In order to address the increase in Russia’s military capabilities and the concentration of its forces on the borders with Ukraine, the US Undersecretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs , Karen Donfried met this Wednesday with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister. , Sergei Riabkov.
The official is on a working visit to Moscow.
The meeting, which was held at the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry, lasted about 40 minutes, after which Donfried left without making a statement, according to the official Russian agency TASS, reported ElNacional.
“The issue of security guarantees was discussed at length in light of the incessant attempts by the United States and NATO to change the political-military situation in Europe in their favor,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Europe said at the end of the meeting. Russia in a short statement published its website.
On the eve of the consultations, Riabkov announced that he would present to his interlocutor concrete ideas on the security guarantees that Moscow requires to prevent NATO from continuing to move closer to Russia’s borders and place offensive weapons in Ukraine.
For its part, the United States Department of State reported that the objective of Donfried’s European tour, with visits to Kiev, Moscow and Brussels, is to address “the increase of Russia’s military capabilities and the reinforcement of the United States’ commitment. with the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Donfried arrived in Moscow from Kiev, where he coordinated positions with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba, based on the principle that “there are no decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine,” according to a statement from the Ukrainian diplomacy.
The Undersecretary of State is also scheduled to meet today with the Deputy Head of the Administration of the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Kozak, supervisor of integration policies in the post-Soviet space and of relations with Ukraine.
These Russian-American consultations are the first since the telematics summit between the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the United States, Joe Biden, held on the 7th.
Putin has demanded from his US counterpart Joe Biden binding security guarantees to prevent NATO from expanding further east and placing its military infrastructure on Ukrainian territory and other neighboring states.
Last Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry advanced some details of its demands.
Among other things, Russia is demanding that NATO withdraw promises made in 2008 to Georgia and Ukraine that they will be admitted to the Atlantic Alliance, one of the Kremlin’s red lines.
Moscow has demanded that NATO move its military maneuvers away from the Russian borders, that the minimum distance of approach between ships and military planes of both parties be agreed and the dialogue between the defense ministries of Russia, the United States and the Alliance be resumed. Atlantic.
Likewise, Russia again urged the United States to join Moscow’s unilateral moratorium on the placement of short and medium-range missiles in Europe and to establish verification measures for this.
Russia has also demanded that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as an institution representing all the countries of the Euro-Atlantic region, be included in the debates on ways to solve European security problems.
