Moscow won the talks with the American side in Geneva, according to American journalists. Although the United States did not make serious concessions, the very fact of agreeing to these negotiations can be considered a "victory". The meeting took place on January 10 and lasted almost 8 hours. The Kremlin sees no reason to be optimistic about the results of the talks. The very fact that Russian-American talks on security guarantees were held in Geneva on January 10 can be considered a victory for Moscow. Journalists David Sagner and Anton Troyanovsky wrote about this in a column for The New York Times.
At the same time, the United States did not make serious concessions to Russia. However, now the topic of international security will become a "headache" for Washington.
“Contrary to recent intelligence forecasts, Russia is not increasing the number of its troops in Ukraine. This indicates that President Vladimir Putin has not yet made a final decision on the attack, ”the column also reads.
Consultations on Moscow's proposals on state security guarantees ended in Geneva on January 10. The Russian delegation was represented by the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov, the American - by the First Deputy Secretary of State of the United States Wendy Sherman.
Ryabkov, following the meeting, later said that the discussion with the United States in Geneva on security guarantees had been "amazing." He stressed that he did not lose optimism in connection with the upcoming negotiations.
The discussion went on for almost eight hours in a row. The negotiations took place behind closed doors, without the press. The space for the meeting was provided by the US Permanent Mission to the UN Office in Geneva, Switzerland. The parties broke off only for a short lunch.
The Russian Foreign Ministry clarified that Russian representatives were focused on the issue of NATO's non-expansion to the east. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov specified that the parties have not yet been able to agree on this topic.
At the same time, Ryabkov noted that the discussion in Geneva at some point was "amazing". “The conversation was difficult, it cannot be easy. In principle businesslike, ”he said, commenting on the preliminary part of the talks on January 9. Following the discussions, Ryabkov noted that he did not consider the situation hopeless.
“I think that the usefulness of the conversations held in Geneva is mainly due to the fact that for the first time we were able to talk about issues that used to be invisibly present, existed, but kind of behind the scenes. Everyone understood that they were there, but they pretended that it was better not to deal with them, and now things are called by their proper names, ”the diplomat explained.
US First Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, representing the American delegation, noted that not negotiations, but discussions took place in Geneva to clarify the positions of the parties.
"We had serious, businesslike and frank discussions," Sherman said, adding that she and Ryabkov know each other "very well."
Sherman clarified that the parties are not yet ready to start adjusting the text of the proposed agreements. According to her, the United States did not set a timetable for negotiations with Russia.
Moscow does not yet see any reason for optimism following the consultations on security guarantees in Geneva, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said at a press briefing with reporters.
“For now, let's say this: we see no significant reason for optimism. But this is not a process for the sake of process, and it is not something that can be satisfying. There are several more rounds ahead, which will allow us to form a clearer understanding, a clear picture of where we are with the Americans.
Now, unfortunately, it is impossible to draw any more conclusions, ”the Kremlin spokesman said.
Pavel Zolotarev, deputy director of the Institute for the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said earlier that even if the current negotiations do not bring any real results, then one should not expect a military escalation from Moscow.
“There are no sound reasons for this. Do not forget that there are as many as 30 states in NATO, led by the United States.
And besides the purely military factor, it is important to remember about the different economic potential. But at the same time, it is the military-technical response of Russia that is really possible, there may be a variety of options.
For example, this may be due to new weapons systems and the creation of potential threats by placing them at certain points. This is psychological pressure, ”the expert believes.
bbabo.Net