Ukraine crisis: After talks with Russia, the US is threatening “massive consequences” - deesaclation called for

Created: 01/11/2022, 12:58 PM

From: Astrid Theil

Talks between the USA and Russia should defuse the Ukraine crisis.

The Ukrainian ambassador calls on Germany to deliver weapons.

• The background to the current Ukraine crisis is a Russian troop deployment on the border.

  Washington and the EU accuse Moscow of preparing a new invasion of Ukraine *.

  (see first report)

• The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, calls on the federal government to deliver weapons.

  (see update from January 10th, 2.30 p.m.)

• A bilateral meeting between the USA * and Russia * took place in Geneva on Monday. Then the US negotiator became clear.

  (see updates from January 10, 10:45 a.m. and 6:33 p.m.)

  .

Update from January 10th, 10:49 pm:

After the USA, Russia commented on today's talks: Vice-Foreign Minister Sergej Ryabkov described the negotiations with the US representatives on the Ukraine conflict as "professional, profound and concrete", but also referred to as "difficult". The US side had been assured that Russia was not planning an attack on Ukraine. Moscow had also made it clear that progress had to be made with regard to essential demands. These included an end to NATO's eastward expansion and the withdrawal of the Western military alliance from stationing offensive weapons near the Russian borders. Russia will not abandon these demands.

A decision on further steps and perspectives could only be made in the next few days, said Ryabkov.

A meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels is scheduled for Wednesday - the first in two and a half years.

Thereafter there will be talks in Vienna on Thursday within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Ukraine crisis: after talks with Russia, the US threatens "massive consequences"

Update from January 10th, 6:33 pm:

After the talks in Geneva, the USA is making Russia responsible, calling for de-escalation in the Ukraine crisis - and again threatening "massive consequences". The US negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Wendy Sherman, said with a view to the upcoming meetings of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna: “This week, Russia will have a unified message from Hear from the United States and our allies and partners that it is up to Russia to de-escalate tensions so that we have a real chance of finding diplomatic solutions. "

Sherman said in a phone call with journalists that the nearly eight-hour talks were "open and direct". But there were no concrete negotiations - the exploratory talks have not yet reached that point. Both sides had raised their security concerns. The US side made it clear that it was ready for talks on conflict issues such as the limitation of maneuvers or the stationing of missiles. "However, we have strongly opposed security proposals that are simply out of the question for the United States."

The US negotiator said no one would be allowed to stop NATO's open door policy.

"We will not forego bilateral cooperation with sovereign states that want to work with the United States." The USA would also not make a decision on Ukraine, Europe or NATO without first clarifying this with those affected.

Sherman threatened Russia again with massive consequences in the event of a military escalation in the Ukraine crisis.

Ukraine ambassador raises serious allegations against Germany - "bright red warning lights" for Putin invasion

Update from January 10th, 2.30 p.m.:

The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, has asked the federal government to deliver weapons to his country. Kiev is calling on Berlin to "abandon the existing - morally absolutely reprehensible - blocking stance and urgently provide Ukraine with the necessary defensive armor," Melnyk told the Funke media group's newspapers on Monday. Germany has the "same historical responsibility for Ukraine as for Israel".

Therefore, Kiev expects "massive military support from Germany in order to drive up the price of Putin's impending attack and to prevent it".

The Ukrainian ambassador emphasized that the danger of a Russian invasion of Ukraine remains high.

"All warning lights are flashing bright red." Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing "to dare this new invasion in order to destroy the Ukrainian statehood".

Berlin should "not underestimate" the danger of war.

Ukraine: Ambassador calls for weapons from Germany - and calls for Nord Stream 2 to be stopped

In addition, the diplomat called on the German government to campaign for a swift accession of Ukraine to NATO and the EU. "Only if Ukraine becomes an inseparable part of the North Atlantic Pact would Putin forever lose the temptation to attack us." Looking at the talks between the West and Russia this week, Melnyk said: "It would be naive to believe that the upcoming negotiations between our Western allies with Russia will bring about a breakthrough. ”From a Ukrainian perspective, a breakthrough would only be achieved“ if Putin were forced to end the almost eight-year occupation of Donbass and Crimea and to pay war reparations for reconstruction ".

The ambassador demanded immediate new sanctions against Moscow from the West.

“In order to prevent a new Russian invasion, our partners in Europe and the USA would have to take very tough preventive punitive measures against Moscow before Putin extends his military intervention and not afterwards, when it is too late.

The final end for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline should be part of this catalog. ”The West should not“ make lazy compromises with Russia at the expense of the Ukrainians ”.

"Instead of constantly courting the Kremlin rulers, regardless of what new crimes Moscow is committing on the world stage, Russia should be treated as a leper and isolated internationally as a pariah state," demanded the ambassador.

Ukraine conflict: NATO rejects Russian demands - Kiev has "the right to defend itself"

Update from January 10, 1 p.m.:

NATO has again rejected the Russian demand for security guarantees in the Ukraine conflict. NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday before consultations with the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanischina in Brussels that the military alliance would continue to support Ukraine on its way to NATO membership. Stoltenberg added that Kiev had "the right to defend itself" and that NATO would help the Ukrainian government with this.

At the same time, Stoltenberg dampened expectations of the various formats for talks with Russia this week: "It is unrealistic to believe that all problems will be resolved by the end of the week," he emphasized. High-level talks between the USA and Russia had previously started in Geneva. On Wednesday, the NATO-Russia Council will meet in Brussels for the first time since the end of 2019, before the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meets on Thursday. The Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Stefanischina called on Russia to withdraw its soldiers from the border area immediately: "Security guarantees should start with the withdrawal of troops from Ukrainian territory," she stressed. Stoltenberg affirmed that a possible Russian attack on Ukraine would have a "high price".

Update from January 10th, 10.45 a.m.:

A bilateral conversation between the USA and Russia on the recent tensions surrounding Ukraine began in Geneva on Monday.

US Deputy Foreign Minister Wendy Sherman came to an official meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov after a brief preliminary talk on Sunday evening, as the US State Department announced.

The meeting will take place in the US embassy not far from the European headquarters of the United Nations.

The focus is on the Russian troop build-up on the border with Ukraine and Moscow's demand for security guarantees from NATO.

Russia-USA summit: Blinken speaks of "gun on the head" - USA predicts Russian attempt to split

Update from January 10th, 9:20 a.m.:

Representatives of the USA and Russia will meet on Monday in Geneva for negotiations on the Ukraine crisis. The focus of the talks is on the Russian troop build-up on the border with Ukraine and Moscow's demand for security guarantees from NATO. However, both sides were already dampening expectations of the meeting. It is the start of a series of important negotiations this week.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that it was difficult to make progress "in an atmosphere of escalation with a gun at the head of Ukraine".

However, he emphasized that neither a withdrawal of US troops from Eastern Europe nor a promise not to expand NATO were up for negotiation.

A US government official said it was not up to Moscow to decide which countries other states would enter into alliances with.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks in the State Department meeting room.

Blinken threatened with "massive consequences" if Russia escalated further on the Ukrainian border, but at the same time emphasized that a diplomatic solution to the crisis was still possible.

© Andrew Harnik / dpa

In an interview with the State Agency Ria Novosti, Vice Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov made it clear: "We are not going there with an outstretched hand, but with a clearly formulated task that must be solved under the conditions we have formulated." He spoke of "realistic" expectations to the conversations.

"According to the signals that we have heard from Washington and Brussels in the past few days, it would be naive to assume progress - especially rapid -", said the 61-year-old.

Russia-USA summit: Blinken speaks of a "gun on the head of Ukraine"

At the start of the diplomatic efforts in Geneva, Ryabkov meets US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. A representative of the Foreign Ministry emphasized in advance that there would be no negotiations that affect other countries. In principle, this only happens if they are sitting at the table. The meeting takes place within the framework of the strategic security dialogue that Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin agreed at their meeting in June. It's the third round. It takes place in the US embassy.

The US warned that Russian media would likely misrepresent the content of the talks on Monday and speak of concessions on the US side.

A government official said he would not be surprised if the Russian side spread false reports about US concessions to "create a division among the allies."

Russia and USA meet - Insider precludes admission: "Moscow will not decide on that"

First report from January 9th, 4.40 p.m .:

Geneva / Washington, DC - The USA and Russia will discuss the Ukraine crisis in Geneva on Sunday and Monday (January 9th and 10th). The United States has agreed in advance to discuss the two countries' missile systems and military exercises. "There are some areas in which we think it might be possible to make progress," said a senior US official and government official in a conference call with journalists, according to the dpa.

The aim of the talks between the Russian and US government representatives is to defuse the tensions between the two countries. The background to the current crisis is a Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine. Washington and the EU accuse Moscow of preparing a new invasion of Ukraine. Russia denies such plans. For its part, Vladimir Putin's government is resisting the admission of further Eastern European countries to NATO and is demanding a guarantee that Ukraine will never become a member of the alliance.

Ukraine crisis: USA warns Russia not to invade Ukraine

The US government official ruled that out: he said it was not up to Moscow to decide which countries other states would enter into alliances with.

"In connection with NATO, we call this an open door, and neither Russia nor any other country will slam it."

Russian President Vladimir Putin (l) and US President Joe Biden are willing to hold talks in order to defuse the current crisis.

(Archive image) © Patrick Semansky / AP / dpa

The US is warning Moscow of a renewed military escalation in the Ukraine crisis. In such a case, the government representative held out the prospect of financial and economic sanctions as well as armament of Ukraine by the USA. However, exact punitive measures were not mentioned. The

recently reported that one of the possible sanctions the United States is discussing with allies is the exclusion of Russia's largest financial institutions from global transactions. But trade bans for certain technology products from the United States are also conceivable.

Two days after the bilateral talks in Switzerland, an exchange between Russia and NATO should take place: a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council is scheduled for January 12 in Brussels - the first in two and a half years.

Thereafter there will be talks in Vienna on January 13th within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Putin's demand: There are a few points where there is hope for an agreement

Above all, Putin made the dismantling of NATO's military presence in the border region with Russia a requirement for the bilateral talks. "Russia has said that it feels threatened by the prospect of offensive missile systems in Ukraine," said the US government official. But they do not have such an intention. So this is "an area where we may be able to reach an agreement if Russia is ready to make a commitment". At Moscow's request, the talks should also focus on the future of certain missile systems in Europe.

Finally, Washington is ready to discuss the possibility of mutual restrictions on the size and scope of military exercises carried out by Russia as well as the US and NATO, the government official said.

Nevertheless, there is skepticism regarding the upcoming talks: "We will only know during these talks whether Russia is ready to negotiate seriously and in good faith".

USA “realistic instead of optimistic”: Warning of fake news from Russia

In all likelihood, there will be a "first conversation" on Sunday evening before the main hearing takes place on Monday.

According to current information from the US State Department, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov will meet on Sunday evening.

Expectations were dampened on the US side.

The attitude of the USA in these talks is "realism instead of optimism".

The official stressed that these would be "exploratory talks" that would not result in firm commitments.

Above all, warnings were given against Russian disinformation campaigns: in order to unsettle the allies, false Russian media reports about possible concessions by the USA could be circulated.