Representatives of the United States and Russia will meet for a bilateral "strategic security dialogue" in January, just before several broader meetings involving European allies seeking to prevent a wider war between Russia and Ukraine as the Kremlin urges a halt. of NATO expansion, writes Washington Examiner.
"We were trying to unite the alliance in two directions: restraint and diplomacy," State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday. "We are united, as a NATO alliance, on the consequences that Russia will face if it invades Ukraine. But we are also united in our readiness to engage in principled diplomacy with Russia. "
This January 10 meeting could herald easing of geopolitical pressure accumulated in recent months as Russian forces gather around Ukraine's borders. But it also puts European officials in a position to expect up-to-date information on the outcome of a meeting that could affect their security - albeit one that will be followed by the convening of the NATO-Russia Council on 12 January and the Organization's Assembly on 13 January. for security and cooperation in Europe.
"Europeans will be [at the meeting] on January 12 ... but the US-Russia meeting is still astonishing," said a European official.
President Joe Biden's team has vowed to refuse to discuss "European security without Europeans in the room", as a senior administration official said on 17 December, and the format of the talks is symbolic for all parties.
"The Russians are not interested in the essence of the meeting (unless the West makes unthinkable peace)," the European official said. "Their main goal is to hold a bilateral meeting with the United States on European security and to escalate the Ukrainian issue to such a level that the West will slow down Ukraine's integration process."
Price has tried to allay any concerns about the issue, despite the forthcoming bilateral discussion.
"The principle is inviolable - nothing for them, without them," he told reporters during a telephone briefing at the State Department. "Of course, this is a channel that has existed for some time. It is a bilateral channel with the Russian Federation to discuss issues of strategic stability - issues that are of great importance to the United States, but also of great importance to our NATO allies. So, in the course of the strategic stability negotiations, we have always fully and thoroughly informed our allies after the fact, in order to clarify what exactly we are striving to achieve. "
Two senior Russian officials have been quick to describe the "bilateral Russian-American consultations" as a step in the negotiation process between former Cold War rivals.
"Today we are focusing our efforts on achieving maximum efficiency in defending this political line, defending our interests and rejecting unilateral concessions that are not rooted in the balance of interests," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday. "This is the spirit that guides us as we prepare for negotiations, especially with the United States."
Price stressed that subsequent NATO-OSCE meetings would demonstrate "that the United States is united with our NATO allies, our Ukrainian partners, and our wider European allies and partners." And he described the January 10 dialogue as a simple exercise in preparation for these talks.
"Our task in all this is to identify where there can be some potential for dialogue and discussion and some areas that deserve this discussion - again with our allies and partners," he said.
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