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world news Dialuna 10 Januari 2022
Prospects dim as US, Russia prepare to meet over Ukraine

(AP) — With the fate of tervention in Ukraine and
Ukraine and potentially Georgia to chemical weap-
broader post-Cold War ons attacks on Putin critics
European stability at to election interference in the
stake, the United States U.S. and elsewhere, cyber-
and Russia are holding crime and support for dicta-
critical strategic talks that tors.
could shape the future of
not only their relation- Despite several conversations
ship but the relationship between President Joe Biden
between the U.S. and its and Putin, including an in-
NATO allies. Prospects person meeting last summer,
are bleak. Blinken said such behavior
continues, at increasing risk
Though the immediacy of to the post-World War II
the threat of a Russian inva- global order.
sion of Ukraine will top the
agenda in a series of high- Thus, the intensified U.S.
level meetings that get un- and allied effort to forge
derway on Monday, there is a common positions on both
litany of festering but largely the warnings and the “severe
unrelated disputes, ranging pening when there’s an on- gation at the Geneva talks, re- ing about Ukraine without costs” to Russia if it moves
from arms control to cyber- going escalation when Rus- sponded harshly to Blinken’s Ukraine” and “nothing about against Ukraine. While ex-
crime and diplomatic issues, sia has a gun to the head of statment. Europe without Europe” pressions of unity have been
for Washington and Moscow Ukraine with 100,000 troops have become almost cliche in forthcoming, Blinken was
to overcome if tensions are to near its borders, the possibil- “Demands of the United Washington in recent weeks, not optimistic about pros-
ease. And the recent deploy- ity of doubling that on very States and other NATO and senior U.S. officials have pects for success in the talks.
ment of Russian troops to short order,” Blinken said on countries that we carry out gone so far as to say they ex-
Kazakhstan may cast a shad- ABC’s “This Week.” some de-escalation measures pect Russia to lie about the “To the extent that there is
ow over the entire exercise. on our territory are excluded content of Monday’s meeting progress to be made — and
U.S. officials on Saturday from the discussion. This to try to stoke divisions. we hope that there is — actu-
With much at risk and both unveiled some details of is a non-starter in the literal al progress is going to be very
warning of dire consequences the administration’s stance, sense of the word,” Ryabkov “We fully expect that the difficult to make, if not im-
of failure, the two sides have which seem to fall well short said in an interview with the Russian side will make pub- possible, in an environment
been positioning themselves of Russian demands. The of- Tass news agency. lic comments following the of escalation by Russia,” he
for what will be a nearly un- ficials said the U.S. is open to meeting on Monday that will said.
precedented flurry of activ- discussions on curtailing pos- Russia wants the talks initial- not reflect the true nature
ity in Europe this week. Yet sible future deployments of ly to produce formally bind- of the discussions that took Russia, meanwhile, has spun
the wide divergence in their offensive missiles in Ukraine ing security guarantees for it- place,” said one senior U.S. a narrative that it is a threat-
opening positions bodes ill and putting limits on Ameri- self with a pledge that NATO official who will participate ened victim of Western ag-
for any type of speedy resolu- can and NATO military ex- will not further expand in the talks. The official was gression and wants quick
tion, and levels of distrust ap- ercises in Eastern Europe if eastward and the removal not authorized to speak pub- results from the meetings
pear higher than at any point Russia is willing to back off of U.S. troops and weapons licly and spoke on condition despite what appear insur-
since the collapse of the So- on Ukraine. from parts of Europe. But the of anonymity. mountable differences.
viet Union. U.S. and its allies say those
But they also said Russia will are non-starters intention- That official and others have Putin has repeatedly warned
Secretary of State Antony be hit hard with economic ally designed by Moscow urged allies to view with “ex- that Moscow will have to take
Blinken said bluntly Sunday sanctions should it intervene to distract and divide. They treme skepticism” anything unspecified “military-tech-
that he doesn’t expect any in Ukraine. In addition to insist that any Russian mili- Moscow says about the so- nical measures” if the West
breakthroughs in the com- direct sanctions on Russian tary intervention in Ukraine called Strategic Stability Talks stonewalls Russia’s demands,
ing week. Instead, he said a entities, those penalties could will prompt “massive conse- and wait until they are briefed and affirmed that NATO
more likely positive outcome include significant restric- quences” that will dramati- by the American participants membership for Ukraine or
would be an agreement to tions on products exported cally disrupt Russia’s econo- to form opinions. the deployment of alliance
de-escalate tensions in the from the U.S. to Russia and my even if they have global weapons there is a red line
short term and return to talks potentially foreign-made ripple effects. Blinken has accused Russia of for Moscow that it wouldn’t
at an appropriate time in the products subject to U.S. ju- “gaslighting” and mounting allow the West to cross.
future. But the U.S. will risdiction. In a bid to forestall efforts by a full-scale disinformation
have to see a de-escalation for Russia to sow discord in the campaign designed to blame “We have nowhere to re-
there to be actual progress. Russian Deputy Foreign West, the Biden administra- Ukraine, NATO and partic- treat,” Putin said last month,
Minister Sergei Ryabkov, tion has gone out of its way ularly the United States for adding that NATO could de-
“It’s very hard to see that hap- who will lead Russia’s dele- to stress that neither Ukraine the current tensions and un- ploy missiles in Ukraine that
nor Europe more broadly will dercut Western unity. He said would take just four or five
be excluded from any discus- Russian President Vladimir minutes to reach Moscow.
sion of Ukraine’s or Europe’s Putin is engaged in an all-out “They have pushed us to a
security. war on the truth that ignores line that we can’t cross. They
Russia’s own provocative and have taken it to the point
Biden administration offi- destabilizing actions over the where we simply must tell
cials allow that neither topic course of the past decade. them; ‘Stop!’”
can be entirely ignored when
senior American and Rus- “Russia seeks to challenge Ryabkov and Deputy Secre-
sian diplomats sit down in the international system it- tary of State Wendy Sherman,
Geneva in Monday ahead of self and to unravel our trans- who will lead the U.S. del-
larger, more inclusive meet- Atlantic alliance, erode our egation, were to meet over a
ings in Brussels and Vienna unity, pressure democracies working dinner Sunday night
on Wednesday and Thursday into failure,” Blnken said on to discuss the next day’s talks,
that will explore those issues Friday, going through a list a U.S. official said.
in perhaps more depth. of offending Russian activ-
Still, the mantras “noth- ity ranging from military in-