US-Russia strategic talks and negotiators’ agenda
Russia’s foreign ministry last month released a list of its demands to the United States and NATO ahead of talks. Russia has called on the United States and NATO not to include Ukraine in NATO and to reduce its military presence in Eastern Europe.
Moscow has also asked the United States not to build any military bases in countries that are former members of the Soviet Union and are not part of NATO.
According to the Washington Times, the United States has not agreed to any of these requests. However, US officials say the Biden administration is willing to address some of the concerns raised by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Washington Times quoted a senior US official as saying that Russia was “concerned” about the possibility of deploying offensive missile systems in Ukraine. As Biden has told Putin, the United States has no intention of doing so. So if Russia is willing to make a mutual commitment, this is one of the areas we can agree on.
The official said the United States is also willing to consider the size and scope of US-NATO exercises along Russia’s borders.
He added that Russia had conducted a series of larger and more serious military exercises along its border with NATO allies. Russia has said its security is threatened by US and NATO exercises.
Therefore, the United States is willing to consider the possibility of reciprocal restrictions on the size and scope of such exercises, including the use of strategic bombers near each other’s borders and ground exercises.
“Until we get into these talks, we do not know whether Russia is ready for serious and good-natured negotiations or whether they will simply use them as an excuse to claim that diplomacy cannot serve their interests,” the senior US official said. Our teams will be serious in these negotiations.
But the White House has denied reports that it has decided to reduce its force in Eastern Europe.
According to these reports, about 6,000 American troops are stationed in Eastern Europe, of which about 4,000 are in Poland. Other members of the NATO coalition have deployed thousands of troops in the area.
With US-Russian talks set to begin in Geneva on Monday, a senior Biden administration official said the United States was reluctant to discuss restrictions on US troop deployments or a change in NATO position in the region.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby also said on Saturday that some reports had surfaced pointing to US options ahead of talks with Russia.
“I want to make it clear that we are not considering a reduction in troop numbers and a change of position in Europe,” a Pentagon spokesman said. The United States also has no plans to change the number of troops in the Baltics and Poland.
Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman is scheduled to travel to Geneva, Switzerland, to lead the US team in bilateral strategic stability talks with Russia.
According to the US State Department, the US Deputy Secretary of State will travel to Switzerland and Belgium from January 8 to 13 (January 18 to 23).
The US State Department statement said the trip was a continuation of US diplomacy with European allies and partners to take a united approach to increasing Russia’s unwarranted military presence along Ukraine’s borders and joint efforts to encourage Russia to choose diplomacy and reduce tensions.
According to the statement, Sherman will head a US delegation to the US-Russia Strategic Stability Dialogue during his January 10 visit to Geneva.
According to the US State Department, Sherman’s presence in the Strategic Stability Talks, NATO and EU consultations is part of Washington’s diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions over Russia’s military reinforcement on Ukraine’s borders and its continued aggression against Ukraine.
The bilateral Strategic Stability Talks had already taken place in July and September 2021, following the meeting between US President Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin in June 2021.
The NATO-Ukraine Commission will also meet on January 10, with US Ambassador Julie Smith representing Washington.
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