several Russian banks (with an actual ban on their service in the SWIFT system), personal sanctions against the Russian president, Prime Minister and senior military leadership, restrictions on the participation of foreign companies and managers in the Russian mineral extraction industries, etc.
- “I think it’s kind of such a nervous breakdown. In the endless assertion of their own greatness, people have already reached some kind of psychological mark, which is very difficult to explain. <…> Speaking about the prospects of our reaction, I will say again: we will never wave a baton and demand in negotiations that “if you don’t do that, then we will beat you”. We will react to the real development of events,” said Lavrov, commenting on the proposal of US senators to impose new sanctions against Russia.
- “There is just total anti-Russian hysteria in Congress, and the events of recent days only confirm how strong emotions are there and how dominant the aspirations are to torpedo the slightest sprouts of common sense in the dialogue between Moscow and Washington.”;>. We will find alternatives, whatever it is. Russia has never buckled under pressure, never succumbed to threats and blackmail,” Ryabkov commented on possible sanctions .
- “We are extremely negative, they do not contribute to the further search for mutually beneficial solutions, do not contribute to the formation of a constructive atmosphere during the continuation of these three-stage negotiations,” Peskov said .
What was said in the West
The United States called a number of Russia’s proposals unacceptable and unworkable. In particular, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said at a briefing following the meeting that Washington would not agree to a ban on NATO expansion.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the meetings of representatives of NATO and Russia timely, noting that the dialogue is taking place at a critical moment for the security of Europe. “There is a real risk of an armed conflict in Europe, but that is why the meetings that are taking place this week are so important,” he said.
The US Permanent Representative to the OSCE, Michael Carpenter, said, commenting on the Russian proposals, that the rhetoric has become more tense and the drums of war have sounded in it. The permanent Representative, quoted by Reuters, noted that the United States is ready for an open dialogue, but is not going to discuss changes to the “key principles”. Carpenter said that the West needs to prepare for the deterioration of relations with Russia.
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