US and Russian officials have confirmed that security talks between the two nations on Ukraine and other issues will be held on January 10th in Geneva.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Tuesday that he hopes the security proposals Russia has submitted to the US will be discussed during the talks. Moscow is seeking guarantees that NATO won’t absorb Ukraine or expand further eastward.
Separately, Russia is expected to hold talks with NATO in Brussels on January 12th. After that, the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will hold talks on January 13th involving Russia, European nations, the US, and NATO.
Since November, the US has been claiming that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine. But Moscow denies the accusation, and points to the increase in US and NATO activity as the source of tensions in the region, and hopes to finally deal with the Western military build up in the upcoming negotiations.
Besides the Ukraine and NATO issues, the US and Russia are expected to discuss arms control. Russia is seeking mutual agreements on the deployment of nuclear weapons and other military hardware in Eastern Europe.
US will agree on Ukraine (always ‘reserving the right’ to lie) and Russia will agree to allow Iran to be destroyed.
Nope. Iran has nothing to do with this and Russia doesn’t need to and won’t allow the US to bring Iran into the discussion.
Well, you and The Saker are both afflicted with the notion that nation states are principled actors. Triangulation is a US speciality. You can be sure Victoria Nuland used it in her recent (expletively larded) Kremlin discussions.
Biden needs to stall against another hot foreign war and likely knows that; the U.S. left-right social civil war became to far tipped against the Democrats with COVID-1984.
There’s no easy way to defeat Novorossiya. NATO/Kiev probably hold other regions more by intimidation and bribery than heartfelt pan-Ukranian nationalism.
Geneva talks aren’t likely a setup for the ‘attack during peace talks’ ploy, but neither is there negotiating room to settle anything.
Ukraine’s oligarchs badly want into the EU and NATO, and sacrificed (but also gained) a lot to flip the Ukraine. They are also very high maintenance, dangerously ambitious frenemies to keep that close.
While I don’t expect Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to be summarily replaced anytime soon, I’m anticipating a Biden-inspired upheaval or false flag before the Geneva meeting.
The Sochi Olympic Games; the Maidan Revolution; Joe Biden; Victoria Nuland; Russian Orthodox Christmas on January 7; the meeting on January 10.
They don’t need a false flag before Geneva – although I wouldn’t be surprised if the CIA and the neocons or Ukraine hardliners engineer something on their own hook. Once Ukraine attacks Donbass later, that will be enough to scuttle the talks at any time, either in January/February or later in the summer. Although if they wait until summer, Putin may already have dismissed the US as not serious and started deploying strategic weapons and other measures. Remember the Russians have a – so far unspecified – deadline on these talks – they expect results and soon.
These talks will be an utter waste of time. Nothing will be agreed at the initial talks, and the US – as Russia fully expects – will drag them out for months. Russia will start taking military actions long before the US can be persuaded to deal seriously. Read Lavrov’s interview with a Russian talk show host over at The Saker: Russia have none of the usual US antics at these talks.
And of course, if Ukraine attacks Donbass in January/February or in the summer, the talks will evaporate and Russia will do what it has to.