The United States and its European allies began talks on Wednesday January 12 with Moscow at NATO headquarters in Brussels in an attempt to defuse the risk of a new conflict in Ukraine, while Russia has shown no sign of appeasement at this point.
Moscow has agreed to reactivate the NATO-Russia Council, the consultation body created in 2002. The meeting began around 10:00 am (09:00 GMT) and is scheduled to last three hours.
Read alsoUkraine: NATO takes over in talks with Russia
NATO-Russia consultations were still carried out in 2019 but in fact practical cooperation between the two has been broken off since 2014, after Moscow's invasion and annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula. And Russia's diplomatic mission to the Alliance was withdrawn in October after the expulsion of eight staff members suspected of Western espionage. In Brussels, Russia is represented by Alexandre Grouchko, Deputy Foreign Minister, who described the meeting as a “
moment of truth
” in relations with NATO.
The US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman represents the United States and France dispatched François Delattre, number two in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Brussels.
Wendy Sherman reported Tuesday to representatives of the 30 NATO member countries the content of her talks in Geneva with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov.
"
There is no reason to be optimistic, but the Russians are seriously engaged in the diplomatic sequence
," the representative of a European country told AFP.
Geneva talks inconclusive
The Geneva talks were inconclusive. The Russians and the Americans have stood firm in their respective positions. Moscow demanded from Washington and its allies a concrete guarantee that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO. The Americans have made no concessions, but they have formulated proposals to reduce the risks of conflict and initiate conventional and nuclear disarmament, explained the new United States ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith.
Washington has assured Moscow that it does not intend to position offensive weapons in Ukraine, but has denied any intention of carrying out demilitarization in Europe, for its part said a European diplomat.
"
It is too early to say whether the Russians are serious or not on the diplomatic road, or whether they are ready to negotiate seriously
," said Jen Psaki, White House spokesman.
Wendy Sherman set out on Tuesday to allay Europeans' resentment of being left on the sidelines.
She assured that nothing in terms of security in Europe would be done without the Europeans, underlined the European diplomat.
"Clearly unacceptable" objectives
Russia wants to “
reconstitute the Soviet geopolitical glacis in Europe and attempt a decoupling between the United States and Europe. These objectives are clearly unacceptable
", warned Wednesday the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, in a post on his blog. However, the NATO-Russia Council risks being a repetition of the Geneva discussions, each party sticking to its positions. Russia will demand a comprehensive response from the Atlantic Alliance to its demands. "
We will press for a concrete, substantial, article by article reaction to the draft Russian agreement on guarantees
," Alexander Grushko announced before the meeting.
The West accuse Russia of having amassed in recent weeks some 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine to prepare an attack against this country, which Moscow denies.
Russia asserts that this military deployment is a reaction to the deemed growing and threatening presence of NATO in what it considers to be its area of influence.
Wendy Sherman lamented the lack of explanations and tangible proof at this point that Moscow was not planning to invade Ukraine.
Read also Ukraine welcomes the "efforts" of Moscow and the West to defuse the crisis
"
We must observe the greatest caution
", underlined for his part the European representative, "
we have no reason to believe that a process (of de-escalation) will be initiated
". The countries of the European Union - 21 are members of NATO - must have "
clear positions
" for discussions on the security architecture of Europe and we must "
formulate our response in case Russia would carry out his threats against Ukraine
, ”said Josep Borrell.
This question of the “
precise EU contribution
” to the debate will be at the heart of the meetings of the Foreign Affairs and Defense ministers of the Twenty-seven on Thursday and Friday in Brest (West of France).
Josep Borrell spoke of "
coordinated sanctions
" and other unspecified actions.
"
We are not a military alliance, but we have the means to advance our security interests and those of our partners
," he said.