NEW YORK, January 10. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said Russian-US security talks are unlikely to make much headway while Washington believes Russia keeps troops near Ukraine’s border, ABC television reported.
"But to make actual progress, it’s very hard to see that happening when there’s an ongoing escalation, when Russia has a gun to the head of Ukraine with 100,000 troops near its borders, the possibility of doubling that on very short order," he said. "If we’re seeing de-escalation, if we’re seeing a reduction in tensions, that is the kind of environment in which we could make real progress and, again, address concerns, reasonable concerns, on both sides."
Russia and the US plan to hold talks in Geneva on January 10, a Russia-NATO Council meeting is scheduled in Brussels for January 12 and the OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna on January 13.
The talks will focus Russia’s initiatives for security in the Euro-Atlantic region. The Russian Foreign Ministry on December 17, 2021 published Russia’s proposed draft agreements on security guarantees that Moscow expects from the US and NATO. The two treaties - with the US and NATO, respectively - would, among other things, halt NATO’s eastward expansion, including granting membership to Ukraine, and introduce limits on the deployment of serious offensive weapons, such as nuclear weapons.
There has been a flurry of statements in the West and Kiev lately that Russia could invade Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they were unsubstantiated escalation and that Russia doesn’t threaten anyone. At the same time, he didn’t rule out provocations to corroborate these Western statements and warned that the use of force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine will have serious consequences.