Russian officials said that the United States federal government was oblivious to the European nation's goal in Ukraine as authorities from both sides are set to meet and discuss various issues, including war games and missile deployments amid rising tensions.
On Sunday night, officials from both countries met to begin a high-stakes negotiation over threats to Ukraine and a growing divide between Moscow and Washington. However, prior to the meeting, there was deep pessimism from both sides regarding a potential diplomatic solution.
Russia Warns the US
A senior Russian official who was dispatched to the talks warned that the United States had a "lack of understanding" of the Kremlin's security demands. Prior to the meeting, the official said that the U.S. voiced doubts over whether or not Russia was "serious" about de-escalating the Ukraine issue.
The Russian official, identified as Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei A. Ryabkov, maintained the hard-line rhetoric that many analysts and Western officials see as a possible prelude to new Russian military action against Ukraine. The official's remarks seemed to have been aimed at lowering expectations that an agreement can be made after the meeting, the New York Times reported.
Ryabkov met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and her team to talk about various issues. In a statement released on state television on Sunday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that a first round of "narrow-format" talks on security would be underway during the day.
The Sunday negotiations were set before a much broader meeting that will include talks between the two diplomats and their teams at the U.S. mission in Geneva that will start on Monday. The discussions will be the first step in restarting talks between the nations as their relationship has become worse over Russia's deployment of roughly 100,000 troops to its border with Ukraine.
Many people have expressed their concerns about a broader Russian military incursion in the country. The situation comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin's government has laid out a list of his demands. This list includes seeking guarantees that the NATO military alliance will not seek to expand any further eastward to countries such as Ukraine and Georgia, ABC News reported.
Deteriorating Relationship Over Ukraine
The talks between the Russian and American diplomats will allegedly include the possibility of restricting military maneuvers and missile deployments in Eastern Europe. This could only be possible if Moscow agrees ahead of the talks.
U.S. officials raised the possibility of incremental shifts in decisions on Saturday about the United States' future strategic posture in Europe. However, American officials added that Russia would be given debilitating sanctions should it continue to intervene with Ukraine.
Additionally, U.S. lawmakers said that United States President Joe Biden's administration was open to discussions with Russia over the curtailing of possible future deployments of offensive missiles in Ukraine. The Democrat is also willing to put limits on U.S. and NATO military exercises in Eastern Europe.
"There are some areas where we think it might be possible to make progress," said one official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The remarks were made during a conference call, Aljazeera reported.
