Russia says no reason to be optimistic after first round of talks with US in Geneva

Russia on Tuesday said that there was no reason to be optimistic after the first round of talks with the United States over Moscow’s security proposals in the crisis near the Ukrainian border. According to TRT World Now, Kremlin said that talks in the US with Geneva were ‘open, substantive’ but it will not be satisfied with ‘endless dragging out of talks. However, following discussions with the US on Moscow’s security proposals, Russia said that it was ‘too early’ to draw conclusions as several rounds are ahead. Nevertheless, the broadcaster stated, that Russia termed its talks with US “positive” start to continue the dialogue over ongoing tensions. 

Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, according to TASS, considered the publication about a possible ban on imports of the United states equipment into Russia to be “information preparation” for the rounds of negotiations between Moscow and Washington. According to Peskov, it is “fake news” and it cannot influence Moscow’s position on security proposals which it published last month.

"We see that our American opponents continue to repeat the threat of impending sanctions like a mantra. Obviously, information is being given to various media…about what these sanctions could be. I would say that this most likely belongs to the category of preparing an information strike before the round of consultations that took place yesterday," Peskov told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday, as per the report.

"Such preparations, of course, are unlikely to influence in any way our delegation, headed by [Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei] Ryabkov and armed with clearly formulated statements from [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," he said adding that in his opinion, "this does not contribute to forming a constructive atmosphere before the consultations." "Nevertheless, this is the reality that we have to face. We don’t see anything terrible in this," Peskov noted, reported TASS.

Russia’s talks on security proposals

While Russia and US met in Geneva on Monday, it will be followed by a Russia-NATO Council meeting on 12 January and Russia-OSCE discussion on 13 January. These talks follow the publication of two draft agreements by the Russian Foreign Ministry on 17 December 2021 which included security guarantees between Russia, the US and NATO. In the published drafts, as per Sputnik, Russia has suggested that the United States should commit to not setting up military bases in ex-Soviet republics that are not NATO members and prevent the further eastward expansion of the alliance.