EXPLAINER: Main issues at Russia-US security talks
Associated PressMOSCOW — Russian diplomats are meeting this week with officials from the United States and its NATO allies for security negotiations in three European cities. U.S. President Joe Biden twice discussed the Russian troop buildup with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month, warning that Moscow would face “severe consequences,” including unprecedented economic and financial sanctions, if it attacked its neighbor. RUSSIA’S SECURITY DEMANDS Putin has described the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO and the alliance deploying weapons there as a “red line” for Moscow. TIME LIMITS Putin has called the negotiations with the U.S. a “positive” move but said he wants quick results, warning the West against trying to drown Russia’s demands in “idle talk.” Asked during a news conference last month if he could guarantee that Russia won’t invade Ukraine, Putin responded angrily and said the West “must give us guarantees and give them immediately, now.” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who heads the Russian delegation at the security talks, described the demand for guarantees that NATO won’t expand to Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations as “absolutely essential” and warned that the U.S. refusal to discuss it would make further talks senseless. He didn’t elaborate beyond saying the Russian response in that scenario “could be diverse” and “will depend on what proposals our military experts submit to me.” Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin had told Biden that Russia would act just as if the U.S. would have acted if it saw offensive weapons deployed next to its borders.